MovieChat Forums > A Kiss Before Dying (1956) Discussion > Why does Dwight just sit there? (Spoiler...

Why does Dwight just sit there? (Spoiler alert)

posted 18 years ago by sthroneberry
27 replies | jump to latest

I like this movie a lot, but there is one scene that seems flawed to me. When Bud corners Dwight in his dorm room and then reveals he intends to kill him why in the world doesn't Dwight put up a fight instead of just sitting there and letting Bud blow his brains out. At the very least, if Dwight put up a struggle to get out of the room or get the gun away from Bud, even if Bud shot and killed him Dwight would at least be thwarting Bud's attempt to make it look like suicide and thus foil his plans. Dwight could have at least gone down in a blaze of glory....so to speak. Does anyone else have any thoughts about this scene?

[–] Susiachi 18 years ago

Yeah, I had the same impulse to scream at him to at least try to knock the gun out of Bud's hand and rip the suicide note out of the typewriter. Up to that point I was liking the Dwight character. He let me down.

[–] cjcronk 18 years ago

Ditto for me....also, remember in the restaurant where Ellen and Dwight had their talk, and Bud was listening at a nearby table? It was totally unrealistic that Ellen wouldn't have seen and recognized him.

[–] thurberdrawing 18 years ago

There's a gun involved. Also, factor in Dwight's feeling of guilt over dumping Dory. As he tells Dory's sister, when he heard that Dory committed suicide (which we know she didn't) he felt responsible. His own desire to live wasn't there at the moment Bud pulled the gun on him. On top of this, a lot of movies made in the fifties seem to have been filmed in a mood of hangover. Everybody sleepwalks in these. Think of any Douglas Sirk movie. The characters are practically comatose. I think this movie is pretty scary. It's not incredibly realistic, but, high realism would have required a different sensibility.

[–] hobnob53 18 years ago

I don't agree with the last post at all. Whatever guilt Dwight may have felt over Dory was pretty remote and passing, as is clear from his conversation with Ellen, and in any case she had laid any doubts he may have had to rest in their meeting at the bar. The idea that he didn't have the will to live is ridiculous -- not only is there no indication of that whatsoever, but at the last moment before Bud shoots him he does beg for his life in a whimpering sort of way. I agree that this was the weak point of the film's plot. Obviously he had nothing to lose -- for God's sake, he was about to be shot dead anyway -- so why not make a fight of it? He would have stood a good chance of getting away (Bud couldn't have pursued him without being seen by others), and even if he had been shot, in a struggle he might only have been wounded -- still leaving him able to escape, or at least scream, knock the furniture around, do anything to show there'd been a struggle in the room. Even if he were killed, the sounds and signs of a life-and-death battle would have put the lie to Bud's efforts to make him look like a "suicide". (A fight would likely also have brought others to the scene, further ruining Bud's scheme.) But to just sit there and do nothing while a maniac is about to end your life is just not credible.

[–] AustralienneLee 17 years ago

Maybe he was just too scared to try anything.

It could be seen as a weakness in the story though, but not unforgiveable.

His name was Jackson. Probably still is.

[–] hobnob53 17 years ago

Well, clearly he was scared, and obviously paralyzed into inaction. But he loses the audience's respect and the plot loses some credibility. He hadn't come across as a weakling -- quite the opposite -- before that point.

[–] c7c7c7r 17 years ago

Yes, I agree about her not seeing Bud at the restaurant--he was just two tables over. That wasn't believable, but the movie had such great mid-Fifties atmosphere, it'a a classic of its kind. As for poor Dwight, all he had to do was lunge at Bud--remember he was athletic.

[–] angelofvic 12 years ago

It was totally unrealistic that Ellen wouldn't have seen and recognized him.

He came in after them and was seated in a booth shielded by a curtain. Ellen was facing the opposite direction.
.

[–] kinsociojey 17 years ago

I stopped watching soon after the scene where no one questioned his presence in the chem supply area. Some guy standing around looking suspicious, turning his head whenever someone comes by, going into the supply room in street clothes...oh yeah...real believable writing. That, and Ellen has to be the absolute dumbest blonde in the history of filmmaking. You only had a problem with one part?

[–] prenzie-1 17 years ago

I read the book years ago and could be wrong but seem to remember Dwight being hanged. Does anyone recall the scene better than me, hopefully? Other more dramatic scenes like Bud's And Dorrie's deaths were changed and Bud's motivation all but left out,not to mention the 3rd Kingship sister.

