Original subtitles

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>> I see you've already sold some of my

toys.

That was naughty of you.

I thought you were beautiful when I drew

that.

The impossible acme of perfection.

I must have been mad.

Did madness come on me afterward?

We may never know.

We may never know.

Through too much love of living, through

hope and fear set free,

we thank with brief thanksgiving

whatever gods may be,

that no life lives forever,

that dead men rise up never,

that even the weariest river winds

somewhere to the sea.

My famous Borgia ring

containing, so you testified,

some rare poison.

Nearly tasteless, impossible of

detection.

>> [music]

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>> Well, dear wife,

shall we drink together and farewell to

the past? [music]

>> [music]

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>> Chopin said that Griffith,

the man who made this lovely picture and

then destroyed it,

really lived.

He was a writer, painter, and a critic.

Now, in each of these arts, he displayed

talent.

But his real genius lay elsewhere.

We have the testimony of Charles Lamb,

Charles Dickens, Oscar Wilde, and other

famous witnesses

that Griffith was the master of the

gentle art of

murder,

a dabbler in the occult and a

connoisseur of the exotic.

Griffith was far ahead of the medical

men of his time

in the lethal science of

toxication.

In simpler terms, Griffith was a

poisoner.

That's the name of our play, The

Poisoner.

And among those threatened by this

sinister gentleman played by Mr. Murray

[music] Matheson

were his wife played by Miss Sarah

Marshall,

her mother played by Miss Brenda [music]

Forbes,

her sister played by Miss Jennifer Ray,

and his uncle played by Mr. Maurice

Denham.

>> [music]

>> Oh, by the way, uh

if in the course of our [music] story

someone brings you a cup of tea or

a spot of brandy,

I suggest you let them take the first

sip.

>> [music]

[music]

>> Ladies and gentlemen,

may I present my bride.

That is as I see her with my heart.

Thank you for disagreeing with those who

say that Thomas Edward Griffith lacks

only one attribute of genius, and that

is talent. I agree with them.

Perhaps I haven't until now.

I am a very conceited man,

or rather

I have been until today.

Now I feel forced to confess

that this portrait does not even begin

to do justice to its subject,

to that matchless pearl of loveliness

without flaw,

my wife.

>> I toast

to the perfect pair.

May their marriage be perfection.

>> Well, dear wife, shall we drink together

to the endless future?

>> I can't get this chair through the door.

So narrow.

Uh, looks as if everyone's here before

us.

Didn't even invite us to the wedding.

You ought to be ashamed.

So, you're the bridegroom.

>> Who are these people?

>> Oh,

this is my mother.

And this is my sister, Helen.

>> Your mother

and your sister.

I think we should be going.

Thank you, Mr. Latimer.

>> I feel sick at my stomach.

>> I didn't expect them until tomorrow.

>> I didn't expect them at all.

>> I should have told you they were coming.

>> Yes, you should have told me.

>> [cough]

>> They have nowhere else to live. Mother

sold her house. That was all she had and

that and a small income and

and debts. Helen's illness has taken a

terrible burden on Mother.

>> You're not even rich.

>> I never said I was.

>> You only pretended until you caught a

husband.

Get that animal out of here.

>> It belongs to me.

And so do they.

>> Or rather, you belong to them.

My perfect bride.

>> Where are you going?

>> [music]

>> Don't! Don't you dare touch Mother.

>> [music]

>> Did you see that? He was going to strike

me. His own mother-in-law on his wedding

day.

What kind of a man did you marry anyhow?

>> I don't know.

I don't know.

>> He's a murderer.

>> Helen!

>> He's a murderer. I saw it in his eyes.

Oh, I'm going to faint.

Take your sister upstairs and put her to

bed.

Take her money, too, so she won't be

under foot.

I'll wait for Mr. Thomas Edward

Griffith,

I am mighty esquire.

>> What if he doesn't come back?

>> He'll come back. He wouldn't walk out

and leave all this.

Neither will we.

Neither will we.

>> [music]

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>> Who is it?

Who is it?

I'm sorry I startled you, mother.

Don't call me mother.

You and your smarmy, palmy talk.

I suppose that's how you landed Frances.

I suppose you think you can get me

drunk. Well, you can't.

>> I only want you to feel at home.

Mrs. Abercrombie, I feel that I can be

honest with you.

It isn't every widowed mother who can

provide so well for her orphan

daughters.

>> What do you know about that?

>> I understand you've sold your home.

>> And I don't intend to keep the money.

You won't get your hands on it, not

while I'm alive.

>> I don't expect to.

