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Thriller_S1E17_The_Poisoner
Transcript
00:28Transcribed by ESO, translated by —
00:41PIANO PLAYS
01:07I see you've already sold some of my toys.
01:10That was naughty of you.
01:14I thought you were beautiful when I drew that.
01:18The impossible acme of perfection.
01:22I must have been mad.
01:25How did madness come on me afterward?
01:28We may never know.
01:31We may never know.
01:36Through too much love of living,
01:39through hope and fear set free,
01:41we thank with brief thanksgiving
01:44whatever gods may be,
01:46that no life lives forever,
01:49that dead men rise up never,
01:50that even the weariest river
01:53winds somewhere to the sea.
01:57Oh, my famous Borgia ring,
02:01containing, so you testified,
02:04some rare poison,
02:07nearly tasteless, impossible of detection.
02:21Well, dear wife,
02:23shall we drink together
02:24in farewell to the past?
02:29The End
02:31The End
02:38The End
02:40The End
03:12Thomas Edward Griffith, the man who made this lovely picture and then destroyed it, really lived.
03:20He was a writer, a painter, and a critic.
03:23Now, in each of these arts, he displayed talent.
03:26But his real genius lay elsewhere.
03:30We have the testimony of Charles Lamb, Charles Dickens, Oscar Wilde, and other famous witnesses.
03:35That Griffith was the master of the gentle art of murder.
03:42A dabbler in the occult and a connoisseur of the exotic.
03:45Griffith was far ahead of the medical men of his time.
03:50In the lethal science of toxication.
03:54In simpler terms, Griffith was a poisoner.
03:58That's the name of our play, The Poisoner.
04:02And among those threatened by this sinister gentleman played by Mr. Murray Mattson...
04:08...were his wife, played by Miss Sarah Marshall.
04:12Her mother, played by Miss Brenda Forbes.
04:16Her sister, played by Miss Jennifer Ray.
04:19And his uncle, played by Mr. Maurice Dalton.
04:28Oh, by the way, uh...
04:31If in the course of our story, someone brings you a cup of tea or a spot of brandy...
04:40I suggest you let them take the first silver.
04:55I suggest you let them take the first silver.
05:13Ladies and gentlemen, may I present my bride.
05:17That is, as I see her with my heart.
05:20Thank you for disagreeing with those who say that Thomas Edward Griffith...
05:24...macks only one attribute of genius, and that is talent.
05:27I agree with them.
05:28Perhaps I haven't until now.
05:30I am a very conceited man.
05:34Or rather, I have been until today.
05:37Now I feel forced to confess that this portrait does not even begin to do justice to its subject.
05:45To that matchless pearl of loveliness without flora, my wife.
05:52Oh, toast.
05:54To the perfect pair.
05:56May their marriage be perfection.
05:58Oh, change their dress.
06:00Well, dear wife, shall we drink together to the endless future?
06:07Oh, I can't get this chair through the door.
06:10It's so narrow.
06:12Well, looks as if everyone's here before us.
06:24Didn't even invite us to the wedding.
06:28You ought to be ashamed.
06:32So you're the bridegroom.
06:38Who are these people?
06:40Oh.
06:42This is my mother.
06:45And this is my sister, Helen.
06:50Your mother?
06:52And your sister?
06:55I think we should be going.
06:58Thank you, Mr. Larrimor.
07:09I feel sick at my stomach.
07:19I didn't expect them until tomorrow.
07:22I didn't expect them at all.
07:24I should have told you they were coming.
07:25Yes, you should have told me.
07:31They have nowhere else to live.
07:33Mother sold her house.
07:34That was all she had.
07:35And that and a small income and debts.
07:39Helen's illness has taken a terrible burden on Mother.
07:46You're not even rich.
07:48I never said I was.
07:50You only pretended until you caught a husband.
07:53Get that animal out of here.
07:56It belongs to me.
08:00And so do they.
08:02Or rather, you belong to them.
08:06My perfect bride.
08:10Where are you going?
08:20Don't!
08:20Don't you dare touch Mama!
08:28Did you see that?
08:30He was going to strike me.
08:31His own mother-in-law on his wedding day.
08:35What kind of a man did you marry anyhow?
08:38I don't know.
08:39I don't know.
08:41He's a murderer.
08:42Helen!
08:43He's a murderer.
08:44I saw it in his eyes.
08:46Oh, I'm going to faint.
08:49Take your sister upstairs and put her to bed.
08:52Take her marnie too, so she won't be underfoot.
08:57I'll wait for Mr. Thomas Edward Griffith.
09:00I, a mighty Hesquire.
09:04What if he doesn't come back?
