When Mel said he was going to charge Esther 50 bucks for making long distance calls and stealing stuff, the audience gasped! WHY?!?

Because a studio hand told them to. :rofl: JUST KIDDING BRIAN.

$50 bucks for calls is A LOT, even for the 70's. That and the fact that she was an old lady probably. Which, to me, shouldn't matter. He should have made a bargain with her regarding the pies and paying the phone bill.

:lol: ;)

But he wasn't just charging her for the calls, he was charging for the stolen items as well.

I was kinda distracted at that moment (I had a phone call)...did she steal a lot of canned goods? Wait, she stole items that she made the pies with didn't she?

Yeah, she stole the ingredients, then made the pies and sold them back to Mel. That's why the last line was "The price of ingredients just went up, bub!" to Mel when he was upset that she raised the price of the pies.

$50 bucks for calls is A LOT, even for the 70's. That and the fact that she was an old lady probably. Which, to me, shouldn't matter. He should have made a bargain with her regarding the pies and paying the phone bill.

Actually, it was $14 for the long distance calls, the rest was for the stolen ingredients (I just finished watching that scene :) )

Actually, it was $14 for the long distance calls, the rest was for the stolen ingredients (I just finished watching that scene :) )


That's why the oooh's and aaaah's from the audience didn't make sense. It seemed pretty fair to me.

We don't know how much she stole. She could have been stealing more canned goods to make pies FOR OTHER RESTAURANTS, DINERS, etc.

I missed a scene, why did she have a key in the first place? Was she making the pies at Mel's?

It was kind of odd...she said her dead husband had been a locksmith, and "he left me these"---whereupon she held up a great big ring with over a dozen keys on it.

I don't know if they were "skeleton keys" or what...

It was kind of odd...she said her dead husband had been a locksmith, and "he left me these"---whereupon she held up a great big ring with over a dozen keys on it.

I don't know if they were "skeleton keys" or what...
Damnit! I wish I hadn't been interrupted by the phone yesterday. I missed a scene.

Ok, so she had these keys...so, it gave her the right to enter Mel's establishment?

In her mind for her own scheme, I guess.

The audience probably audibly reacted to Mel's demand for her to pay 50 bucks because he's big mean yellin' Mel, and she's a "sweet" little old poor lady. :rolleyes:

In her mind for her own scheme, I guess.

The audience probably audibly reacted to Mel's demand for her to pay 50 bucks because he's big mean yellin' Mel, and she's a "sweet" little old poor lady. :rolleyes:
I say YOU GO MEL! He has every right to be mad. If it was some young guy, there wouldn't be an issue.

I guess she was going into other establishments, not only Mel's.

I say YOU GO MEL! He has every right to be mad. If it was some young guy, there wouldn't be an issue.

I guess she was going into other establishments, not only Mel's.


I agree, Mel had every right to yell. He was being ripped off. It didn't matter that she was a sweet old lady.

Me too. The audience was probably just like, "*gasp*, he's going to make that sweet little old poor lady pay 50 bucks?!" :rolleyes: