Bad Actor story
Bart Conway is a struggling actor with a bad temper and a drinking problem. He finds himself competing with a fellow actor Jerry Lane for the part of a strangler in an upcoming mystery. He invites Jerry over to his apartment for a little rehearsing. Bart gets a little too into character and chokes Jerry to death. To cover up his crime he chops up the body and dissolves most of it in acid. The police stop by to question him about Jerry's disappearance, but they find nothing amiss. They begin to leave. As they leave one of the police notices Bart's ice bucket which contains Jerry's undissolved head. Directed by: John Newland. Story by: Max Franklin, Robert Bloch.
12 total · 1 choice · 6 major · 5 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| coping with personal failure | choice | Central to the story was the titular "bad actor" (c.f. the title) Bart's failure to make it in the movies and television, and his now facing impending failure even in stage theater. |
| acting | major | Bart lectured Jerry on how to be a good actor. In his sketch, Alfred Hitchcock presented a Hitchcock Acting Studio student who'd taken an quite literally instruction to portray an elephant. |
| alcohol abuse | major | Comments were made about Bart's copious drinking, and towards the end he disingenuously claimed to have stopped. |
| engaged couple | major | The down-and-out actor Bart had a strained relationship with his fiancée, Marjorie. |
| murder | major | Bart strangled Jerry in a rage, then tried to dispose of the body. |
| the entertainment industry | major | The struggling actor Bart was dejected over it seeming that a fellow actor would be chosen over him for the starring role in a stage play. |
| the theater | major | Bart and Jerry were competing for the lead role in some play. |
| agent and client | minor | Bart and his agent conversed a few times. |
| coping with a bad hangover | minor | Bart sarcastically offered his agent 10% of his hangover. |
| gambling | minor | It came to light that Bart had borrowed $10 from Jerry only to blow it playing dice. |