What about a movie?

Hi! Today I'd like to suggest watching an episode from a TV series Tales of the Unexpected. The episode features a woman, Betsy, who is devastated when her long-time partner Jack tells her that he is moving to Australia to marry another woman and begins to pack chests of his belongings - some of them shared items - to send ahead. Enraged Betsy lashes out at him. As a result, thanks to Betsy's efforts, Jack's new girlfriend will have an extra surprise when she opens his luggage.

Does it ring a bell?.. Right. It's the screen adaptation of The Glowing Future by Ruth Rendell.

So, watch the film and answer the following questions:

Which appeals to you more - the story or the film? Why?

What do you think of the cast? Do the actors correspond to what you imagined the characters to look like?

Is there any divergence between the plots?

A Glowing Future

Hello, everybody. As far as I understood, our next home-reading story, "A Glowing Future" by Ruth Rendell has aroused controversial opinions and heated debates among you. That's good! It means the story has touched your feelings, has prompted you to discuss it and share your point of view.
So, here are exercises to the story.

A Glowing Future by Maribella2012

The Case for the Defence... continuation

The police drove the crowd away and the brothers managed to leave the court without any incidents. However, the next day the police arrested both of them and charged both with the murder. The twins were put in different cells so that they couldn`t negotiate about a plan. Unfortunately, it didn`t have any result – the defendants went on keeping silent. A week after, the law servants invented a certain plan to achieve the confession. They noticed that the wives of the criminals visited them every day and always had small gifts with them. They came to a conclusion that the wives are the closest people in their lives and tried to use it to establish the truth.
The police didn`t allow the wives to visit them for several days and then said to each of the twins that his wife died because of a terrible illness. It was expected that one of the defendants would avow himself so that be present at the funeral. However, it didn`t happen. Instead, the twins attempted suicide (they say, twins often have the same thoughts). The police was all adrift. The brothers were heartbroken, they refused to speak and to eat.
Soon they were acquitted.
As it turned out later, the brothers couldn`t imagine their lives without their beloved and since they hadn`t managed to commit a suicide they decided to confess in a crime and lose their lives by the law (they say, twins often have the same thoughts).

The Case For The Defence

       So, the next day the police arrested the Adams brothers. It was obvious that one of them commited the cold-blooded murder. This time the police was set up to break the brother's alibis, and get the murder to confess.
        Adams brothers were put into different prison cells so that they couldn't agree what to say. The police thought if they had done following, it would have appeared that one of the brothers said the truth. So it happened. In a few days one of the brothers couldn't resist and accused his brother in this murder. He said he had known about the murder beforehand, but in one moment he decided not to take part in it he even tried to escape with his family, but unfortunately his plan didn't work. His brother was so cunning and it wasn't so easy to deal with him especially if you try to mislead him. When the crime was commited the brothers swore that they didn't hand over each other to the police. The reason why the crime was commited is so banal. It all happened because of money.
      Finally, both of them were brought to justice. Their game was up. One of the brothers was sentenced to a prison term and the other waited for a capital punishment.

The Case For The Defence

          ... Both brothers were arrested by the police the next day. Nevertheless they could not decide which of them had killed the woman.
         The police went them under the post until finding out all the circumstances of the case. On the next interrogation, both brothers as one began to say: 'I am a murderer'. But soon the court decided to arrange them a cross-examination to find out which of them was the murderer. For a couple of hours to interrogation one of the brothers became very ill and in the evening he died. It turned out that he had been in the last stage of cancer. Another brother was not able to withstand the loss of his brother so he decided to tell the counsel how it had been in reality.

His brother for many years had been struggled with the terrible disease. All doctors as one told him that his live would be save if he took an expensive therapy. The family of course did not have the money. But one day, when he found out that Mrs. Parker got a large sum of money, he had a plan in his head. He ascertained when Mrs. Parker was not home, and climbed into the house. But suddenly Mrs. Parker returned. With a state of panic, he grabbed a hammer and hit her.

The lawyer listened to his story carefully, and said he could not wait for the trial, as he would probable be acquitted. But Adams did not agree. He decided to pay the penalty for his brother not to leave posthumous slur on dead brother.