09:05He'll come back.
09:07He wouldn't walk out and leave all this.
09:09Neither will we.
09:11Neither will we.
09:15Neither will we.
09:30Neither will we.
09:32Neither will we.
09:33Neither will we.
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11:06Who is it?
11:10¶¶
11:14Who is it?
11:25I'm sorry I startled you mother don't call me mother you and your snarmy palmy talk I suppose
11:35that's how you landed Francis
11:51I suppose you think you can get me drunk well you can't I only want you to feel at home
11:59Mrs Abercrombie I feel that I can be honest with you it isn't every widowed mother who can provide
12:05so well for her orphan daughters what do you know about that I understand you've sold your home
12:12and I intend to keep the money you won't get your hands on it not while I'm alive I don't
12:18expect to
12:19but I think I must tell you that in spite of appearances and from what you may have heard
12:23I am not wealthy not at all my only income comes from a trust fund left by my father in
12:30charge of
12:31my uncle mr. George Griffith so you lied to her I never lie no lie can possibly be perfect
12:38and as you will learn I idolize perfection talk talk talk words words words words words are my stock in
12:48trade here is a book I published the Academy of good taste for young gentlemen or the infant
12:55connoisseur's go-cart amusing full of witty epigrams which are quoted throughout London but it earned me
13:02nothing the time will come however when I can begin to profit from the reputation I am building
13:08you could make life happier for your daughter Mrs Abercrombie for your daughters by helping me to reach that
13:14goal I wouldn't help you get anywhere this was my house and I was mastering it until I married well
13:23I'm in
13:24it now and I intend to stay as long as I please and live like I please or I'll tear
13:30your precious
13:31reputation down to nothing Mrs Abercrombie I don't try any of your tricks with me I'm sorry Mrs Abercrombie
13:39I had hoped against hope well you can just quit hoping I have
13:50are you sure you want that you just try to take it away from me I won't
14:03good night Mrs Abercrombie good riddance to bad rubbish yes good riddance
14:39I should have told you about
14:41mother and Helen moving finger rights and having writ moves on nor all your piety nor wit can change
14:47her all to one half line of it does that mean it's all right everything will be all right soon
15:19good night
15:40She's dead.
15:43My mother is dead.
15:47She was perfectly well.
15:49We never know.
15:50One moment health, the next oblivion.
15:54As Leonardo said, the moment we are born, we begin to die.
16:06We won't say anything about this to anyone.
16:09People would talk.
16:12Won't people talk anyway?
16:14I'm afraid so.
16:15Then they'll forget.
16:16As you must forget, my dear.
16:19Be thankful she died without suffering.
16:22How do you know she didn't suffer?
16:24He knows because he killed her.
16:26I saw him do it.
16:28Murderer.
16:31I was with you when she died.
16:33He murdered her.
16:34He murdered Baba.
16:35Oh, she's my own.
16:36I saw her.
16:38Shreve myself.
16:39I saw her.
16:40Murderer.
16:41Murderer.
16:42Murderer.
17:05I don't know.
17:18This is my husband, Mr. Griffith. This is Mr. Proctor. He was my mother's attorney.
17:23Very kind of you to bring Mrs. Griffith home.
17:26I have some business to discuss with you, Mr. Griffith.
17:30Well, come in. Come in.
18:06It's quite a good likeness.
18:08A poor thing, but mine own.
18:12You say you have some business with me, Mr. Proctor?
18:16As Mrs. Abercrombie's executor and Miss Abercrombie's legal representative, yes.
18:21Does Miss Abercrombie need a legal representative?
18:24Her mother thought so.
18:26Tell him.
18:27I'm afraid this is going to be very disappointing to you, Mr. Griffith.
18:31Why, Mr. Proctor?
18:32I know a good deal about your financial affairs.
18:35Do you?
18:36As it happens, our law firm has had business dealings with your uncle, Mr. George Griffith.
18:41And my uncle talked of his black sheep nephew, as he always does. Not favorably, I'm sure.
18:48I take it you've already quoted my uncle in extenso to my wife and Miss Abercrombie?
18:54I considered that to be my duty.
18:57You are a very dutiful young man.
19:00I try to be.
19:02The late Mrs. Abercrombie was a wise and forethinking mother.
19:06Demortuous nihil nisi bonum.
19:09What?
19:10Oh, I thought all good lawyers knew Latin.
19:12Of the dead speak nothing but the best.
19:15I would scarcely expect even you to speak slightingly, especially under the circumstances.
19:22In any case, Mrs. Abercrombie placed her estate in trust,
19:26with the proviso that it should go entire, free of any claims by creditors,
19:31to whichever of her daughters remained unmarried at the time of her death.
