The Kerry Blue story
Ned Malley loves Annie his old dog, a Kerry Blue. Ned's wife Thelma grows jealous. Though she likes the dog, she thinks her husband's love for it is unhealthy. One day, Annie dies. Ned accuses his wife of murder. He slips an overdose of sleeping pills into her hot chocolate. As she slips into unconsciousness, Ned hears familiar barking. He goes to investigate, but trips on fatally injures himself. A neighbor calls the police who come and revive Thelma. As her dead husband is being taken away she wonders whether she should have bought him a new Kerry Blue. Directed by: Paul Henreid. Story by: Henry Slesar.
8 total · 1 choice · 6 major · 1 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| master and pet | choice | Ned was so besotted with his terrier, Annie, that he killed his own wife because he thought she had been careless with the pure bred pooch. |
| coping with the death of a pet | major | Ned so beloved his terrier, Annie, that he couldn't come to accept that it died while he was away on a business trip. |
| husband and wife | major | Ned was so besotted with his terrier, Annie, that he killed his own wife because he thought she had been careless with the pure bred pooch. |
| love of a pet | major | Ned so beloved his terrier, Annie, that he couldn't come to accept that it died while he was away on a business trip. |
| obsession | major | Ned was so besotted with his terrier, Annie, that he killed his own wife because he thought she had been careless with the pure bred pooch. |
| spouse murder | major | Ned was so besotted with his terrier, Annie, that he killed his own wife because he thought she had been careless with the pure bred pooch. |
| the desire for vengeance | major | Ned carried out an ill-contrived plan that was calculated to result in his wife's premature inhumation as payback for her having (in his unhinged view) buried his beloved terrier alive. |
| medical occupation | minor | A veterinarian tried and failed to convinced Ned that his wife did the right thing by burying his dead dog. Ned visited his family doctor to get sleeping pills. |