MovieChat Forums > The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) Discussion > Quick Question About A Joke

Quick Question About A Joke

posted 14 years ago by fritzfassbender
1 reply | jump to latest

When Inspector Trout is questioning the woman who lives at Terry Thomas' house, he says, 'You were his...housekeeper?' and she gives him a look like she's offended and huffs away, and then he makes a face.

Is this a joke? I figured she WAS his housekeeper, they certainly didn't interact like she was a wife or mistress. Did she just not like that terminology?

[–] movielit-1 14 years ago

I'm pretty sure it was one of those "polite society" exchanges--by the way he said it, Trout was trying, unsuccessfully it appears, to ask the housekeeper if she was just a housekeeper, or if there was more to the relationship between herself and her employer; the housekeeper was offended by the mere implication that such impropriety could exist. You're right, she was just his housekeeper.