[–] Mehki_Girl 17 years ago

He fell into a vat of smelted metal after being confronted by dad on a tour of the plant, who finally figures out the is going after the 3rd daughter after killing both. The screenwriter should be shot for this movie and the director for directing it.

[–] angelofvic 12 years ago

No one saw him standing around looking suspcious.
.

[–] roger-624 17 years ago

I got to admit this bugged me a lot too. As Ken Begg says, IITS (it's in the script i.e., bad plot devise used to keep the story going).

In a good movie like this one, you can ignore it somewhat, in a bad film, it's just another sign of bad film making/script writing.

[–] lizardkxng 17 years ago

He was scared, anyone here had a gun at their head from someone they didn't know? I have, (in a robbery) you hope they are just scaring you to be silent like he said he would.

[–] dilmano 17 years ago

I've worked at a bank for over 20 years and have been robbed at gunpoint twice. And yes, it is EXTREMELY terrifying. However, it was pretty obvious that Dwight knew that Bud was going to shoot him (as another poster noted, he begs not to be shot). And believe me, if I felt certain that I was going to be killed by someone with a gun, I'd go out fighting. I sure as hell wouldn't turn my back on the shooter and just sit there waiting to be executed. Good grief, Dwight was a tennis player....he had to have fairly good reflexes.

I saw this movie for the first time recently, and was amazed at this scene. It was just poorly written. There are several ways it could have been done where the outcome was the same, but without making poor Dwight look so pathetic.

However, I'd be curious to know how viewers responded to this scene when the movie came out 50 years ago.

[–] blondcowboy 16 years ago

I have also pondered about Dwight being so willing to be slaughtered. The term immobilised by fear comes to mind. It does lack credibility but many movies of the time did and in some ways I think this adds to their charm. Movies today lack mystery and go straight for the jugular.

[–] rossisking13 16 years ago

I watched this movie this afternoon, and watching Dwight surrender his life so easily just irritated the hell out of me.

If I knew I was about to be framed for murder and then executed, the very least I would do is put up a fight.

"I Don't Understand Women..." Sam Spade

[–] jenaries27 14 years ago

I was thinking the same thing. If you're going to die anyway, why not go down swinging?

[–] jlam888 14 years ago

This film just does not add up logically. Just look at the scene in the beginning where the girl falls down the bleaches and then just hops up like nothing happened :o

[–] vitolucia 13 years ago

Yeah, the part where Woodward just bounces up unscathed after what appeared to be a horrific fall (pushed?) over that row of bleachers, was even less plausible to me than the Dwight murder. Anyone (I have) who has even stumbled over one row knows you will come out marked and bruised, but instead Woodward just shrugs it off as "oh, clumsy me", which is even more annoying when she was presumably (it's never clear, but you can see Wagner's hand start to lunge towards her back just prior) pushed as the victim would clearly feel that.

Still, despite it's flaws, the film kept my interest, Wagner was perfect as the creepy heartthrob boyfriend and the overall look and tone of the film was totalling befitting that era of movies.

[–] eek-a-mouse 13 years ago

Like almost everyone else here I was found Dwight's passivity illogical and pretty lame.

[–] clore_2 13 years ago

Was Dwight supposed to be left-handed? Why did Bud shoot him in the left side of his head?

It ain't easy being green, or anything else, other than to be me

[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Zorione 12 years ago

Another way out might have been for Dwight to tell Bud that Bud's frame-up plan was doomed since Dwight had the alibi of having been out of the country on the day of the murder, and for days beforehand, in order to compete in a tennis tournament. He could have listed all the many witnesses who would be able to place him in Mexico at that time, such as teammates, reporters, spectators, competitors, coaches, fellow travelers, hotel staff, drivers, etc. Not to mention the photographs, articles, player lists, passenger lists, luggage tags, telegrams, letters, phone messages, etc., that could also place him there. He could have pointed to that framed newspaper article above his desk and reminded Bud that his copy was not the only copy.

Of course, this way would only work if Bud were both willing to believe him and willing to chance letting him leave with his life.

[–] ericsugarland 10 years ago

I agree with most of the posts in this chain. Just sitting there doing nothing and waiting to be shot seems unrealistic.

[–] denham 10 years ago

The strangeness of Dwight's disinclination to do anything is accentuated by the fact that Bud slowly transfers the gun from right hand to left and for a useful interval has no finger on the trigger while the gun is well within arms reach.

This clip shows what someone can do in a similar situation (circumstances for Dwight were rather more favorable): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vc6y7BrujA

I beseech ye in the bowels of Christ, think that ye may be mistaken.