WinkLingo
ログイン

Witness for the Prosecution · 1957 — 第 5 / 27 章 · 3'42" · B2

How Vole Met Mrs French, Explained：not cricket

On the stand, Vole recalls how he first met the woman he is accused of murdering: an afternoon at the pictures and a lonely widow who invited him home for tea. "She seemed to be very lonely, had no friends whatsoever," he says, and the kind detail doubles as his defence — he had no idea she was rich.

あらすじ

It is Vole's flashback testimony: he meets Mrs French at a cinema, where the two sit in the cheap seats and chat about the Jesse James film. Afterwards she invites him home for tea. He brings her a centrifugal eggbeater as a gift and gets on well with her. From then on he visits about once or twice a week, and she keeps a bottle of sherry for him.

CourtroomSmall talkExplainingComplimentingStrangersB2mediumbritishClean
IMDb ↗

注目の表現

not cricketshoot his way outpolished offcompliments of

00:00 / 03:42
Space 再生 · ← → セリフ移動 · R リピート
いま
セリフをタップするとそこから再生

このシーンの表現

not cricket

not fair play

Watching Jesse James walk into an ambush, Mrs French protests that it is not at all cricket.

It's not cricket to read someone's private messages.

このシーンの他の表現

  • shoot his way out

    escape by shooting

  • polished off

    finished something off

  • compliments of

    given free by someone

  • came with the collection

    came along with the antiques

  • terribly Scotch

    very Scottish, old usage

このシーンのメモ一覧

54 行のセリフに 27 件のメモ

表現 · B1would you mind ...?

a polite request

Would you mind, madam? Your hat.
表現 · A2it's someone's fault

someone is to blame

It's your fault, you know. You chose it yourself.
表現 · A2if you like

if you want to

- May I? - Sure, if you like.
表現 · B1such a bother

such a nuisance

Thank you. It's such a bother taking it off and putting it back on again.
表現 · B2lead someone into something

guide someone into a trap

That chap is Jesse James. They've led him into an ambush. It's not at all cricket.
文法 · B2They've led him into an ambush

present perfect: The present perfect marks a completed action whose result matters right now.

That chap is Jesse James. They've led him into an ambush. It's not at all cricket.
発音not at all

Link not at all into no-ta-tall.

That chap is Jesse James. They've led him into an ambush. It's not at all cricket.
スラング · B2chap

a man, a fellow — British and familiar; too casual for formal speech.

That chap is Jesse James. They've led him into an ambush. It's not at all cricket.
表現 · A1go to the movies

go to the cinema

- I've seen it. I got to the movies a lot. - You do?
スラング · A2the movies

the cinema — American for the cinema; British speakers often say the cinema.

- I've seen it. I got to the movies a lot. - You do?
表現 · A2have no place to go

nowhere to go

I get restless so I go out. Then I find I've no place to go so I go to the movies.
発音I've no place

The v in I've is faint and no place links together.

I get restless so I go out. Then I find I've no place to go so I go to the movies.
表現 · B2in the cheap seats

the least expensive seats

No. Absolutely not. We were sitting in the cheap seats.
表現 · C1no ... whatsoever

none at all

All I knew was she seemed to be very lonely, had no friends whatsoever.
文法 · C1All I knew was she seemed to be very lonely

subject clause: The clause All I knew is the subject, and that is left out before the second clause.

All I knew was she seemed to be very lonely, had no friends whatsoever.
表現 · B2polish something off

finished something off

Vole breezes past the film's ending, saying they finally polished off Jesse James.

Well, they finally polished off Jesse James,
文法 · B2the most fascinating thing I've ever seen

relative clause with superlative: The relative clause I have ever seen attaches to the superlative to mean the most ... I have known.

I think it's the most fascinating thing I've ever seen. Janet, come and look.
表現 · B2whip cream

beat cream until thick

It's specific gravity, but it whips cream too.
表現 · B2have a fire

light a fire

It's a bit chilly in here, isn't it? Shall we have a fire?
スラング · B2no'

not, in dialect spelling — A dialect spelling of not; write not in formal text.

- That'd be fine. - We've no' got any.
表現 · B2it's just that ...

the reason is simply that

Do sit down. Don't mind Janet, Mr Vole. It's just that she's terribly Scotch.
発音terribly Scotch

Stress the first syllable of terribly and give Scotch full weight.

Do sit down. Don't mind Janet, Mr Vole. It's just that she's terribly Scotch.
表現 · A2feel like something

sense of something

I feel like Christmas, somehow.
表現 · B2once or twice a week

one or two times weekly

After that I saw her once or twice a week. She always kept a bottle of sherry for me.
発音once or twice

Once or twice runs together, with once sliding into or.

After that I saw her once or twice a week. She always kept a bottle of sherry for me.
表現 · A1listen to something

pay attention to sound

We'd talk, play canasta, listen to gramophone records, Gilbert and Sullivan mostly.
文法 · C1lying in that living room, murdered

participle phrase: The two participles describe her state without a full relative clause.

It's so weird to think of her now, lying in that living room, murdered.

