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January 2002, Week 3

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Date:
Wed, 16 Jan 2002 06:17:39 +1100
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To Marlyn Robinson.  I researched this matter a year or so ago.  (I
think I had in mind a scene in Hitchcock's TORN CURTAIN!) As I recall,
I found a website that listed famous disasters in which such an event
(or two) was mentioned. I'm rushing now, and will be gone all day, but
maybe try Google and entering a few keywords like 'famous disasters' and
'fire' and 'theatre'. (I can't be sure, though, that the fires weren't
in conventional theatres rather than cinemas.)

- Ken Mogg (Ed., 'The MacGuffin').
Website: http://www.labyrinth.net.au/~muffin
------
From today's "Editor's Day" on the above website (speaking of Alfred
Hitchcock) ...

Somewhere in the files of the Alfred Hitchcock Collection held at the
Margaret Herrick Library in Beverly Hills, California, is a single typed
piece of paper headed "Alfred Hitchcock's Favorite Story". The story,
which is slightly risqué, goes something like this ... Visiting
Australia, a young American playboy decides to see the outback at first
hand, and hires a Land Rover to venture alone into the hot and dusty
interior. One day, after driving for several hours, he reaches a
particularly lonely stretch of desert where he is amazed to come upon an
enormous mansion surrounded by trees and watered lawns. From the road,
he can just see the mansion at the far end of a long straight drive. It
stands two stories high and is so vast that he can only guess at the
number of rooms it must contain. Impelled by curiosity, the young man
pushes open a pair of iron gates and drives in. It takes him a minute
or so to reach the house, but eventually he finds himself knocking at
the front door. Almost immediately, the door is opened by a
kindly-looking, well-dressed, middle-aged man who proves to be the owner
himself. After asking his visitor to come inside, and learning that he
is an American tourist, the man invites him to stay for lunch and to
meet his wife and daughter. Both of the latter are extremely
beautiful. Over an excellent meal, the man explains that the house uses
artesian water pumped from a couple of wells nearby. He adds that life
has favoured him, that he is very wealthy, and that to reside in
seclusion from most worldly cares, surrounded by his family, holds great
appeal for him. Nonetheless, he is always looking for ways to practise
benevolence and to repay what he feels he owes the world. For instance,
would the young man care to stay for a day or two? The house contains a
well-stocked library, an equally well-stocked pantry and wine cellar,
and much else of interest. Besides, his wife and daughter would both
welcome the young man's company, as they only occasionally these days
manage to travel to Sydney to be with friends. Having already taken a
liking to his host and family, the young man accepts. That night, he
retires early. As he lies in bed, pondering the hospitality that has
been shown him, he suddenly becomes aware that someone has entered the
room and has slipped into his bed. He starts to exclaim, but a woman's
voice hushes him and he feels a finger pressed to his lips. For the
next few hours the two people make passionate love. Then, towards dawn,
the woman suddenly departs. And next evening, exactly the same thing
happens! Afterwards, the young man is still uncertain who his partner
has been. Every time he had started to speak, she had hushed him! His
attempts during the day to subtly hint to the two women of the house
that he is grateful for the nocturnal favours shown him meet with no
acknowledgment from either of them. It is only on the third day that
the young man learns the truth. Conversing with the husband in the
library, he asks his host to tell him more about his family and why they
all lead so isolated a life. Looking faintly embarrassed, the older man
tells him that there is something he hasn't mentioned so far. He has a
second daughter, whom he loves dearly, and who is living in the house.
Unfortunately, he adds, she is a leper.

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