19:36She did this in the belief that her married daughter would be amply provided for by her husband.
19:43And you doubt my ability to support my wife in the manner to which I had just begun to accustom
19:47her.
19:49I'm only saying, Mr. Griffith, that I shall do everything in my power
19:53to see that no claims by your creditors deprive Miss Abercrombie of the estate which now belongs solely to her.
20:00Have I made myself clear?
20:01You have, indeed.
20:04I feel faint.
20:07I'll take you upstairs.
20:18I didn't know. I really didn't know.
20:22My perfect wife.
20:38You have, indeed.
20:49so
21:29I've been watching for you.
21:31Why?
21:34Your uncle is here.
21:36Why?
21:38I thought perhaps if we could talk to him.
21:40We?
21:42I am your wife.
21:44My perfect wife.
21:52Mr. Stevens, the moneylender was here about the notes you signed.
21:56Three tradesmen came together.
21:58They refused to deliver any more bread, coal or meat unless you pay something on account.
22:03They heard about my mother's death.
22:07They thought perhaps you were her heir.
22:09That is, that I...
22:11That my wife brought me a fortune.
22:13Of course, you told them the truth.
22:15No.
22:16I asked them to be patient.
22:18Then I sent your uncle a note.
22:21That was kind of you.
22:24I asked him to come here to visit us.
22:25I had no idea he'd come immediately.
22:27My uncle wouldn't miss an opportunity to see me crawl...
22:29Crawl!
22:29Kneel plead, employ him to cast me a crumb, feed his fat conceit by begging for what belongs to me.
22:37Where is he?
22:39I gave him my mother's room.
22:41Oh, so the stage is set.
22:44Now you expect me to go up to him and whimper, please, so that he can rant and rave, avenging
22:49your mother by humiliating me.
22:53Does my mother need avenging?
22:57Your charming sister thinks so.
23:14Come in.
23:21So you finally decided to come home, eh?
23:24Well, Uncle George, I didn't expect to find you here as my guest.
23:27What did you expect?
23:28Creditors on your doorstep?
23:30Bailiffs in your drawing room?
23:31As you know, that would be nothing new.
23:34However, the present situation is quite different from the past.
23:37You mean it's worse.
23:40Why did she marry you?
23:42She thought I was rich.
23:43I thought she was rich.
23:45We were both mistaken.
23:47So you added another pretty piece to your collection that you can't afford to pay for.
23:52Uncle George, you hold £5,200 that actually belongs to me.
23:57You have only to sign a piece of paper, and there'll be no more creditors howling at my doorstep.
24:02I shall be able to work, think, and write, as I cannot do now.
24:07When you forged my signature, that was a sample of your writing ability, I assume?
24:12I'm on to you, and I won't stand for any more of it.
24:17How much is that thing worth?
24:21More than you could possibly understand.
24:24Then get someone to buy it.
24:26Sell off their fancy-dancy this and that that you've filled your house with.
24:30There must be some fools who can afford their foolishness, but you can't.
24:34Nothing in this house is for sale.
24:37Since when did beggars get to be choosers?
24:40Since when did you get to be God, with the right to judge condemned to doom?
24:48This is the last time I shall ask you to help me.
24:51I've told you what to do.
24:52If you don't want to do it, it's your bad luck and not mine.
24:58Are you sure, Uncle George?
25:00Are you sure?
25:02You'd better not threaten me.
25:04Otherwise you'll never get a penny.
25:06Never is a very long time.
25:12Ah!
25:28Ah!
25:30Ah!
25:31Ah!
25:33Ah!
25:33Ah!
25:33Ah!
25:34Ah!
25:34Ah!
25:35They quarreled. I owned them.
25:37He killed his uncle away. He killed my mom.
25:40Murderer! Murderer! Murderer!
26:18He's to drink that, all of it, when he wakes.
26:22He'll be right as rain in a day or so.
26:25Probably outlive all of us.
26:29Constitutionally, he's sound as English oak, and, as I imagine you've noticed,
26:34as hard to bend or break.
26:41He's going to die, isn't he? Isn't he?
26:43Now, dear, there's a little trouble with his heart.
26:46I'm sorry to disappoint you, Helen.
26:48Good night, Doctor. Thank you.
26:50Quite all right, Mrs. Griffith. Happy to be of service.
26:52I'll show you after.
26:55Make sure your uncle takes his medicine.
26:58Better add a few drops of bread to disguise the taste.
27:01Just anything you say to him.
27:04He's the one that's disappointed. Did you see him?
