who is the killer? SPOIL it for me i didn't see the whole thing!
can someone tell me who the killer is?
shareOK, here you go:
Professor Warren, elder son of Mrs. Warren (Ethel Barrymore), played by George Brent.
Did you get as far as the part where the two sons were discussing how their father never thought much of them because he was such a "tough" guy, good with a gun, etc., and they were, in his mind "weak"? (Mrs. Warren later told Dr. Parry the same thing.) This seemingly minor plot point was the key.
Apparently the stigma of being weak and imperfect stuck with the elder son (who was probably always unbalanced, but perhaps the father made it worse). It stuck so much so that he at some point decided to kill all those who were imperfect, to bring their imperfections to an end. He killed Blanche (Rhonda Fleming's character) because he felt her major "flaw" was not loving him.
He purposely let Mrs. Oates (Elsa Lanchester) grab a bottle of brandy from the cellar so she'd be passed out and unable to help Helen when he went to kill her. (Mr. Oates had gone into town for ether, and Helen had locked Steve Warren in the cellar believing he'd killed Blanche, so Helen was basically alone except for Carleton the dog.)
With her last bit of strength, Mrs. Warren appears at the top of The Staircase, and shoots her son just as he's about to get Helen. She then sorta apologizes to Steven, explaining that because his brother had always performed his muyrders at times when Steven was visiting, she'd thought it was him. (So she always had an inkling it was someone in her family, due to the killing of a girl in their well years earlier.)
At the end of the movie TCM's "The Essentials" came back on and Rose McGowan told Robert Osbourne she'd figured it was Prof. Warren, because they kept showing this eye with a thick dark brow, and he was the only one with brows like that, and whose eyes looked older. So there you have it.
"Well, for once the rich white man is in control!" C. M. Burns
Clothes-off, I have two spoiler questions:
My buddy and I are fighting over which staircase Mrs. Warren was standing over. I say she was standing at the top of the staircase leading to the cellar....my buddy says no she was standing a top the grand staircase on the main floor( the one leading up to her bedroom) and we are fighting over this..lol. Seems its not coming back on TCM for rest of the month and I need help.
After Mrs. Warren fell down the stairs and Stephen sat next to her, did she faint or did she die? I say she died. She used all the strength left to get out there to help Helen.
It looked to me like she was at the top of the staircase outside her bedroom. I doubt she could have made it down to the cellar entrance.
As for Mrs. W. dying, I was unsure myself. IMO she didn't seem to pass out any more dramatically than she had before, however the scene is listed on the "Cinemorgue.com" listing of movie deaths under Barrymore's name, so the person who runs that site seems to feel that she died.
Hope that helps.
"Well, for once the rich white man is in control!" C. M. Burns
Clothes-off,
Thanks so much. Most certainly helps. I lost the bet. Do look forward to this movie airing again as I enjoyed it so much.
The house had 2 staircases: the main one and then a service one accessed towards the back of the house and close to where Mrs Oates first fell over Carlton shortly after Helen arrived home. Helen uses the service staircase from the floor on which Mrs Warren's bedroom is to try and avoid the professor in order to get to the basement and free Stephen.
Mrs Warren was stronger than she was making out!
my vessel is magnificent and large and huge-ishshare