The Big Kick story
Mitch and Judy are out-of-work beatniks in need of money. At a party held by one of Mitch's friends Bruce, Judy meets an older man named Kenneth. Kenneth is not a beatnik, but he likes to attend their parties. He asks Judy on a date. Mitch encourages Judy to date Kenneth because he seems to have money. Kenneth gives Judy a diamond bracelet which Mitch takes and tries to sell to a jeweler. The jeweler has Mitch arrested. It seems that the bracelet Kenneth gave to Judy was in fact stolen. With Mitch in prison, Kenneth who is actually a beatnik-hater stabs Judy to death in her apartment. Directed by: Alan Crosland, Jr. Story by: Robert Bloch.
13 total · 9 major · 4 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| boyfriend and girlfriend | major | Mitch and Judy's scheme to escape their financial problems, not through hard work, but rather from having Judy date a seemingly well-off assistant professor backfired when the academic turned out to be a deranged murderer. |
| carefree way of life | major | Through the young couple of Mitch and Judy the viewer is shown a window in into the carefree, beatnik way of life. |
| compromising one's ethical principles for personal advantage | major | Central to the story was Judy's reluctant choice to go ever further in her mock-romance with Kenneth, in order to get more money and goodies out of him. |
| facing financial ruin | major | Mitch and Judy were living hand-to-mouth and were on the verge of going hungry, and being evicted because she couldn't pay the rent. |
| false friend | major | Mitch feigned to be friends with Kenneth, but spoke contemptuously of Kenneth behind his back. For Mitch the friendship was merely a facade so that he could cajole money and goodies out of Kenneth. |
| gold digging | major | Mitch tried to pressure the reluctant Judy into using her apparent admirer, Kenneth, for his money. |
| rich character vs. poor character | major | A point of the story was to contrast the impoverished Beatniks Mitch and Judy, with the uptight and and comparatively well-off assistant professor Kenneth. |
| serial murder | major | In a surprise twist ending, the mild mannered assistant professor Kenneth pulled a knife on Judy, revealing his courting of Judy was all part of a deranged plot to kill her. Note: Serial murder is used here on account that Kenneth said he gets his "kicks, big kicks" just as he pulled out the knife on Judy. |
| uptight character vs. laid back character | major | A point of the story was to contrast the impoverished Beatniks Mitch and Judy, with the uptight and comparatively well-off assistant professor Kenneth. The beatniks Mitch and Judy (young, prevailing social convention rejecting, artistic minded) were juxtaposed with the conformist assistant professor Kenneth (middle aged, suit wearing, stiff collard). |
| coping with a moocher | minor | The beatnik crowd were mooching off of Kenneth, and heard that he understood this but considered it a fair price to pay in order to be able to hang out them. |