AFI|Catalog (original) (raw)

Debbie Bender is a subservient housewife living in a suburban condominium with her husband, Gerald, a radiologist. One night, they host a dinner party for their friends, Irwin Bloom and his new fiancée, Myra, who boasts that Irwin recently bought her a .38 revolver to keep in her purse for protection. Gerald is thus inspired to buy Debbie a gun. Against his wife’s wishes, he purchases a small revolver and places it in her nightstand. Debbie is immediately disturbed by the gun’s presence, and has trouble sleeping and making love to her husband. Skippy, a young man who lives in an identical condo across the street, takes notice of Debbie’s agitated state and expresses concern. He accompanies her to the grocery store, where Debbie frets over the gun and admits she wants to get rid of it. Smitten by his neighbor’s beauty, Skippy moves a stray hair from her face, but she stops him, worried that people might notice their impropriety. She buys a magazine, and Skippy offers to pay, but he only has $100 bills, which piques Debbie’s suspicion. Later, the strange young man asks to borrow her gun, and she says no. He stops by the Benders’ house under the guise of borrowing a cup of sugar, and Gerald questions him about his lifestyle. Skippy claims to have been in the military, but says he quit after contracting hepatitis. He now lives with his mother, whom Gerald and Debbie have never seen, but offers no explanation for how he supports himself financially. Pretending to use the bathroom, Skippy takes the gun from Debbie’s nightstand, and leaves. Still suspicious, Debbie checks her nightstand drawer and finds it empty. ...

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Debbie Bender is a subservient housewife living in a suburban condominium with her husband, Gerald, a radiologist. One night, they host a dinner party for their friends, Irwin Bloom and his new fiancée, Myra, who boasts that Irwin recently bought her a .38 revolver to keep in her purse for protection. Gerald is thus inspired to buy Debbie a gun. Against his wife’s wishes, he purchases a small revolver and places it in her nightstand. Debbie is immediately disturbed by the gun’s presence, and has trouble sleeping and making love to her husband. Skippy, a young man who lives in an identical condo across the street, takes notice of Debbie’s agitated state and expresses concern. He accompanies her to the grocery store, where Debbie frets over the gun and admits she wants to get rid of it. Smitten by his neighbor’s beauty, Skippy moves a stray hair from her face, but she stops him, worried that people might notice their impropriety. She buys a magazine, and Skippy offers to pay, but he only has $100 bills, which piques Debbie’s suspicion. Later, the strange young man asks to borrow her gun, and she says no. He stops by the Benders’ house under the guise of borrowing a cup of sugar, and Gerald questions him about his lifestyle. Skippy claims to have been in the military, but says he quit after contracting hepatitis. He now lives with his mother, whom Gerald and Debbie have never seen, but offers no explanation for how he supports himself financially. Pretending to use the bathroom, Skippy takes the gun from Debbie’s nightstand, and leaves. Still suspicious, Debbie checks her nightstand drawer and finds it empty. When Gerald discovers the gun missing the next day, Debbie reluctantly confesses that Skippy robbed them. They hear Skippy return home, and march across the street to demand the return of their property. Skippy relinquishes the gun, with one bullet missing from the chamber. Gerald accuses him of using the weapon to shoot someone, but Skippy claims that he removed the bullet for safety, as the gun’s hammer should be kept lowered on an empty chamber. Gerald shouts at Skippy for patronizing him with the safety tip, then accidentally shoots himself in the foot and drops the gun in the bushes. Later, Debbie informs police that she threw the gun away in a dumpster, when, in truth, Skippy retrieved it. With Gerald recuperating in the hospital, she attempts to get the gun back from Skippy, but becomes further entangled in his strange dealings. Skippy intimates that someone might be following him, and borrows Debbie’s car to drive his mother to the airport, where she is catching a flight to Phoenix, Arizona. That evening, Irwin and Myra stop by the house to inform Debbie that Gerald contracted botulism from an egg salad sandwich he ate in the hospital, therefore prolonging his stay. Irwin frets that Gerald’s bad luck is his fault. Meanwhile, Myra asks Debbie to be her matron of honor, explaining that she has no family to attend her wedding. Exhausted from spending the previous night in the hospital, Debbie falls asleep at her kitchen table. She is awakened by Skippy, who appears at her front door asking to sleep over, since he feels unsafe at home. Debbie grants him permission and, the next morning, notices someone outside Skippy’s house. Going over to investigate, she finds his mother, who behaves strangely but allows her inside. Feigning a need to use the bathroom, Debbie sneaks upstairs and discovers a suitcase filled with newspaper clippings and photographs of Skippy’s mother, a famous country singer named Kimmy Hayes. Kimmy catches Debbie snooping and inadvertently slashes her arm with scissors. Debbie goes to the hospital for a tetanus shot and sees Gerald, who is only concerned with whether or not his wife bled on the car interior. That evening, Debbie tells Skippy that Kimmy is back home. He suspects his mother is abusing prescription pills, and brings her to Debbie’s house for safety. With Kimmy asleep in the guest room, Skippy and Debbie have dinner. He surprises her with a kiss, and they sneak back across the street to make love. Afterward, they check Kimmy into a nearby hotel. Returning to Debbie’s house, they make love again. In the morning, Debbie pretends to be excited when Gerald returns from the hospital on crutches. Immediately upon arrival, however, he demands a separation. He cannot believe her poor judgment in allowing Skippy to steal their gun. She asks if the gun is the reason he wants to separate, but he claims it was only a catalyst and slaps her when he she is argumentative. Sometime later, Debbie returns home from lunch with Myra to find a strange man named Andrew asking about Skippy and his mother. Although Debbie denies having seen them, Andrew forces his way into her condo. Debbie runs upstairs and finds Skippy, who urges her to act normally while he hides behind a door with the gun. Unaware of Skippy’s presence, Andrew questions Debbie, who reveals the details of Myra’s wedding the next day. After he leaves, Debbie and Skippy go to the hotel where Kimmy is staying. They narrowly avoid Andrew, who, as Skippy explains, is a “spiritual guru” who swindled tens of thousands of dollars from Kimmy by promising her eternal life. The group checks into a different hotel for the night, and Skippy hires a team of security guards to accompany them to Myra and Irwin’s wedding. Concerned for Skippy’s safety, Debbie steals the gun from him and gives it to one of the guards. As suspected, Andrew infiltrates the wedding. Just before the ceremony begins, Debbie feels the need to arm herself and swipes Myra’s handgun from her purse. Myra is about to walk down the aisle when Andrew punches a man whom he saw talking to Kimmy. Andrew pulls a gun and aims it as Skippy, ordering him to call his mother, who has retreated to the powder room to take prescription painkillers. Debbie points Myra’s gun at Andrew, as one of the security guards attacks him from behind. In the meantime, Kimmy dies from an overdose of pills. Andrew is taken away, as is Kimmy’s body. The wedding continues, but the grieving Skippy and Debbie leave. As they walk away, Debbie asks to drive, and Skippy hands her the car keys.

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