But I think I must tell you that, in

spite of appearances and from what you

may have heard, I am not wealthy.

Not at all.

My only income comes from a trust fund

left by my father, in charge of my

uncle, Mr. George Griffith.

>> So, you lied to her.

>> I never lie. No lie can possibly be

perfect. And as you will learn, I

idolize perfection.

>> Talk, talk, talk. Words, words, words.

>> Words are my stock in trade.

Here is a book I published. The Academy

of Good Taste for Young Gentlemen, or

the Infant Connoisseur's Go-Cart.

Amusing, full of witty epigrams which

are quoted throughout London.

But it earned me nothing. The time will

come, however, when I can begin to

profit from the reputation I am

building.

You could make life happier for your

daughter, Mrs. Abercrombie,

for your daughters, by helping me to

reach that goal.

>> I wouldn't help you get anywhere.

>> This was my house, and I was master in

it until I married.

>> Well, I'm in it now, and I intend to

stay as long as I please, live like I

please, or I'll tear your precious

reputation down to nothing.

>> Mrs. Abercrombie, I

>> Don't try any of your tricks with me.

>> I'm sorry, Mrs. Abercrombie.

I had hoped against hope.

>> Well, you can just quit hoping.

>> I have.

Are you sure you want that?

>> You just try to take it away from me.

>> I won't.

Good night, Abercrombie.

>> Good riddance to bad rubbish.

>> Yes.

Good riddance.

>> [music]

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>> I should have told you about Mother and

Helen.

>> The moving finger writes, and having

writ moves on. Not all your piety nor

wit can change or alter one half line of

it.

>> Does that mean it's all right?

>> Everything will be all right soon.

>> [screaming]

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>> She's dead.

My mother is dead.

She was perfectly well.

>> We never know.

One moment health,

the next oblivion.

As Leonardo said, the moment we are

born, we begin to die.

Don't say anything about this to anyone.

People would talk.

>> Won't people talk anyway?

>> I'm afraid so.

Then they'll forget.

As you must forget, my dear.

Be thankful she died without suffering.

>> How do you know she didn't suffer?

>> He knows because he killed her. I saw

him do it. Murderer!

>> I was with you when she died.

>> He murdered her. He murdered mama!

Oh heaven help me!

>> I didn't do it.

>> Save me!

He's a murderer!

>> [screaming]

>> This is my Mr. Griffith. This is Mr.

Proctor. He was my mother's attorney.

>> Very kind of you to bring Mrs. Griffith

home.

>> I have some business to discuss with

you, Mr. Griffith.

>> Well, come in. Come in.

>> [music]

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>> Quite a good likeness.

Poor thing, but mine own.

You say you have some business with me,

Mr. Proctor?

>> As Mrs. Abercrombie's executor and Miss

Abercrombie's legal representative, yes.

>> Does Miss Abercrombie need a legal

representative?

>> Her mother thought so.

>> Tell him.

>> I'm afraid this is going to be very

disappointing to you, Mr. Griffith.

>> Why, Mr. Proctor?

>> I know a good deal about your financial

affairs.

>> Do you?

>> As it happens, our law firm has had

business dealings with your uncle, Mr.

George Griffith.

>> And my uncle talked of his black sheep

nephew, as he always does. Not

favorably, I'm sure.

I take it you've already quoted my uncle

in extenso to my wife and Miss

Abercrombie?

>> I considered that to be my duty.

>> You're a very dutiful young man.

>> I try to be.

The late Mrs. Abercrombie was a wise and

forethinking mother.

>> De mortuis nihil nisi bonum.

>> What?

>> Oh, I thought all good lawyers knew

Latin.

Of the dead speak nothing but the best.

I would scarcely expect even you to

speak slightingly, especially under the

circumstances.

In any case, Mrs. Abercrombie placed her

estate in trust

with a proviso that it should go entire,

free of any claims by creditors,

to whichever of her daughters remained

unmarried at the time of her death.

She did this in the belief that her

married daughter would be amply provided

for by her husband.

And you doubt my ability to support my

wife in the manner to which I had just

begun to accustom her.

I'm only saying, Mr. Griffith, that I

shall do everything in my power to see

that no claims by your creditors deprive

Miss Abercrombie of the estate which now

belongs solely to her. Have I made

myself clear?

You have, indeed.

>> [clears throat]

>> I feel faint.

I'll take you upstairs.

I didn't know. I really didn't know.

My perfect wife.

>> [music]

[music]

>> I've been watching for you.

>> Why?

>> Your uncle is here.

>> Why?

>> I thought perhaps if we could talk to

him.

>> We?

>> I am your wife.

