Come Into My Parlour story
Famous pianist Vivian Carson is in Naples, and she has spent considerable time and effort to find and invite older actress Marcia Loredo - and also to find and procure some yellow powder on the black market that causes a deadly disease, fatal in six weeks. As an unsuspecting Marcia arrives and wonders why she was invited, a tale of old love is brought to the fore, as Vivian still harbors resentment towards Marcia for seducing the man she once loved. But was that now-dead man truly as important to her as she remembers him, and is the memory worth murdering someone over it? Directed by: Peter Sasdy. Story by: Elaine Morgan, based on the story by Gloria Amoury.
16 total · 3 choice · 8 major · 5 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| obsessive love | choice | Vivian had driven herself more or less mad with emotions because, years past, her once friend Marcia had stolen Vivian's husband. |
| romantic jealousy | choice | Vivian was propelled by murderous envy to try and avenge herself on the woman who had stolen her husband. |
| the desire for vengeance | choice | Vivian plotted to poison Marcia using a special yellow powder that, if consumed, led to death within six weeks. Vivian blamed Marcia for having years earlier run off with her husband. |
| betrayal | major | Vivian felt betrayed by her once friend Marcia, who years ago had run off with Vivian's husband. |
| coping with heartbreak | major | Vivian had never gotten over the betrayal of her husband when he left her for her friend Marcia. |
| falling out of friendship | major | In was revealed that Vivian and Marcia's friendship had in the past come to an abrupt end when Marcia ran off with Vivian's husband. |
| how to murder someone and get away with it | major | In his monologue, Orson Welles explained that the yellow powder would kill someone in six weeks, making it a clever tool for an itinerant person to use on their foe. |
| husband and wife | major | Marcia spoke of her husband, who had once been Vivian's husband. In order to douse Vivian's burning jealousy, Marcia spun a yarn about him having become a useless alcoholic. |
| money can't buy happiness | major | The story illustrated that for all her wealth, luxury, and success, Vivian was far from content. In fact she was borderline mad. Marcia, by contrast, was humbled and poor, but on the whole seemed like a balanced individual. |
| music | major | Vivian was a famous concert pianist. The story opened with her finishing a performance and taking a bow. |