27:07He tried to murder his uncle. I know he did.
27:09I don't care what that doctor said.
27:11He tried to murder his uncle.
27:19Oh, I'm sorry.
27:27Oh.
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31:29to disguise its taste yes I heard uncle George must have wait just now while I
31:39was dozing and smelled the brandy he loved brandy strange the same night in
31:48almost the same moment my uncle and your sister but first my mother she loved
31:57brandy too you hated her you hated Helen you hated your uncle hate is a small and
32:06ugly word for a smaller and uglier emotion you even hated my cat
32:13a few drops of spilled brandy lapped up from the floor wouldn't kill a cat
32:19any more than brandy killed my mother or him there was more than brandy in that
32:25glass wasn't there more than medicine wasn't there
32:29wasn't there
32:34murder
32:38you
32:38you
32:38you
32:54you
32:55you
33:03you
33:07you
33:08you
33:09you
33:18you
33:29you
33:30you
33:30you
33:30you
33:31you
33:31you
33:31you
33:36you
33:46you
33:54you
33:56you are you mr. Griffith I am Thomas Edward Griffith I am here to arrest you
34:02mr. Griffith and I must warn you sir that anything you may say may be used in
34:06evidence against you the charge I presume is murder mr. Justin I point out
34:12to you that he is the first to mention murder thus proving to mr. Proctor's
34:17satisfaction that guilty conscience doth betray me your name is must in Justin
34:26oh of the bow bells flying squadron you hardly flew coming here in fact you kept
34:33me waiting I sent my dear wife to fetch you hours ago that's not true now why do
34:40you suppose did I do that she is no longer answerable to you I believe she is
34:47still my wife and that under English law a wife cannot take the witness stand
34:52against her husband there is also the fact mr. Proctor that choice of an advisor and
34:59protector for my wife rests entirely with me and I'm afraid you're not exactly the
35:04Galahad's will purrace or approach I choose to guard my loving loyal wife
35:28her neck is broken mr. Proctor was her protector you can see why I lack faith in
35:34him come along sir my business with mr. Justin's employers soon be settled and then nothing will stand
35:45between us my dear nothing carry those carefully please good day mr. Proctor au revoir my dear
36:20your friend mr. Griffith needn't be locked up in the midst of all this if you confess and throw himself
36:27on her
36:27emergency mercy he'll be moved to better quarters and from there to execution doc and what else can a murderer
36:36expect
36:37and what else can a murderer expect he's in there
36:45well mr. Larrymore I I came as soon as I heard you needn't have heard I thought I would find
36:54you in deep distress
36:55no interesting experience distresses an artist or a writer and since I am both or neither depending on the point
37:02of
37:02view my enemies or mine as a matter of fact I am much respected here not because I am called
37:10a poisoner
37:12but because the other prisoners think my crimes earned me ten thousand pounds that makes me their hero since
37:17their own sins were so much less profitable I came hoping you might let me help
37:24in hanging me or saving me I don't know what can save you they say you've even threatened to kill
37:32your wife
37:34no painting is finished mr. Larrymore until the last brushstroke is applied
37:39I don't understand no of course you don't good night mr. Larrymore
37:47oh mr. Larrymore be so kind as to give my wife a message say to her that I'm sure it
37:53will be only a few days
37:54before I can come to her and we can resume settlement of matters which remained unresolved
37:58when she and mr. Proctor brought mr. Justin to arrest me
38:13I'm still laughing mr. Justin this man is a murderer he doesn't even trouble to deny his own guilt
38:20he rests his defense on mockery and on a crooked game of confusion and obfuscation
38:28and on a claim of reasonable doubt what doubt can there be
38:33when an innocent man is accused he reacts with anger and indignation
38:39you mr. Griffith manifest only contempt and cynicism your attitude alone convicts you
38:45I beg your pardon sir john my lord may I speak
38:53you may speak
38:56the prosecutor demands your ruling that I must stand trial for my life
39:00but it seems to me
39:02perhaps I'm a little prejudiced that he destroys his own case by his summary of it
39:08I have been told the corpses of my departed uncle and my wife's lamented mother
39:12had been exhumed examined for some trace of deadly poison
39:15yet the prosecutor offers no testimony that these autopsies were rewarded
39:19as far as he can prove both my generous uncle George
39:24and our beloved mother Abercrombie died of natural causes
39:28is that not true
39:31so sir john must content himself with the claim that I possess some deadly unknown drug
39:38oh really now
39:39do you believe a jury will credit me with such satanic mastery of the fine art of murder
39:48I submit
39:49the record shows me as arch defender of the true and the beautiful
39:54these gentlemen describe me as arch poisoner but they cannot name the poison
39:58they pile suspicion on suspicion
40:00that they cannot produce plain facts
40:03the lord
40:03deny it sir john
40:05as sworn servant of her majesty and upholder of the laws of England
40:08deny there is reasonable doubt
40:12that is for the jury to decide
40:14but do you dare to face a jury
40:17with ramshackle paste and scissors circumstantial evidence that and nothing more
40:22the lord I submit that
40:29the prisoner is remanded in custody pending further disposition of the issue here before us
40:41come along now mr. Trevath
41:13you think mr. griffith that you've won a great victory over english law being free and clear by lord danfoss
41:20decision is hardly a defeat it isn't over mr. griffith
41:23it can't be over
41:25i beg to differ
41:26there's a statute concerning double jeopardy
41:29having been arraigned and charged and her majesty's chief justice having ruled
41:33there was not even sufficient evidence to place me on trial
41:36i cannot be charged again for the same alleged crimes
41:40all london is up in arms against you mr. griffith
41:43and i shan't consider my duty as done until you are penned and punished
41:49the baffled bloodhound baying at the unreachable moon
41:55what's that?