>> My perfect wife.

>> Mr. Stevens, the money lender was here

about the notes you signed.

Three tradesmen came together.

They refused to deliver any more bread,

coal, or meat unless you pay something

on account.

They heard about

about my mother's death.

They thought perhaps you were her heir.

That is that that that

>> That my wife brought me a fortune.

Of course you told them the truth.

>> No.

I asked them to be patient.

Then I sent your uncle a note.

>> That was kind of you.

>> I asked him to come here to visit us. I

had no idea he'd come immediately.

>> My uncle wouldn't miss an opportunity to

see me crawl, kneel, plead, and ploy him

to cost me a crumb feedy's fat conceit

by begging for what belongs to me.

Where is he?

>> I gave him my mother's room.

>> Oh, so the stage is set.

Now you expect me to go up to him and

whimper, "Please." So that he can rant

and rave, avenging your mother by

humiliating me.

>> Does my mother need avenging?

>> Your charming sister thinks so.

>> Come in.

So, you've finally decided to come home,

eh?

>> Well, Uncle George, I didn't expect to

find you here as my guest.

>> What did you expect? Creditors on your

doorstep? Bailiffs in your drawing room?

>> As you know, that would be nothing new.

However, the present situation is quite

different from the past.

>> You mean it's worse?

Why did she marry you?

>> She thought I was rich. I thought she

was rich.

We were both mistaken.

>> So, you added another pretty piece to

your collection that you can't afford to

pay for.

>> Uncle George, you hold 5,200 pounds that

actually belongs to me. You have only to

sign a piece of paper, and there will be

no more creditors howling at my

doorstep.

I shall be able to work, think, and

write

as I cannot do now.

>> When you forged my signature,

that was a sample of your writing

ability, I assume?

I am onto you, and I won't stand for any

more of it.

How much is that thing worth?

>> More than you could possibly understand.

>> Then [snorts] get someone to buy it.

Sell off the fancy dancing this and that

that you've filled your house with.

There must be some fools who can afford

their foolishness, but you can't.

>> Nothing in this house is for sale.

>> Since when did beggars get to be

choosers?

>> Since when did you get to be God

with the right to judge, condemn, to

doom?

This is the last time I shall ask you to

help me.

>> I've told you what to do.

If you don't want to do it, it's your

bad luck, and not mine.

>> Are sure, Uncle George?

Are you sure?

>> You'd better not threaten me.

Otherwise, you'll never get a penny.

>> Never is a very long time.

>> [screaming]

>> He killed him. They quarreled. I heard

them. He killed his uncle the way he

killed mama.

>> Murderer!

Murderer!

>> [screaming]

>> Murderer!

>> [music]

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>> Get him to drink that, all of it, when

he wakes.

He'll be right as rain in a day or so.

Probably outlive all of us.

Constitutionally, he's sound as English

oak. And, as I imagine you've noticed,

as hard to bend or break.

>> He's going to die, isn't he? Isn't he?

>> No, dear. It's a little trouble with his

heart.

>> I'm sorry to disappoint you, Helen.

>> Good night, doctor. Thank you.

>> Right, all right, Mrs. Griffith. Happy

to be of service. I'll show you out,

then.

>> Make sure your uncle takes his medicine.

Perhaps a few drops of brandy to

disguise the taste.

>> Anything you say, doctor.

>> [clears throat]

>> He's the one that's disappointed. Did

you see him? He tried to murder his

uncle. I know he did. I don't care what

that doctor said. He tried to murder his

uncle.

>> [music]

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>> Uncle George.

Uncle George, wake up.

It's all right, Uncle George. The The

doctor's been here.

He mixed this for you. It's It's mostly

brandy.

Now, you are to drink all of it.

Doctor's orders.

More?

>> [music]

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>> I must have dozed off. I thought I had a

noise.

Wait.

>> Helen should have been more careful,

shouldn't she?

She called you a murderer.

>> It would be very wrong of me to hold her

accountable for things said under the

stress of shock and sorrow.

>> The money comes to me now, you know

that, of course.

>> This is hardly the time to talk about

such matters with your poor sister lying

there.

I believe you heard the doctor tell me

to add brandy to his medicine to

disguise its taste.

>> Yes, I heard.

>> Uncle George

must have wake just now while I was

dozing

and smelled the brandy.

He loved brandy.

Strange. The same night at almost the

same moment, my uncle and your sister.

>> But first

my mother.

>> She loved brandy, too.

>> You hated her.

You hated Helen.

You hated your uncle.

>> Hate is a small and ugly word for a

smaller and uglier emotion.

>> You even hated my cat.

