This early eighties version of one of the later Miss Marple books takes a lot of liberties with the original material but still manages to be good fun. The very opening with the closing scene of an old black and white film is terrific and then we're transported into picture postcard St Mary Mead.
Angela Lansbury takes on Miss Marple here and is not bad at all although she had to be 'aged up' to look the part. She is very tall but Christie does describe the old lady as tall so that's OK! The village locals are real stereotypes (especially the dithering vicar) but we don't get enough of Margaret Courtney's wonderfully posh Dolly Bantry. The American visitors are all big name Hollywood actors. Elizabeth Taylor gives a sympathetic performance as Marina Gregg but has the prize stolen from her by the outrageous but fabulous Kim Novak. I know I ought to sniff haughtily about the hammy, bitchy one liners but I thought they were great and really well delivered ('Chin up darling - both of them'). I also really liked Geraldine Chaplin as Ella - a really subtle performance with a few throwaway lines of her own.
The ending seems a little rushed but otherwise this fills an enjoyable couple of hours.
Angela Lansbury takes on Miss Marple here and is not bad at all although she had to be 'aged up' to look the part. She is very tall but Christie does describe the old lady as tall so that's OK! The village locals are real stereotypes (especially the dithering vicar) but we don't get enough of Margaret Courtney's wonderfully posh Dolly Bantry. The American visitors are all big name Hollywood actors. Elizabeth Taylor gives a sympathetic performance as Marina Gregg but has the prize stolen from her by the outrageous but fabulous Kim Novak. I know I ought to sniff haughtily about the hammy, bitchy one liners but I thought they were great and really well delivered ('Chin up darling - both of them'). I also really liked Geraldine Chaplin as Ella - a really subtle performance with a few throwaway lines of her own.
The ending seems a little rushed but otherwise this fills an enjoyable couple of hours.