In a month later he was sentenced to death by hanging.

The Case For The Defence

   ...Mrs. Salmon returned home. Last events shocked her and she tried to remember anything that would confirm the truthfulness of her words. Mrs. Salmon began to remember details of a killer, but nothing attended her. She decided to relax at night and suddenly the woman woke up in a cold sweat because of the thought of one very important detail. On the murderer’s face, illuminated by a street-lamp that night, clearly stood out big scar. As soon as the sun rose Mrs. Salmon rushed to the police station to meet with the officer.

   "Officer, how could I miss such an important detail? Murderer's face had a scar, a big scar."

    "Well, Mrs. Salmon, I think that we need to check this."

   The officer decided to visit the twin brothers. When he entered the house, he saw that one of the brothers quickly was gathering things in a suitcase. The officer approached, to find out the reason for his hasty departure, looked into his frightened eyes, and immediately noticed a scar on his face. The officer said the brothers were called to the interrogation again because new evidence had been surfaced in the case. Suddenly the man with the scar pushed the officer and tried to escape. But it was in vain. 

   So the man was in the dock again, face to face with Mrs. Salmon. There was nothing to deny. All the evidence was against him. The murderer confessed everything, and said he was sorry about what had happened. In spite of that punishment was inevitable, and he was convicted. So the game was up. 

The Case For The Defence

… Both brothers were arrested by the police the next day. It was obvious that one of them did commit that blood-curdling crime. The question was that the brothers had alibis to be broken…

The best decision was taken immediately. The two brothers were interrogated right away, so that they didn’t even have a way to communicate and negotiate about the case. There was nothing the police did to the accused… All the needed manipulations were done to their wives, who were supposed to blurt out all the information right after the police told each of them that her husband is already sentenced to death by burning, despite the trial. Anyway, they told absolutely nothing.

The police was confused: they were sure their plan should’ve worked it out. They had nothing left, apart from applying polygraph, which was highly trusted, to both accused. After a line of related-to-case questions the presumed murderers were asked a direct one “Did you batter that lady to death?” The answers were, of course, negative and polygraph confirmed that they didn’t tell any drop of lie.

The police was bound to set the accused free. Everybody wondered how they managed to be acquitted after a dozen of people had seen them committing a crime in broad daylight… It didn’t matter anymore, because nobody knew that when you believe, you are able to wind round your little finger even a polygraph...

The Case For The Defence

…The police couldn’t agree with such ending of the story. They decided to investigate Northwood Street again and especially the laurel bushes. And as it turned out this repeated survey was not in vain. The police found a bracelet there. The bracelet apparently wasn’t there for a long time because it was well preserved. So the police thought that it could be a clue to this crime. However they hadn’t any assumptions.

Next day the police arrested both of brothers and put them together in a prison cell to eavesdrop on their conversations. And one night they have heard the following.

‘I feel that something bad will happen.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I have lost my bracelet. And what is the most offensive I can’t recall when it has happened.’

‘Do you want to say that you have lost it in the bushes in Northwood Street?’

‘I don’t know, but I think the police guess about something.’

‘Don’t say nonsense. They haven’t got any evidences.’

‘Hmm. I hope…’

So the brothers’ game was up. One of them waited for a capital punishment and the other for a large prison term for complicity.

The Case for the Defence

… The next day the police arrested both brothers and charged both with the murder.

The twins were interrogated separately. The police tried to get at the heart of the matter and told one of them that they had the goods on another brother, and vice versa. Predictably, one of them took the spear in his chest to defend his brother.

To the chagrin of the defendants, at the same time their wives were interrogated too. Under penalty, one of the wives confessed that on that day her husband had come home at daybreak with a mixture of fear and malice in his eyes.

All these facts gave rise to doubt, and the police tried to find new evidence. They examined the scene of the crime again and found a handkerchief with the fingerprints on it. The prints were identical with those of the convicted person, of one of the brothers.

So the crime was solved by the police and the murderer endured the punishment at the hands of the law.