Jun 11, 2011

How a burglar prevented me from finishing "The Dark Corner"

THIS happened last night, just a few hours ago...

1 AM or so. We had heard an alarm ten minutes ago somewhere near. I though "somebody forgot to shut it down".

My house was in silence. I was watching The Dark Corner with one of my brothers, the younger one. Mark Stevens and Lucille Ball were in the scene of a crime: a guy was lying there, dead, after a fight.

The bedrooms in my house face the backyard: there there's a pool (with green water right now) and between the pool and the wall, a very small garden and a narrow corridor.

The movie continued. Mark was desperate because he couldn't figure it out who was after him.

Suddenly...CRASH! We hear a window breaking next door. My very first thought was: "maybe the neighbors are fighting and someone threw an object to the window" (so stupid).

But then someone stepped in the broken window, very loudly. My brother paused the film and opened the curtains of the large window. It was very dark outside.

And this is what happened next: I heard someone shooting and then...I saw someone jumping over our wall and landing in the narrow corridor!

I thought: "Oh no, this guy is armed!"

So I said to my brother: "Get down, get down, they're shooting!!"

From the floor I could see the figure of the intruder: he was tall and he was wearing large sized white tennis shoes.

I started shouting: "There's a guy in the backyard! There's a guy in the backyard!". The guy moved to the corner, which was darker so I couldn't see him very well.

I was waiting for our window to break any minute with a shot.

I heard the rest of my family moving. My dad stepped out and shot, aiming a tall tree, so the guy would freeze. 

But the guy, from the corner, jumped to the next house. My dad went after him and reached the wall. I still didn't know if there were more armed burglars or what, so I said "Dad, come down, they can shoot you!". 

Then we heard (trembling) voices. The neighbor from the first house was asking where the guy went. He explained that this guy broke his window to escape. Then other neighbor said they saw someone running from his backyard through the pub they own and reach the main street (our block is next to the main square of the city).

Seconds later the police was there asking us what had we seen. The policeman said they had captured a tall guy, he knew who he was and that one of the things that stood out in him was the large sized tennis shoes. I confirmed what I had seen. 

It seems that there were two, unarmed guys. They were stealing in the house next door when the alarm sounded. They ran but nobody came, so they went back. The only thing they could take was a radio and then the neighbor shot. That's why one of the guys broke the window. A woman had seen the guys entering the house, so she called the police. That's why they where here so fast.

This whole episode was unusual, but for some reason, I had always thought about what would happen if someone used our house as a way to escape, like in the movies.

So, that's it. Then I couldn't finish The Dark Corner, I saw a couple of episodes of The Jetsons instead to relax a bit. 

I'll make this week menu of "Lovely things from Tumblr" later. 

27 comments:

  1. Glad you're ok. Love how you can boil it down to, "I was watching The Dark Corner, burglars showed up, shots were fired, they fled, now it was time for The Jetsons."

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  2. Patricia Nolan-HallJune 11, 2011 at 2:21 PM

    That's the trouble with crooks - no respect for classic movies!

    Glad you and your family are safe.

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  3. Clara, what a traumatic experience this must have been for you and your family. I am glad to hear that you are safe and all is well with you. I don’t suppose you could ever watch The Dark Corner without remembering the night a man fled through your backyard. Perhaps a few days of The Jetsons will help calm your nerves.

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  4. Clara, YIKES! "I had always thought about what would happen if someone used our house as a way to escape, like in the movies." I'm so sorry you and your family had to find out the hard way, and so relieved that you guys weren't hurt or worse during that break-in! I hope everything and everyone in your household is safe and well now. If you ever get the courage up to try to watch the rest of THE DARK CORNER again one of these days, I promise that real live thugs with guns are NOT an extra on the DARK CORNER DVD! :-)

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  5. I'm glad that no one got hurt! That's scary!

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  6. a strange merging of art and life. how terrifying! glad you are ok as well.

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  7. Wow, that's nuts! Sounds like your evening took a decidedly film noir turn. Glad that everything turned out ok!

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  8. My goodness! So glad you are all OK. I guess any time you see this film in the future, you'll have a very...unusual!...memory that you associate with it! Best wishes, Laura

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  9. What a good thing no one got hurt! Such a scary thing to happen. :(

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  10. I'm glad you and your family are okay, Clara. Yes, the Jetsons sound like an excellent nerve-calmer.

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  11. Classic Movie BlogJune 12, 2011 at 7:06 PM

    Holy cow-- you were living a movie! That sounds scary.

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  12. Like Monica from Friends would yell: "I know!". Thanks for the feedback!

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  13. Thank you Michael, I'm glad I'm OK too :) LOL, well, life is crazy, my post just captured its craziness. Thanks for your message!

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  14. I KNOW, what was the guy thinking? "I'm gonna use this house to escape and spoil the film to the gal addicted to classic movies"?. Zero respect :) Thanks for your message, Patricia, and yes, I'm glad everything turned out fine (only I'm having a bit of trouble to sleep at night...but I'll be ok).

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  15. Thanks for your kind message! It was a bit traumatic, not in the moment, but I've been having a few nightmares since then...But I'll finish "The Dark Corner" soon, just like I finished "Escape" after the 8.8 earthquake...Maybe this means that I'm watching too many movies, unusual events have always find me watching old films, LOL. And well, yes, The Jetsons have been a great therapy! Thanks a million for stopping by!

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  16. Thanks Brandie, I really appreciate your message! Well, yeah, we're doing fine, I'm just having some nightmares since then, but they will go with the time.

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  17. Aww, thanks Dorian!! I really appreciate it! Yeah, well, like I wrote to whistlingypsy I promise I'll finish "The Dark Corner", just like I finished "Escape" after the 8.8 earthquake...no matter if more wise guys are part of the EXTRAS :) Thanks for your message, girl.

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  18. Pretty scary!! But yeah, nobody got hurt, so we should just forget this episode. Thanks for your message, Kalli!

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  19. Nice storyline, Meredith!("a strange merging of art and life"). Yeah, it was scary and I'm very coward, but everything turned out ok, and I even had a voice to warn my family. My dad have been teasing me since then, though, he says I "shouted" with the tiniest voice :) Thanks for your message!

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  20. Well, yeah, you never know how is to be in a film noir, till your night becomes one :) Life IS nuts. Thanks for your message, I really appreciate it!

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  21. Thanks, Laura! Well, yeah, "The Dark Corner" will never be an ordinary film to me :)

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  22. Yeah, so scary and I'm such a coward! I'm the kind of people that just freezes watching violent/scary things. But everything turned out fine and I even could shout to warn the rest of my family...with a thin voice :) Thanks for visiting, Sasha!

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  23. Thanks, Rachel! And yes, I really recommend "The Jetsons", a very good nerve-calmer :)

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  24. I know!! I just wish I was watching an Errol Flynn/Gary Cooper/Cary Grant film and see one of *them* jumping over the wall, not the common burglar :) Thanks for stopping by, I really appreciate it :)

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  25. I know! I would be totally freaked out.

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  26. Pretty scary!! But yeah, nobody got hurt, so we should just forget this episode. Thanks for your message, Kalli!

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