Stage Anglais et Cinéma - Février 2002 - Valérie Restoin Masson

Lamb to the Slaughter

Alfred Hitchock - Roald Dahl

 

Old Testament, Isaiah 53:7. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

Lamb To the Slaughter

bulletFirst aired 4–13–58
bulletStory by: Roald Dahl
bulletTeleplay by: Roald Dahl
bulletDirected by: Alfred Hitchcock
bulletCast:
bulletBarbara Bel Geddes as Mary Maloney
bulletHarold Stone as Jack

 Mary Maloney is a devoted wife and expectant mother. She waits happily each night for the arrival of her husband Patrick, home from work at the police station. On this particular night, though, she can tell something is wrong. In disbelief, she listens as Patrick tells her that he is leaving her for another woman.  Dazed, she goes into the kitchen to prepare their supper and pulls a large frozen leg of lamb from the deep freeze. Still numb, she carries it into the living room and without warning bashes her husband over the head with it. As she looks at Patrick lying dead on the floor, she slowly begins to come back to her senses. Immediately she realizes the ramifications of what she has done. Not wanting her unborn child to suffer as a result of her crime, she begins planning her alibi. She places the leg of lamb in a pan in the oven and goes down to the corner grocery to get some food for "Patrick's dinner" (making sure the grocer sees her normal and cheerful state of mind). She returns home and screams when she finds Patrick lying on the floor. She calls the police and informs them that she found her husband lying dead on the floor. Within hours swarms of officers are searching the house and conducting an investigation. Mary's story of coming home from the grocer and finding him is corroborated as she had planned. While the police are searching fruitlessly into the night for the murder weapon, Mary offers them some lamb that she had prepared for dinner. They are happy to oblige. While they lounge in the kitchen and discuss the case (their mouths "sloppy" with meat), Mary Maloney sits in the living room and giggles softly to herself.

 

Documents

bulletEpisode Alfred Hitchcock Presents réalisé par A.Hitchcock in Coffret ASIN B00005K2Y2
bulletNouvelle complète dans Completely Unexpected Tales, Roald Dahl, Penguin Books ISBN 014
bulletLarges extraits de la nouvelle dans Open The Window, Seconde, Hachette p 208 à 211
bulletExtrait de 45 lignes dans Wide Open, Seconde Hachette p 70
bulletSite Web Roald Dahl : www.roalddahl.org
bulletCatalogue de l'exposition au Centre Beaubourg été 2001: "Hitchcock et l'art: coïncidences fatales".

Ce téléfilm réalisé par un metteur en scène célèbre, document "authentique" au format idéal de 20 minutes, permettra de familiariser les élèves aux plans cinématographiques à partir d'un genre connu et apprécié: le film policier.

Déroulement

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Séance d'introduction au théme: Sensibilisation au genre Detective films, Thrillers, Film Noir…

Activités suggérées
bulletVocabulaire du cinéma: genres, plans, mouvements de caméras, métiers du cinéma etc… (exercices à trous, ou crossword puzzles)
bulletBiographie d'Alfred Hitchock (voir jumbled biography Wide Open WorkBook p 53)  et traduction des titres VO/ VF
bulletVocabulaire de l' enquête policière (définitions à compléter Wide Open WorkBook p 52, Student Book p 66 à 71)
bulletDéfinition du suspense (comparatifs progressifs: more and more, the more ….the ....-er)

 

bulletEtude de la première partie du film, en version originale non sous-titrée

 

bulletEtude du texte extrait du manuel Wide Open seconde, Hachette p 70

 

bulletActivités

 

bulletEvaluation