# Brilliant plotting (old spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 2, 2010, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brilliant-plotting-old-spoilers/559228 "2010-11-02T16:52:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brilliant-plotting-old-spoilers/559228/21 "2010-11-03T11:52:09Z")
The movie’s plot was so convoluted it made my head hurt–in a good way. Meanwhile there are people arguing about what the hell actually happened in the movie, which is maybe not so good. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brilliant-plotting-old-spoilers/559228/22 "2010-11-03T13:15:45Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > Okay, now let me share what I think is a plot hole in Rosemay’s Baby, after seeing the movie this weekend for the first time in 40 years. How the hell is an unemployed actor and his unemployed wife going to aford a big apartrment in a classy apaprtment building on the park in NYC.? No matter how well Guy was doing in commercials and such, the plot dictates that he is desperately in need of a break in his acting career–so WTF is he doing renting an expensive apartment in Manhattan? It’s necessary for the plot, but hardly plausible. A decade later, John Lennon and Yoko Oko, hardly an unempoyed couple, were taking an apartment in the same building. > [@jordanr2](#): > > I think he made a stab at explaining this with the remark about Guy’s “residuals from Anacin” (though I don’t know how much commercial acting pays). I spent a year writng an annotated version of _Rosemary’s Baby_. The apartment was rent controlled, renting for $320 a month. High rent, but not out of control, even back in 1965. Guy was getting resiiduals from a series of Anacin commercials and also did other commercials and a reoccuring character on the soap _Another World_ to pay the rent while waiting for the big break. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brilliant-plotting-old-spoilers/559228/23 "2010-11-03T13:36:23Z")
Also, Guy & Rosemary had been living in his studio apartment for the three years of their marriage, and before that she had shared an apartment with three other “working girls.” So they probably had some money saved. ---
**Author:** ![jinty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dbc845/32.png) [@jinty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jinty)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brilliant-plotting-old-spoilers/559228/24 "2010-11-03T13:45:04Z")
> [@Mrs.Cake](#): > > I always admired Donald E. Westlake’s plotting. _Drowned Hopes_, _Humans_, and _What’s the Worst That Could Happen?_ in particular come to mind. Quite agree. And he was particularly notable for his huge output - book after book for decades, usually several a year, full of brilliant plots and memorable characters. His Parker books (under the nom de plume Richard Stark) are fantastic examples. Wish he was still around to thrill us. ☹ English thriller writer Ken Follett is my contribution to the thread - he gives his characters difficult problems to solve and astonishes the reader with the brilliance of the solutions they come up with, usually under very trying conditions. Not a deus ex machina in sight :D. And like Westlake/Stark, he’s been doing it consistently for decades. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brilliant-plotting-old-spoilers/559228/25 "2010-11-03T14:14:06Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I spent a year writng an annotated version of _Rosemary’s Baby_. Said it before and I’ll say it again: I would love to get a copy of this! Any idea if or when it might be available? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brilliant-plotting-old-spoilers/559228/26 "2010-11-03T14:15:36Z")
Alas, it might not have survived my moves. I did try to get it published, but failed. If I ever find it, or redo it, I’ll definitely let you know. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brilliant-plotting-old-spoilers/559228.md?page=1)