Opera Club will screen psychological mystery movie
People are invited to watch a musical version of “Marnie” (based on Winston Graham’s 1959 novel of the same name) on July 18 at 1:30 pm in the Clubhouse 3 Learning Center.
Jean Flannigan will introduce this psychological mystery story about an attractive young woman who changes her appearance and undergoes five identities driven by an inner compulsion to reject love and to steal her successive employers’ assets.
The contemporary composer, Nico Uhly, has created a mystery score that heightens the suspense of finding out what motivates someone to pursue a life of crime—against their will. This tale has also separately been filmed by Alfred Hitchcock with the actress Tippi Hedren.
Act 1 depicts Marnie stealing money from her employer Mr. Strutt, after which she changes her name and her appearance and goes in search of a new job. She arrives at the office of Mark Rutland who hires her both for her math skills, which are considerable, and because he is strongly attracted to her. However, when he discovers her stealing money from his safe, he tells her he can either turn her in or she can agree to marry him. On their honeymoon, she resists his advances and escapes to kill herself.
In Act 2, Mark remains undeterred and urges Marnie to undergo psychoanalysis to deal with her issues. At an ensuing party they meet Mr. Strutt, Marnie’s first employer, who vows to tell the police about her prior theft. When Marnie subsequently is thrown from her horse during a fox hunt, it’s not clear whether the accident or the analysis is causing some changes to her. In any case, when she finds herself breaking into Mark’s safe again but unable to take any money, she flees to her childhood home to learn her mother has died, but more importantly was known as an unloving parent who had murdered her own newborn baby.
As the police arrive to arrest Marnie for theft, she exclaims “I’m free” of the former trauma.
The production is in English with English subtitles. Attendees are invited to wear masks indoors, if desired.
No dues or fees are collected. For more information, contact Margaret Gillen at MargaretGi@yahoo.com or call her at 562370-3844.
—Sylvan Von Burg