「How Vole Met Mrs French」を読み解く

What's really going on

On the surface this is a sweet story about a lonely widow and a kind young man. Underneath it is Vole carefully building his defence: every warm detail is also evidence that he had no motive. "At this time you had no idea that Mrs French was well-off?" comes the question, and his answer is the whole point — "No. Absolutely not. We were sitting in the cheap seats." He stresses she "had no friends whatsoever," which explains why a rich widow would pour her affection and her silver onto a stranger. He even gifts her an eggbeater, presenting himself as a harmless inventor rather than a fortune hunter. The scene ends on his quiet line, "It's so weird to think of her now, lying in that living room, murdered" — grief, or a performance of it, that the film deliberately leaves open.

Theme

LonelinessMrs French has no friends and fills her days with films and a stranger's visits, which draws Vole close.
DeceptionVole's warm recollection doubles as defence: every detail of friendship is also proof he had no reason to kill her.

このチャプターで学べること

  • A Western ambush judged by cricket says everything about her.
  • The eggbeater turns a toy into an act of kindness.
  • Vole's memories drift between warmth and the murder.
  • Janet's coldness is met with a quiet joke.

発音のポイント

  • not at all — Link not at all into no-ta-tall.
  • I've no place — The v in I've is faint and no place links together.
  • terribly Scotch — Stress the first syllable of terribly and give Scotch full weight.
  • once or twice — Once or twice runs together, with once sliding into or.
That chap is Jesse James. They've led him into an ambush. It's not at all cricket.

Mrs French reacts to the film as if it were real: ambushing a man is unfair play. "Not cricket" is the old British way of saying something isn't fair or decent.

I get restless so I go out. Then I find I've no place to go so I go to the movies.

Mrs French explains her routine: loneliness drives her out of the house, and the cinema is the one place that will have her.

It's so weird to think of her now, lying in that living room, murdered.

Vole's voice turns from fond memory to the image of her corpse. It can read as real grief, or as a line rehearsed for the jury.

I assure you she's been moved by now. To leave her would be unfeeling, unlawful, and unsanitary.

Wilfrid answers Vole's sentiment with black humour: a dead body cannot simply be left in a living room, whatever anyone happens to feel.

このシーンについての質問

Why does Vole remember the cheap seats?

To show he had no idea Mrs French was wealthy. If he had been a fortune hunter, the cheap seats prove he met her as an ordinary stranger, not as a rich target.

Was Mrs French lonely?

Yes. Vole says she "had no friends whatsoever," went to the movies to pass the time, and lived with only her housekeeper Janet. That loneliness explains why she welcomed a young stranger so warmly.

What does "not cricket" mean?

An old British phrase meaning unfair or dishonourable. Mrs French uses it about the ambush in the Jesse James film, but it carries the sense that someone has broken the rules of decent play.

Who is Janet?

Mrs French's Scottish housekeeper. She is stern, dislikes visitors in her kitchen, and is the one who later finds Mrs French dead and becomes a witness.

Did Vole give Mrs French the eggbeater?

Yes. He is the inventor, manufacturer and sole distributor, so he presents it as a gift. That scene makes him look generous and harmless rather than like a man chasing her money.

情婦 · 全 27 章

すべて見る →
次のチャプター · 第 6 章a hot potatoLeonard Recounts the Night of the Murder
第 1 章put it in mothballsSir Wilfrid Goes Home第 2 章when her back is turnedSir Wilfrid Hides Cigars in His Cane第 3 章circumstantial evidenceVole Tries to Hire Sir Wilfrid第 4 章in the hands ofLeonard Tells Sir Wilfrid His Story再生中 · 第 5 章not cricketHow Vole Met Mrs French第 6 章a hot potatoLeonard Recounts the Night of the Murder第 7 章with flying coloursInspector Hearne Arrests Leonard第 8 章call it what you likeChristine Vole Meets the Lawyers第 9 章a way with womenChristine and the Green Socks第 10 章worships the ground I walk onChristine Denies She's His Wife第 11 章on the chance thatWilfrid Photographs Vole in Prison第 12 章gave someone ideasLeonard Meets Christine in Hamburg第 13 章clutching at a razor bladeVole Tells How He Married Christine第 14 章to a pointLeonard Vole Pleads Not Guilty第 15 章take someone by surpriseHearne Testifies About the Prints第 16 章account forThe Bloodstained Jacket in Court第 17 章hither and thitherJanet McKenzie Takes the Stand第 18 章a scheming rascalWilfrid Cross-Examines the Housekeeper第 19 章an accomplice toChristine Testifies Against Vole第 20 章a chronic and habitual liarMyers Destroys Christine on the Stand第 21 章shed new light onSir Wilfrid Calls Leonard Vole第 22 章establish an alibiMyers Cross-Examines Leonard Vole第 23 章wild-goose chaseThe Call About the German Wife第 24 章on the slySir Wilfrid Buys the Letters第 25 章a pack of liesSir Wilfrid's Blue Letter Trap第 26 章dispose ofVole Is Found Not Guilty第 27 章call someone namesChristine Reveals Leonard Was Guilty
第 5 / 27 章 · 残り約 76 分