MovieChat Forums > BUtterfield 8 (1960) Discussion > Did she really 'steal' the coat?

Did she really 'steal' the coat?

posted 15 years ago by AliciaHuberman59
2 replies | jump to latest

I watched this again yesterday, and I'm still unsure if she really stole the coat. Her dress was unwearable, and she needed to put on something over her slip. Of course, I suppose she could have tried wearing one of Mrs. Liggett's dresses or suits, but I imagine their, um, "dimensions" were different. I happen to think that she borrowed it to wear home, left it at Steve's apartment, forgot about it during the week she and Liggett were together, which is why she was so surprised/terrified to find it (still) in Steve's closet. I know much is made by Liggett of this "theft", but again, I think it's just another tragic miscommunication between them, and his reaction is really a measure of the betrayal he feels to have found out that she was so "loose".

[–] johnston.scot 15 years ago

I believed that she did actually borrow it, that is: she had the intention of returning it.

On the other hand, there is an element of presumptuous appropriation involved in the fact she could've picked some other coat.

[–] jtr666 8 years ago

She was planning on taking a less expensive coat but then she reconsidered after seeing the money with the note and decided to take the fur and write the "No sale" note on the mirror. The whole tragic ending basically hinged upon the misunderstanding at the beginning of the film.