Tales of the Unexpected

Bee-keeper Albert Taylor and his wife Mabel are concerned that their baby daughter is underweight and seems reluctant to take any nourishment until, that is, Albert decides to feed her on Royal Jelly from his hives. He feeds himself on it as well, becoming almost addicted to it and with very macabre results.

In post-war Paris Drioli, an elderly down-and-out, sees a painting for sale by his old friend Soutine, who is now a best-selling artist. Thirty years earlier Soutine tattooed a portrait of Drioli's wife onto his back and it has become extremely valuable. But it is on his back and therefore worthless. How come it is eventually on public exhibition?

On a train journey William Perkins is convinced that the passenger seated opposite him is 'Galloping' Foxley, who made his life a misery when they were at school together and relives the unpleasant experience before the stranger identifies himself.

Flash American Paul Duveen stops to give elderly Irish vagrant Michael Fish a lift in his new BMW. Michael is a pickpocket, which comes in very handy after his encouragement to Paul to break the speed limit has attracted the attention of a traffic cop on a motor-bike, who waves them over.

Harry, a young teacher working in India but about to return home is petrified when a poisonous snake creeps into his bed and sits on his belly. His friend Timber happens by and they call a local doctor. The snake is parted from Harry's body and the others leave but...

Mary Burge's figure has ballooned over the years since she first married her pharmacist husband John because she is a great comfort eater. John is tired of her and turns to legal secretary Frances, who becomes his mistress. Mary, however, will not divorce him and Frances is issuing an ultimatum. He decides to put his pharmaceutical skills into play and poison his wife's chocolates.

Richard Pratt, a pretentious wine expert, is one of several dinner party guests at the home of stockbroker Mike Schofield. Pratt claims to be able to identify any wine from its bouquet but Schofield has picked a really rare wine that he is so convinced Pratt will fail to recognize, that he includes his house and his daughter in the wager to everyone else's horror.

Pamela and Arthur Beauchamp invite a younger married couple, the Snapes, for the weekend, during which they will play cards for money. Before they arrive prurient Pamela gets her reluctant husband to bug the Snapes' room so she can hear them in bed. The Snapes clean their hosts out at cards and a bigger surprise awaits when Pamela listens to their bedroom conversation

Following an unconventional upbringing by his mother George Duckworth, now a vicar, has an odd attitude to women. He visualizes his female parishioners undressed but is scared of physical contact. When the seductive Julia joins his congregation she turns out to be a man-eater in every sense.

Hearing from his old friend Gladys Ponsonby of the talented if unconventional artist John Roydon, art dealer Lionel gets Roydon to visualize Lionel's fiancee Janet nude and paint her accordingly. Janet, however, does not see the joke, for which Lionel pays bitterly, in the literal sense

An elderly con-man works a scam whereby he steals an umbrella from a rack in a public building and sells it to another person, who needs it to shield them from the rain. In the process, a mix-up with the umbrellas means that he exposes a couple who are cheating on the woman's husband and leads to fisticuffs.

In 1889 Austrian customs officer Alois is desperate that his wife Klara will pull through a difficult labour and that she and her baby son will survive. They do. They call the child Adolf.

Mr. Botibol has built a small concert hall in his house where he conducts imaginary recitals to gramophone records. In a music shop he meets Irene, a fellow music lover, and invites her to join in one of his concerts. Unfortunately, she can genuinely play the piano, which sours the mood for Mr. Botibol. Imagination is all to him

Orchid-loving doctor Carpenter is married to Hermione but in love with the younger Samantha. He and his wife are due to fly to America, so that when he kills Hermione and cuts her up and buries her in the garden, he believes that her disappearance will be covered. Unfortunately for him, she is able to avenge herself even from the grave.

Arthur Appleby is something of a Bluebeard. He has killed his previous wives and used the insurance money to open a succession of antique shops, each one in a new town. When he meets Martha he marks her down as his next victim. However, she is not stupid and tells him that if anything untoward happens to her she has left instructions that Appleby is to be dealt with.

Hardy, a young sailor down on his luck, is left stranded when his ship sails without him so he robs a man but accidentally kills him. His girlfriend Diane informs him that the one man who can help him, the 'man at the top' is Sam Madrid. However, Hardy is in for a shock when he realizes that he has already met Madrid.