As trench-coated Marlowe drove in his convertible along the Pacific Coast Highway o the designated, isolated rendezvous spot with Marriott crouching down in the back seat, he felt he was being watched ("I was a toad on a wet rock.]Thematically, the main point of the film was societal change at the height of the Depression - (1) silent actors and stage stars from the past were overlooked, aging, alcoholic, and mostly destitute, (2) a new class of corrupt, self-made, ruthless, and unscrupulous corporate tycoons were beginning to emerge to take over businesses hrough shady deals, (3) an emerging industrial revolution was on he horizon (".Anyway, you don""t have to talk to Jane.lf Blanche will only let us out of that clause in her contract which says that we have to make a picture with Baby Jane for every picture that we make with Blanche, then Baby Jane""s contract won""t be any problem.I go down to the kitchen and order dinner.Then there""s the ladies"" luncheon and bridge, always the same ladies.Then dinner - the same people we dined with last week.After dinner, poker for the men and women for the women.There""s talk of children and doctors and servants and the garden club...I can""t go on liking he same things forever and ever...I want all the lovely things I""ve got a right to.In Europe, a woman of my age is just getting o the point where men begin to take a serious interest in her."The middle-aged, refined-looking, aristocratic gentleman, Stefan Brand (Louis Jourdan) ascends a winding staircase, enters his apartment, and then assures his grey-haired, mute servant John (Art Smith) that he will not keep his engagement - as he clarifies his life""s values of irresponsibility and self-indulgence: "This is one engagement I have no intention of keeping.