Where Beauty Lies story
Caroline Hardy keeps house for her famous brother, the actor Collin Hardy. Disappointed in her own life, she seeks escape by increasing her involvement in her brother's career. When Caroline learns through subterfuge that Collin's girlfriend will be joining him in their acting troupe's out-of-town rehearsals, Caroline hatches a plot in a jealous rage. The result of that rage is an explosion of house painting fluids that renders Collin blind. Caroline tries to act the part of the comforter, also encouraging her brother not to dwell on the supposed loss of his good looks. Directed by: Robert Florey. Story by: Henry Farrell, James Cavanagh.
13 total · 1 choice · 6 major · 6 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| the need for companionship | choice | Central to the story was the spinster Caroline's unfulfilled need for a life-partner. Unsuccessful in finding love for herself, she sought instead to cast her brother in that role. When his own life caused him to move away from her, Caroline contrived to have her brother subjected to an accident that left him dependent on her. |
| acting | major | The handsome actor Collin Hardy spoke of how he was only suited to work in horror pictures after in blinding and supposed disfigurement. |
| brother and sister | major | Caroline's strange infatuation with her famous actor brother, Collin, is at the heart of the story. |
| coping with aging | major | Caroline reminded Collin that she was already 37 with the implication being that she was too old to find a man. |
| jealousy | major | Caroline wanted her brother, Collin, all for herself and became wildly envious when his girlfriend entered into the picture. |
| the desire to be beautiful | major | Caroline was envious of Collin's good looks and lamented that her own homeliness had left her a spinster. |
| the entertainment industry | major | Collin was a famous actor, and we hear much about the kind of crowd he kept with professionally. |
| blindness | minor | Collin was blinded in an explosion that his sister had arranged to happen in a jealous rage. |
| boyfriend and girlfriend | minor | Collin had a girlfriend, to his sister's displeasure. |
| coping with being disfigured | minor | The handsome actor Collin was led to believe that his face had been horribly disfigured in an explosion, and he fell into a swoon over the end of his career on stage as a result. |