Warning: Spoiler!
Mrs. Warren explicitly states that she had overheard the killer spilling the beans. In that case, why does she feign unconsciousness when Helen enters her room? Instead of getting the gun and telling Helen to stay with her, she allows her to endanger herself again by leaving, eventually using up the last of her own strength to crawl out to the head of the staircase and shoot the killer, which is far more risky. Of course, it's also much more melodramatic.
Oh, I think that this was done for dramatic purposes. I agree that she should have done as you said in your post, but the director probably wanted to throw in that extra amount of suspense.
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💕 JimHutton (1934-79) and ElleryQueen 👍
Of course he did. It does make for a more dramatic conclusion, of course. I'm sure that when the film was shown in theaters, everyone cheered when Mrs. Warren shot the killer.
shareIn a number of cases, I've tracked down the original source material (ie, I read the book and I saw the mystery), and the ending of the movie is more dramatic than the ending of the book. I'm not sure about this particular novel. I tried to read it, but it was extremely dull compared to the movie. This author (Ethel Lina White) was better at writing short stories. She wrote a very scary one called The Unlocked Window, which was filmed as part of the TV series Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Highly recommended. Though I think that if you see the episode first, it might be too easy to figure out the conclusion.
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💕 JimHutton (1934-79) and ElleryQueen 👍
Ms. White also wrote the novel on which The Lady Vanishes was based. (It's called The Wheel Spins. Also pretty dull. Hitchcock's version is MUCH more imaginative.)
shareShe was a better short story writer. Unfortunately, I've only been able to find two of her short stories. Maybe that's all she wrote. I read somewhere that there is very little information on her out there. I haven't been able to find any info on her short stories. I found those two stories in anthologies of numerous short stories, written by different authors. I have never come across a collection of her short stories only. Maybe such a collection doesn't exist.
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💕 JimHutton (1934-79) and ElleryQueen 👍
Some of her works (including Some Must Watch, which I've just read), are to be found on the Project Gutenberg site (http://gutenberg.net.au/plusfifty-n-z.html#whiteel2).
I liked Some Must Watch a lot better than I expected. It was quite atmospheric and suspenseful, though rather heavily padded. There were many interesting differences. Some of these are: The action takes place in England near the Welsh border and some time later than in the movie. (There is a reference to Greta Garbo and Doctor Parry rides a motorcycle!) The professor is a widower whose son Newton and daughter-in-law Simone live in the same house. Simone is openly, though unrequitedly, in love with Stephen, a student rooming at the house, not the professor's half-brother. Blanche is the professor's sister, not his secretary. The old woman, who is childless, is Lady Warren, not "just" Mrs. Warren. Nurse Barker is far more complex. She is quite cantankerous and rather hostile to Helen.
...and if memory serves me right, Helen wasn't mute in the book.
It's a book which I had wanted to enjoy, but I just couldn't get into it.
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💕 JimHutton (1934-79) and ElleryQueen 👍
Memory serves you right. She was quite normal, as were all of the killer's victims.
shareWarning! Spoiler!
Incidentally, the "plot hole" I started this thread with isn't in the novel: Helen is only threatened once and Lady Warren shoots the killer just in time.
Having seen the film again, I think I was actually mistaken: Mrs. Warren is actually unconscious when Helen enters the room, regaining consciousness only when Helen goes to the window. Helen rushes out immediately afterwards.
shareNot read the book but what was the motive for the killings if it wasn't because the victims were disabled? The film pushed this "weakness" factor giving the killer the motive, putting people with flaws out of their misery.
SkiesAreBlue
Well, that's not a plot hole!
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