Fat Chance story
John Burge, a pharmacist, is carrying on an affair behind his overweight wife's back. His lover, Frances, tells him that he must get rid of his wife. Mary, however, will not divorce him and Frances is issuing an ultimatum. He decides to put his pharmaceutical skills into play and poison his wife's chocolates. However, not everything will go to plan. Directed by: John Gorrie. Story by: Robert Bloch.
10 total · 7 major · 3 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| divorce | major | Frances hatched a plot to get John to divorce Mary, but Mary held the trump card, because she could squeeze him for everything he had in the court settlement. |
| extramarital affair | major | Pharmacist John Burge was cheating on his "fat pig" wife with her friend Frances. |
| husband and wife | major | John Burge and his 11 stone and 12 pound wife Mary Burge. |
| obesity | major | Mary was a compulsive eater with a sweet tooth. |
| romantic love | major | John and Frances. |
| spouse murder | major | Mr. Dahl explained how Maharajahs would dispose of their unwanted spouses using tiger whiskers. |
| sugar addiction | major | Mary had a sweet tooth. Her hands started almost quavering at the sight of chocolates. |
| denial | minor | Serial snacker Mary was in denial that she had an eating disorder. Instead, she insisted that she was suffering from a metabolic condition. |
| poetic justice | minor | Frances manipulated her lover into trying to kill his wife but the effort may have ended up inadvertently killing Francis instead, it is hinted. |
| the placebo effect | minor | Dr. Applegate was of the opinion that you can prescribe chalk and sugar for some conditions and 40% of the people would get better. |