>> [music]

>> A few drops of spilled brandy lapped up

from the floor wouldn't kill a cat.

Any more than brandy killed my mother.

Or him.

There was more than brandy in that

glass, wasn't there?

More than medicine, wasn't there?

Wasn't there?

>> [music]

>> Murderer.

You poisoner.

>> [music]

[music]

[music]

>> Move along there. Move along.

>> Wherever he's run to, they'll find him.

You're safe from him, I promise you.

>> Are you

Are you Mr. Griffith?

>> I am Thomas Edward Griffith.

>> I am here to arrest you, Mr. Griffith.

And I must warn you, sir, that anything

you may say may be used in evidence

against you.

>> The charge, I presume, is murder?

>> Mr. Justin, I point out to you that he

is the first to mention murder.

>> Thus proving to Mr. Proctor's

satisfaction

that guilty conscience doth betray me.

Your name is Mustin?

>> Justin.

>> Oh.

>> Of the Bow Bells Flying Squadron.

>> You hardly flew coming here.

In fact, you kept me waiting.

I sent my dear wife to fetch you hours

ago.

>> That's not true.

>> Now, why do you suppose did I do that?

>> She is no longer answerable to you.

>> I believe she is still my wife.

And that under English law, a wife

cannot take the witness stand

against her husband.

There's also the fact, Mr. Proctor, that

choice of an adviser and protector for

my wife rested entirely with me.

And I'm afraid you're not exactly the

Galahad sans peur et sans reproche I'd

choose to guard my loving, loyal wife.

>> [music]

>> Her neck is broken.

>> Mr. Proctor was her protector.

You can see why I lack faith in you.

>> How long, sir?

>> My business with Mr. Justin's employers

will soon be settled,

>> [music]

>> and then nothing will stand between us,

my dear.

Nothing.

Carry those carefully, please.

Good day, Mr. Proctor.

Au revoir, my dear.

>> [music]

[music]

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>> Here, Mr. Ledoux,

your friend Mr. Griffith needn't be

locked up in the midst of all this.

If he confesses and throws himself on

her majesty's mercy,

he could be moved to better quarters.

And from there to

execution dock?

And what else can a murderer expect?

He's in there.

Well, Mr. Lattimer,

I

I came as soon as I heard.

You needn't have hurried.

I thought I would find you in deep

distress. No, interesting experience

distresses an artist, or a writer.

And since I am both,

or neither, depending on the point of

view, my enemies are mine.

As a matter of fact,

I'm much respected here.

Not because I am called a poisoner,

but because the other prisoners think my

crimes earned me 10,000 pounds. That

makes me their hero, since their own

sins were so much less profitable.

I came hoping you might let me help.

In claiming me?

Or saving me. I don't know what can save

you.

They say you've even threatened to kill

your wife.

No painting is finished, Mr. Lattimer,

until the last brush stroke is applied.

I don't understand.

No, of course you don't.

Good night, Mr. Lattimer.

Oh, Mr. Lattimer, be so kind as to give

my wife a message.

Say to her that I'm sure it will be only

a few days before I can come and we can

resume settlement of matters which

remained unresolved when she and Mr.

Proctor brought Mr. Justin to arrest me.

I'm still laughing, Mr. Justin. This man

is a murderer.

He doesn't even trouble to deny his own

guilt.

He rests his defense on mockery

and on a crooked game of confusion and

obfuscation

and on a claim of reasonable doubt.

What doubt can there be?

When an innocent man is accused, he

reacts with anger and indignation. You,

Mr. Griffith, manifest only contempt and

cynicism. Your attitude alone convicts

you.

>> I beg your pardon, Sir John.

My lord, may I speak?

>> You may speak.

>> The prosecutor demands your ruling that

I must stand trial for my life. But it

seems to me

well, perhaps I'm a little prejudiced,

that he destroys his own case by his

summary of it.

I have been told the corpses of my

departed uncle and my wife's lamented

mother have been exhumed, examined for

some trace of deadly poison. Yet the

prosecutor offers no testimony that

these autopsies were rewarded.

As far as he can prove, both my generous

Uncle George and our beloved Mother

Abercrombie died of natural causes. Is

that not true?

So, Sir John must content himself with

the claim that I possess some deadly

unknown drug.

Oh, really now.

Do you believe a jury will credit me

with such satanic mastery of the fine

art of murder?

I submit

the record shows me as arch defender of

the true and the beautiful.

These gentlemen describe me as arch

poisoner, but they cannot name the

poison. They pile suspicion on

suspicion, but they cannot produce plain

facts.

