Screenplay by Arthur Laurents based on the play by Patrick Hamilton
Adapted by Hume Cronyn
56:20 Camera zooms in on the hat Rupert is holding showing the letter “D K” on the inside
1:07:05 The camera zooms in on Brandon’s hand as he puts it in his jacket pocket where he has placed a loaded handgun
1:12:12 Closeup as Rupert takes the rope from his jacket pocket
3:00 A man is strangled by a piece of rope then shoved into a chest
5:55 “The perfect victim for the perfect murder”
7:40 “The power to kill can be just as satisfying as the power to create”
23:30 Brandon – “He thinks murder is a crime for most men but …” Phillip – “a privilege for the few”
35:00 Rupert “And personally I think a chicken is as good a reason for murder as a blonde, a mattress full of dollar bills, or any of the customary unimaginative reasons.”
“Think of the problems it [murder] would solve – unemployment, poverty, standing in line for theatre tickets”
“After all, murder is, or should be, an art”
“Personally, I would prefer to have cut-a-throat week or strangulation-day”
1:08:14 – 1:10:25 Rupert describes how he would “get David out of the way” as the camera moves around the apartment following Rupert’s account of the crime
53:00 As the maid clears the dinner leftovers from the top of the chest and Rupert questions Brandon and Phillip about the whereabouts of David – we hear their voices, but the camera stays with the maid as she brings the books to the chest – is she going to open the chest?