MovieChat Forums > The Fugitive Kind (1960) Discussion > Sheriff's Spouse 'Eyes' Scene

Sheriff's Spouse 'Eyes' Scene


I didn't really get the part near the end of the movie where the lady is running around (I believe it's Maureen Stapleton, the Sheriff's spouse) is saying there is something wrong with her eyes...? Can anyone clarify that part? I must have missed something.


‘Six inches is perfectly adequate; more is vulgar!' (Prime of Miss Jean Brodie Re: An open window).

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Hi, having just bought the DVD, I didn't understand that scene either...not until I engaged the English subtitles...which helped uncover a lot of interesting details I had earlier missed. The Sheriff's wife (Maureen Stapleton) first says she can't see, then she continues by saying she "had a vision", which apparently served to deprive her of her eyesight. Too bad she didn't inform her husband and his buddies that poor Val was coming to her aid (as opposed to attacking her), but then there wouldn't be the tragic finale, would there?

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It's mentioned in Lumet's interview on the Criterion edition that there was more to this, but it brought the film's pacing to a halt, so they left it out.

"In my case, self-absorption is completely justified."

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So confuse the viewer rather than tighten the pacing! Got it.

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