>> My lord,

>> deny it, Sir John.

As sworn servant of Her Majesty and

upholder of the laws of England, deny

there is reasonable doubt.

>> That is for the jury to decide.

>> But do you dare to face a jury with

ramshackle paste and scissors

circumstantial evidence that and nothing

more?

>> My lord, I submit that

>> The prisoner is remanded in custody

pending further disposition of the

[laughter] issue here before us.

>> Come along now, Mr. Griffith.

>> [music]

[music]

>> Read all

>> [music]

>> about the robbery.

Honest Jim intimidates God.

Griffith buys his way to [music]

freedom.

Get your Evening Journal here.

>> You think, Mr. Griffith,

that you won a great victory over

English law?

>> Being free and clear, my lord, Justice

decision is hardly a defeat.

>> It isn't over, Mr. Griffith.

It can't be over.

>> I beg to differ.

There's a statute concerning double

jeopardy.

Having been arraigned and charged and

Her Majesty's Chief Justice having ruled

there was not even sufficient evidence

to place me on trial, I cannot be

charged again for the same alleged

crimes.

>> All London is up in arms against you,

Mr. Griffith. And I shan't consider my

duty as done until you are pinned and

punished.

>> The baffled bloodhound baying at the

unreachable moon.

>> What's that?

>> A draft on my uncle's bankers,

payable when I come into my inheritance.

I would like you to divide it among my

fellow prisoners

so that they shall have pocket money for

their long voyage to the prison camp in

Australia.

Goodbye, Mr. Justin.

>> Mr. Griffith.

>> Well, Mr. Larimore, I didn't expect to

see you again.

>> I owe you a debt and I'm trying to pay

it. Please, Mr. Griffith, don't stand

talking.

The news of your release is being

shouted in the streets.

A mob is forming, armed with clubs and

stones.

Here's money, all I have. I've paid the

coachman.

Hurry, Mr. Griffith.

>> So, a lamb becomes a lion for the sake

of a serpent.

You paid the coachman.

You paid me a thousand times over for

favors that cost me no more than a few

well-chosen words.

But still, I must disappoint you, Mr.

Larimore. I cannot run off and hide. I

have a rendezvous to keep.

>> I beg you, Mr. Griffith, do not go to

your wife.

>> Did she send you here to plead her

cause?

>> I'm thinking only of you.

You were on a pedestal. Now you've

fallen, as Lucifer fell.

But still, something might be saved.

I beg you, Mr. Griffith.

The mob is coming.

They'll stone you, Mr. Griffith. They'll

hang you if they can. Go before it's too

late.

>> [music]

[music]

[music]

[music]

>> Too much of a difference.

joyless

Thank goodness it's Thanksgiving.

What did the gods

make me?

>> [music]

[music]

[music]

>> You were very rude to refuse to drink

[music] a farewell toast with me, my

dear.

They will cry,

"You killed her."

I will say,

"She chose a quick death by her own hand

in preference to life with a husband she

ruined when she called him Griffith the

poisoner."

And another case [music] of reasonable

doubt.

You have no other choice, my dear. This

or unending terrible agony infinitely

[music] prolonged.

>> [music]

>> I'm here!

I'm here in the bedroom!

>> Mrs. Griffith?

>> In here, please, quickly!

>> I am here to arrest you, Mr. Griffith.

>> There can be no charge against me now?

>> Oh, you're quite wrong, Mr. Griffith.

In October 1828,

you completed a certain financial

transaction.

Monies were held for you in trust to the

order of Mr. George Griffith.

>> That's past history and buried with my

uncle.

>> No, Mr. Griffith.

I have here a bank draft,

which bears your uncle's signature, and

which you presented for payment.

Your uncle did not sign this, Mr.

Griffith.

It has been compared with his true

signature and yours on the draft you

gave me in Nugget.

You forged this draft, Mr. Griffith.

>> I robbed no one.

The money was mine.

If that is, I

I anticipated time a little.

>> You confess to forgery in the presence

of these witnesses?

>> No matter if I do. I'm not under oath or

on trial.

>> But you will be, Mr. Griffith.

You will be.

And the penalty for uttering false paper

under the law which Mr. Griffith has

laughed until this moment

is transportation to Australia

as a prisoner at hard labor in the penal

colonies for life

with no possibility of parole.

Of course, it's not the same thing as

hanging an execution dock for murder,

but for such a perfectionist as Mr.

Griffith,

it may be worse.

It may be worse.

>> [music]

>> No lie.

Hey. forever.

Dead men rise up,

never.

But even the

river

river

What? What?

river

>> [music]

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>> Woo!