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I think Cassie was pregnant with Parris Mitchell's baby

posted 21 years ago by fictionalman
18 replies | jump to latest

On the cover of the video I read that the screenwriters had to make a deal with the censor board for the time. What lead me to believe that Cassie was pregnant was when the mean Dr. Henry Gordon left her room after examining her body and was about to make some sort of reference about Cassie but was interrupted when Drake McHugh appeared. Assuming she and Parris Mitchell were able to consummate their love when their scene together faded out, when the mean Dr. Henry Gordon heard Drake McHugh falsely confess about planning on going away with her it put in Dr Drake's already disturbed mind additional animus to destroy him. This is also a prime motive for Cassie's father, Dr. Alexander Q. Tower to murder her. There must have been something in the Kings Row water supply that changed doctors into moral deviants. Parris Mitchell probably did not drink enough of the water to change. I am a huge fan of Ronald Reagan politically and I was pleased with his performance, however his reaction at the end when his friend Parris Mitchell tells him the truth about his condition was a bit unbelievable.

[–] 21 years ago

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[–] AriesJB4 21 years ago

I also thought the same thing, especially when Dr. Gordon (Charles Coburn) was about to say something about Cassie's condition and Drake (Ronald Reagan) interrupts the conversation with his comment. It also led me to believe that if she was pregnant, Drake being a good friend to Parris (Cummings) would absolve him of any responsibility as not to ruin his reputation. Drake on the other hand had the reputation of being a ladies' man. This only added to Dr. Gordon's dislike for the Reagan character, as he took an interest in his daughter, Louise.

I also considered that maybe Cassie was a victim of incest as a result of her father, Dr. Towers (Claude Rains).

[–] 21 years ago

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[–] shelgr3 20 years ago

Dr. Tower was definitely molesting Cassie. Remember, he took her out of school & imprisoned her at home (as he had imprisoned her mother) when Cassie was only a child.

[–] bookwormdreamer 19 years ago

I too thought Cassie was pregnant by Parris there was the one scene were she sort of lures him to follow her,however there are clues of incest as well.The movie says the murder/suicide is due to the mental illness but I think she was pregnant whether by Parris or her father I don't know.One has to ask though did she inherit the illness from her mother or was she unstable because of the incest or both?

[–] ldoyon01 19 years ago

I remember seeing this movie as teenager. It was on tv as part of a ronald reagan film fest the night he was elected president. As for the question of Cassie being pregnant, it could be, but during that time period it could've intimated only that she was no longer a virgin. The only reason Parris is even mentioned is because Dr. Tower left his estate to him. In the journals of Dr. Tower he explains that he started seeing the symptoms of mental instability in Cassie as a child which is why he took her out of school. His wife had started showing the same symptoms shortly after they were married, and she was pregnant with Cassie. It's probable Cassie, angry with her father, blurted out her plan to leave. Because of that he probably guessed who she was leaving with. Being fond of Parris, Dr. Tower not wanting to see Parris wind up as he did, a brillant mind, having to hide away in a small town due to his wife's mental ilness, killed his daughter, and then himself. Drake figures he's known as a playboy, and so claims to have been around with Cassie to protect Parris. This was done before they knew about the inheiritance.

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] deering24 15 years ago

It could also be that Cassie wasn't crazy at all--that what her father saw as illness was a projection of his fears that she was sick. (Which makes her plight all the more chilling because her (obsessed) father causes the very illness he's trying to prevent.) There's a reason doctors shouldn't treat family members.

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] ldoyon01 14 years ago

that's a very good point, although it doesn't show a lot of Cassie's symptoms. Claude Rains had the ability to be charming on one hand and on the other totally sinister. Yet in the movie he"s considered the oddball doctor whereas the sadistic Dr. Gordon, played by Charles Coburn is a perfectly acceptable doctor, until Parris discovers the truth about him.

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] artistathome 12 years ago

If Dr Tower got Cassie pregnant, this could be a reason to kill her and himself especially if he knew for sure, that Parris could not be the father.

[–] Ed in MO 12 years ago

You can easily tell (especially for a movie made in 1942) that the director of the film implied that Robert Cummings and Betty Fields had sex in the scene where the couple kiss in the dark while thunder and lightning blast in the background. The only way he could have made it more obvious is if fireworks had exploded over their heads! Cummings' worried approach to Ronald Reagan afterwards also gives us a good indication that the two lovers did the horizontal mambo in doc's office. (Remember how Reagan laughed and said, "And everybody thinks that I'm the wild one in this town!")

In fact, sex = pregnancy = small-town shame is a theme that underpinned the whole film.

[–] Popcorngal (4937) 3 years ago

I figured that out from the way Drake was smirking, yep the couple got real "cozy"!

[–] kslcutter 10 years ago

This is what I thought too. Cassie wasn't insane, I feel her actions were in response on how her father treated her.

[–] Echo_in_big_sky 14 years ago

I agree that we are to infer that Cassie is pregnant with Parris' baby, but maybe her father didn't know that. Maybe he just assumed the pregnancy was due to his relationship with her. This would also explain why he killed her and then himself. A pregnant, unmarried daughter would have been scandalous and of course once he murdered his daughter he might as well kill himself because everyone would realize he was the murderer. He saved himself from the fallout.

It isn't clear if Drake ever told Parris what the doctors implied about Cassie being pregnant, if Parris knew he might not have believed the notes in her father's journal. Maybe he would have figured out that Cassie was killed for other reasons and that maybe the journal entry was a ruse.

I hope this makes sense.

"First I dream my painting and then I paint my dream."--Vincent van Gogh

[–] oceanchick 9 years ago

I got the impression that Dr Tower had sexually,mentally & physically abused Cassie & impregnated her... although the dialogue doesn't back it. Dialogue seems to point to mental illness but we were never.privy to any signs of it, just a girl scared of being caught by her father while outside or talking to a man. I think the people who read the notes/book/records were naive & too innocent in the world to consider a man, esp a Doctor, of debauchery.

[–] loocheeuh 9 years ago

If you read the book it's clear that any baby might not have been Parris Mitchell's.