What did Alice put on the pheasant?
They never explained what she picked off the spice rack to make it so bitter and yet harmless for Mrs. Marrable.
shareIt looked like Mustard Seed powder to me...
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MovieChat Forums > What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice? (1969) Discussion > What did Alice put on the pheasant?
Yeah that was probably the only real flaw throughout the entire film... it just didn't make any sense.
Welcome to Hell, where white nerds argue for days about what is true hip hop on The Tree of Life board.
My first thought was Tumeric, which like the Mustard Powder already suggested, is used in pickling.
shareMy wife had seen the film earlier and recommended it to me, but I turned it on just as it was entering this scene and it made it seem that Ruth Gordon was playing the villain and Geraldine Page was playing the victim. I couldn't understand why Ruth Gordon's character was wearing the apron. It took me a little while to figure out that I had the characters reversed, but, then, I had no idea why Alice had put anything out of the ordinary on the pheasant.
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Alice suspected that Mrs. Marrable had done something to her friend, Miss Tinsley.
So she pulled some kind of regular old spice out of the spice rack and spread it on the pheasant she intended to serve to Mrs. Marrable, in order to get her talking about the taste.
That way, she could possibly get Mrs. Marrable to talk about what it took to kill, by suggesting that Mrs. Marrable's nephew George (who had sent the pheasants) had poisoned them.
Alice never intended to kill Mrs. Marrable. She just wanted to get her talking about the 'strength', etc., that it took to kill.
I thought it might have been an in joke as well. Ruth Gordon was in the previous years ROSEMARY'S BABY where her character gave Rosemary and her husband a dessert but she didn't like it saying it had a bitter taste.
shareI really don't think so. If that was true, then a later scene when Alice is talking to her nephew and says, 'You haven't heard her speak about how easy it is to kill.' wouldn't make sense. The audience would be wondering, 'How would she know?'.
Also, in Rosemary's Baby when Rosemary tastes the chocolate mousse her neighbor had given them, she says she doesn't like it because it has a 'chalky undertaste', not that it's bitter.
My mistake. I'm getting my deviltry movies mixed up. The bitter taste quote actually comes from THE DEVIL'S RAIN when Williams Shatner has a drink of water from a pump and remarks on its taste to Ernest Borgnine (who is the leader of the satanic cult).
shareGordon deliberately over-spiced the pheasant, (which was a gift from Page's Niece and Nephew) and encouraged Page to suspect them (both of who thought Page was wealthy) of attempting to murder HER.
shareYeah, she wanted the bird to taste like something was wrong with it.
shareLike Maryann said, for some reason I always assumed it was turmeric. I don't know. I don't think it's a highly used spice and I don't even think a lot of people know what it is. Maybe because of the burnt orange color it looked to be. And maybe I read somewhere (or imagined it likely) that turmeric possessed a "distinctly bitter flavah!"
I LOVE this movie!
I don't think it's a highly used spice and I don't even think a lot of people know what it is.
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Turmeric, is a widely used spice in Indian cooking Mr. H. It has a scraping\cleansing factor to it. It does have a slightly bitter taste and if it was turmeric that was used, then Alice may have wanted to give Mrs. Marrable the $h!t$. 😱
I did not know that, Rascal. Thanks for that bit of information. I love knowing stuff like that! And I also really like Indian food!
if it was turmeric that was used, then Alice may have wanted to give Mrs. Marrable the $h!t$.
Now I'm picturing Mrs. Marrable scurrying to make it to the bathroom on time! What an image!
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"Punctuality is essential to a gracious way of life which I do not intend to give up on account of you!"
So does this mean that Mrs. Marrable expects her bowel movements to be punctual and "arrive on time" as well?! lol
I also really like Indian food!
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I eat Indian Ayurveda about 3 times a week. They cook vegetarian meals, at the center I attend. There are so many Indian Restaurants around, that it can be difficult to find a good one. I have been lucky lately, because the last 2 I have been too in the past month, were awesome. Found one in Brisbane, and cost $60.00 for 3 of us, so only $20.00 each. We chose a dish each, poppadoms and rice were complimentary and 2 lots of garlic naan and Raita. It tasted great, was nice inside and we all came out full and satisfied. Have to get mild to medium, or won't enjoy if too hot.
"Punctuality is essential to a gracious way of life which I do not intend to give up on account of you!"
So does this mean that Mrs. Marrable expects her bowel movements to be punctual and "arrive on time" as well?! lol
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I wouldn't be surprised. Mrs. Marrable on the john 😵 💩😓 When she talks, she expresses scorn and bitterness in her inflection, like she is spitting her words out......Missss TINssssly!
Mrs. Marrable is obviously not a nice, likeable person. And she does hold contempt for just about everybody. But I found her over-the-top, misplaced snootiness to be hysterical.
"When referring to a cordial, we use the French pronunciation! LIKKURRR, Miss Tinsley! I shouldn't bother teaching you anything considering how little you've absorbed under my tutelage." LOL!!!
And "I have taken loving, dilligent care of my garden, only to have it WRECKED by this vagrant BITCH!"
And "Mrs. Dimmock, are you aware that the cocktail hour has come and gone?!!!"
And when she giggles to herself about how she is going "to proceed to enter every teenage contest in the country!"
Mrs. Marrable is the very definition of NPD, she is a horrible person (much worse in nature than Baby Jane Hudson, who was alcoholic, guilt-ridden and emotionally arrested, but not evil), but the way she is presented in the movie, not to mention Geraldine Page's high-ham, brilliant performance, she gets several laugh out loud moments from me. Ruth Gordon, too! I love both these actresses.
Me and my friend have thought before that the two ladies had such good chemistry together and were so entertaining that they should have had their own weekly black comedy/mystery tv show! What a hoot that would have been!
Mrs. Marrable is the very definition of NPD, she is a horrible person (much worse in nature than Baby Jane Hudson, who was alcoholic, guilt-ridden and emotionally arrested, but not evil).....
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Yes, good analysis Mr. H. Jane Hudson, was more 'potty' than innately horrible, or evil. She did do 'nasty' things to Blanche—being played by the one and only queen of 'narcissists' JC, she deserved it😄—but it could be considered more spontaneous and Marrable knew what she was doing and planned things out. Jane, just started to become plain crazy and acted things out randomly, depending on the situation at the time. Marrable, was conniving and conceited.
So does this mean that Mrs. Marrable expects her bowel movements to be punctual and "arrive on time" as well?! lol
The speed with which she suddenly excused herself from the table indicates to me that her bowels had already started moving :-) share