Deadline story
Charles McKenzie, a newspaper journalist who has nearly ruined his career after many years of alcoholism, swears to give up drinking in order to get his old job back. He soon meets a young woman, Vicki, and the two begin having a fling. With Vicki's influence helping him along the way, Charles is offered his job back if he can bring in a murder story. Upon hearing the owner of a diner murder his wife in the diner's kitchen, Charles believes he has his story, at least until he discovers who the wife is. Directed by: Walter Hill. Story by: Mae Woods.
23 total · 3 choice · 7 major · 13 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| coping with stress at work | choice | Charles was under immense pressure to come up with a "scoop", and in particular a murder story, for his old newspaper where he had provisionally been hired back. When he failed at every turn he nearly went back to the bottle. When he thought he witnessed a murder he jumped on the opportunity to take notes before phoning the cops. When the victim stirred, he swiftly re-killed her himself despite finding that she was his own lover. He was then seen in a strait-jacket presumably interned in an institution for the nutty. |
| cracking under pressure | choice | Charles was under immense pressure to come up with a "scoop", and in particular a murder story, for his old newspaper where he had provisionally been hired back. When he failed at every turn he nearly went back to the bottle. Charles later strangled his lover in a desperate attempt to get a scoop. The viewer is left to ponder if Charles went completely insane and had been committed to an insane asylum. |
| journalism | choice | The story follows the washed up crime reporter Charles McKenzie as he tried to get back into the newspaper business by breaking a murder story worthy of the front page. |
| alcohol abuse | major | Charles was an alcoholic of many years and the story follows his attempt to give up the bottle and piece his life back together. |
| infatuation | major | Charles and Vicki had a passionate fling. |
| murder of a lover | major | Charles ended up strangling his lover, Vicki, to death because he was under immense pressure to come up with a good scoop for his old newspaper. |
| one night stand | major | Charles and Vicki first had what they mutually agreed would be, more or less, a one night stand. Then they had, again what they mutually agreed, was many more one night stands together. |
| overcoming an addiction | major | Charles was an alcoholic of many years and the story follows his attempt to give up the bottle and piece his life back together. |
| spouse murder | major | Charles overheard the owner of a diner violently kill his own wife in the diner's kitchen - or so he thought. |
| unrequited love | major | While he tried to keep it down, it was pretty obvious that Charles became besotted with Vicki and although she kept seeing him she kept insisting that she did not have any deeper feelings for him. |