And So Died Riabouchinska story
The ventriloquist, John Fabian, who has a dummy by the name of Riabouchinska, is investigated for murder. Directed by: Denys Granier-Deferre. Story by: Ray Bradbury.
16 total · 1 choice · 4 major · 11 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| obsessive love | choice | The ventriloquist John Fabian was madly in love with the ballerina Ilyana Riamonova but ended up killing her in a jealous rage. Some time later John became obsessed with a ventriloquist's dummy, which he'd fashioned in her image. |
| anthropomorphic object come to life | major | The viewer is made to ponder whether the dummy John Fabian used to perform his ventriloquist act was inhabited by the consciousness of his former lover. The dummy said things that implicated John as the murderer. The viewer must therefore ponder whether it had a consciousness of its own, perhaps that of his former lover and murder victim. |
| law enforcement | major | Lt. Krovitch was investigating the murder of a man, named Ockham, at the theater. |
| murder | major | Lt. Krovitch was hot on John Fabian's trail after a man, named Ockham, was murdered at the theater. |
| ventriloquism | major | The story explores the stage ventriloquist John Fabian's pathological love for a ventriloquist's dummy. |
| blackmail | minor | Lt. Krovitch twice suspected blackmail was the motive behind Ockham's murder. |
| creative writing | minor | In the introduction, Ray Bradbury shared with the viewer the wellsprings of creativity that inspire his writing. |
| dancing | minor | Ilyana was a ballerina. She was shown dancing at a recital. |
| domestic violence | minor | In a jealous rage, John sent Ilyana crashing down to her death with a series of heavy-handed slaps in quick succession. |
| extramarital affair | minor | It came to light that Alyce took on Douglas as a lover because of her ventriloquist husband's all-consuming obsession with a doll. |