41:56a draft on my uncle's bankers
41:59payable when i come into my inheritance
42:01i would like you to divide it among my fellow prisoners
42:05so that they shall have pocket money for their long voyage to the prison camp in australia
42:12goodbye mr. justin
42:30mr. griffith
42:32well mr. larrymore i didn't expect to see you again
42:37i owe you a debt in him trying to pay it
42:39please mr. griffith
42:40don't stand talking
42:41the news of your release is being shouted in the streets
42:44a mob is forming
42:45armed with clubs and stones
42:48here's money
42:49all i have
42:50i've paid the coachman
42:52hurry mr. griffith
42:54so a lamb becomes a lion
42:56and for the sake of a serpent
42:59you've paid the coachman
43:01you've paid me a thousand times over for favours that cost me no more than a few well-chosen words
43:07but still i must disappoint you mr. larrymore i cannot run off and hide i have a rendezvous to keep
43:12i beg you mr. griffith do not go to your wife
43:15did she send you here to plead her cause
43:17i'm thinking only of you
43:19you were on a pedestal
43:20now you've fallen
43:21as lucifer fell
43:23but still something might be saved
43:26i beg you mr. griffith
43:30the mob is coming
43:31there's stone you mr. griffith
43:32they'll hang you if they can
43:33go before it's too late
44:07i beg you
44:09too much love living
44:10to you have enjoyed something
44:13If you thank God's thanksgiving,
44:19or do the gods may be?
45:05You are very rude to refuse to drink a farewell toast with me, my dear.
45:11They will cry, you killed her.
45:15I will say, she chose a quick death by her own hand in preference to life with a husband she
45:21ruined when she called him Griffith the Poisoner.
45:25And another case of reasonable doubt.
45:30You have no other choice, my dear.
45:33This, or unbearable agony infinitely prolonged.
45:44I'm up here! I'm here in the bedroom!
45:47Where's it, Griffith?
45:49In here, please, quickly!
45:55I am here to arrest you, Mr Griffith.
45:59There can be no charge against me now.
46:04Oh, you're quite wrong, Mr Griffith.
46:08In October 1828, you completed a certain financial transaction.
46:14Monies were held for you in trust to the order of Mr George Griffith.
46:18That's past history and buried with my uncle.
46:21No, Mr Griffith.
46:23I have here a bank draft, which bears your uncle's signature, and which you presented for payment.
46:31Your uncle did not sign this, Mr Griffith.
46:33It has been compared with his true signature, and yours, on the draft you gave me in Nougat.
46:39You forged this draft, Mr Griffith.
46:42I robbed no one.
46:44The money was mine.
46:46If that is, I...
46:48I anticipated time a little.
46:50You confess to forgery in the presence of these witnesses?
46:53No matter if I do, I am not under oath or on trial.
46:57But you will be, Mr Griffith.
46:59You will be.
47:03And the penalty for uttering false paper under the law at which Mr Griffith has laughed until this moment
47:09is transportation to Australia
47:12as a prisoner at hard labour in the penal colonies for life
47:17with no possibility of parole.
47:20Of course, it's not the same thing as hanging at execution dock for murder,
47:24but for such a perfectionist as Mr Griffith,
47:27it may be worse.
47:30It may be worse.
47:33It may be worse.
47:57That no life lives forever, that dead men rise up never, that even the where is the river?
48:14Why, why?
48:23Why, why?
48:26Why, why?
48:28Why, why?
48:32Why, why?
48:35Why, why?
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