MovieChat Forums > 10 Rillington Place (1971) Discussion > was Ethel scared or stupid?

was Ethel scared or stupid?

posted 14 years ago by bladewrecker
7 replies | jump to latest

In the movie, Ethel makes a comment to Christie " i know where you should be", or something like that.I think that implies she at the very least had some suspitions about the deaths and Christie's covering it up ( or maybe that he had done them).

This no doubt alerted Christie, to the fact, she suspected him .As a result of this "she had to be silenced" so Christie murdered her.

So why do you think she stayed at 10 Rillington Place so long?.Especially if she had family she could have fled to, ( christie mentions Ethels sister later to cover up her dissaperance ?).Surly Ethel could have escaped him earlier, and reported Christie when she was safely out of his reach?

Perhaps this is explained better in the book (which i have not read)?.

[–] guitarhero2000 14 years ago

Ethel's knowledge/lack of knowledge of what was going on is really unknown by everyone. Her statements to the police backed up her husband's, which might be totally genuine or mean that he could influence her.
The film is based on Ludovic Kennedy's book, so not provable fact, and the book doesn't even profess to know about Ethel, except to dismissively state that she 'was so gullible that she would believe anything she was told'

[–] steven-87 13 years ago

Ethel had left Christie back in the 1930s after he had gone to prison for stealing postal orders. She returned to Sheffield to her family but he persuaded her to return.
To me, that sounds like Ethel had a certain degree of nous though a) may have been genuinely in love with Christie (hence her return to him and subsequent tolerance as matters progressively worsened) or b) as is more likely, was gradually worn down by Christie's dominating character.
Don't forget how claustrophobic the house was and what a suffocating atmosphere that would have produced. Day after day after day for Ethel.

It is one of the great mysteries of this case, though.
Personally, I believe her sense of self-worth, her will and, ultimately, her judgement were eroded away as the years went on.
Didn't one of their neighbours describe hger as "a ghost of a woman" to the press after Christie was hung?

[–] franzkabuki 12 years ago

Didn´t he murder her right the next night after she let him know she´s on to him? And I guess even if she knew, or thought she knew, about Christie´s killer´s nature, it would still be difficult to seriously believe your own spouse would bump you off just like that. As for reporting to police, though - what was it that she could report that the police didn´t already know - beyond her unsubstanciated suspicions?

"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

[–] andyd-1 10 years ago

I guess the neighbour must literally have seen a 'ghost of a woman', yes Ethel was dead.

[–] highpriestess32 10 years ago

In the film, I think it is the following night or thereabouts. She reveals an intention of getting away to stay with I think, relatives since she then declares they have no friends. By this point she is sleeping on the sofa and barely able to look him in the eye. Christie objects strongly to the plan, probably for two reasons. One because he is a recluse and I suspect he was afraid she might open up to her relatives with her suspicions. He returns to his medicine cabinet in the kitchen and after a brief hesitation graps the rope he kept locked inside.

She could have gone to the police because according to the film, she seemed to be aware that her husband had botched up an abortion (even though he never performed any such procedure), and that Evans had been at work all day. She was there when Christie told of things going badly. I think she was actually the one who murmured his wife Beryl was dead but I doubt she knew how she died.

But would this have been enough to re-open the case against Evans who was waiting to hang for a murder he didn't commit? Evans stupidly confessed to the murder and sentencing had been past. It's anyone's guess if the police would have taken her seriously but right up until near the end, Christie still had his murderous tools in that cabinet. If only the police had checked more thoroughly and Evans hadn't confessed. He should never have been found competent to be hung, he was a fantasist and a simpleton but not a murderer.

"Has anyone seen my wife?" - Columbo

[–] steven-87 10 years ago

I'd say neither.
Christie was, like many serial killers, capable of a level of control over certain individuals and I believe Ethel was just too meek a personality to resist.
i don't believe she knew anything, or even suspected anything, about his killings.
What drove her to leave him and return to Sheffield on that final occasion was against her character and probably surprised Christie but, by then, their reduced financial circumstances and the sheer monotony of her existence affected even her and she returned to her family home for a break.

[–] 10 years ago

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