The Old Die Rich

An actor who specializes in portraying the elderly investigates a pattern of deaths in which aged people with substantial bank savings die of self-starvation. Applying the Stanislavski method, he visits scenes, questions a medical examiner and a police sergeant, and reconstructs the inner life that might drive such behavior. He questions the easy medical explanation of senile psychosis, noting the availability of cheap food and relief and finding total starvation difficult to reconcile with mere thrift or forgetfulness. His inquiry grows into an obsession as he seeks a psychological account for why some refuse to spend their own money even to survive.