Murder Ahoy: A Review

 

MURDER AHOY!

Murder Ahoy perhaps was one step too far for Dame Agatha Christie. The three previous Miss Marple films had at least been adapted from her novels (albeit both Murder at the Gallop and Murder Most Foul being based on Hercule Poirot novels). Now it was decided to write an original Miss Marple story with no input from Dame Agatha. The end result is a weak film, though through no fault of Dame Margaret Rutherford.

Miss Jane Marple (Rutherford) is, thanks to a relative's death, made a trustee of the Cape of Good Hope Youth Reclamation Centre. At her very first meeting, fellow trustee Cecil Ffolly-Hardwick (Henry B. Longhurst) is murdered through his snuff. Who would want him dead, and why? The answer lies on the HMS Battledore, the trust's good ship where young men are trained away from their former life of crime.

Miss Marple, dressed up in a naval uniform, soon comes aboard, much to the Battledore crew's irritation. Captain Sydney De Courcey Rhumstone (Lionel Jeffries) quips that she looks like Neptune's mother. He's more irritated when she commandeers his quarters, forcing everyone to move down based on pecking order. Soon, however, the Battledore begins revealing her secrets, ones that involve juvenile delinquents, forbidden romances, and more murders. With help on land from her Boy Friday Mr. Stringer (Stringer Davis) and Chief Inspector Craddock (Charles "Bud" Tingwell), Miss Marple soon unmasks the killer and even manages to play matchmaker.

I think alarm bells should start ringing when the opening credits show the formerly sane Miss Marple strut around in naval garb and we see that Murder Ahoy is "based on their interpretation of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple" (emphasis mine). "Their" interpretation is that of screenwriters David Pursall and Jack Seddon, who had worked on the previous Miss Marple films. However, while they did well when adapting a Christie novel, it is when they got a free hand that they made a right mess of things.

Their interpretation of Miss Marple was to make her less shrewd detective and more Bonkers Betty. They forgot that Miss Marple could be funny, but not a loon. Her get-up, the almost oblivious manner to things, the manner of deaths was all set up to force humor. However, when she and the Nelson-mad Rhumstone see a body hanging from the mast both seem more confused than horrified.

I think this is because Murder Ahoy leaned far too heavily on trying to make all the characters "funny" versus merely "amusing but still rational". Jeffries bears the brunt of the forced humor, forever muttering and coming across as too dimwitted to be in charge of himself, let alone a whole ship. Rhumstone could have been a stereotypical "idiot in charge" but as played by Jeffries, Rhumstone was too stupid for even that.

You can't take seriously a naval or semi-naval officer who both wears a kimono and curls his beard openly in front of others. Not that seeing Miss Marple in a fencing contest with someone who is or is not the murderer any more serious.

Murder Ahoy made a terrible mistake in separating Stringer and Marple. They work best together because they can play off each other, but because Stringer is on land and Marple at sea they have to communicate through Morse code sent through flashlights. I kept wondering why and how Mr. Stringer managed to stay up late enough to receive news from Miss Marple.

The film also leaves a lot of unanswered questions. What happened to the boys who were part of the criminal enterprise? Were they willing participants or forced into things? Why and how did the fictitious novel The Doom Box help the murderer plan the nefarious schemes? What is up with all the silly names? 

I think Rutherford gave it her all and she is still enjoyable to watch. She was failed by the material, which gave her little to work with. Cutting off Davis from her weakened her overall performance as she now has Jeffries to play against her. He however is too overtly silly to take seriously, let alone be either the detecting protege or murderer. 

I'm not throwing the baby out with the bathwater, as there is a nice quip between Craddock and Sergeant Bacon (Terence Edmond). "A tramp wants to see you urgently!" Bacon tells the Chief Inspector. Without missing a beat, Craddock replies "I don't urgently want to see a tramp!"

Murder Ahoy was the last Margaret Rutherford Miss Marple film, and it is a shame that the nice, light manner the previous films had did not carry over to this one. This last hurrah would sadly lead to a decline for dear Jane until Joan Hickson came along. It is not terrible, but it just missed what made the previous films enjoyable.

DECISION: D+

Murder Most Foul: A Review

 

MURDER MOST FOUL

Murder takes center stage in Murder Most Foul, the third of the four Miss Marple films starring Margaret Rutherford as our snooping busybody. The film did not stray from its winning formula, making for another nice romp.

Miss Jane Marple (Rutherford) is the lone juror who voted against convicting a man accused of murdering his landlady. She is not convinced the open-and-shut case is as open-and-shut as it appears. Through her own investigation, Miss Marple finds that the victim, Ms. McGuinty, was blackmailing someone from her past.

That past leads Marple to the Cosgood Players, a theatrical troupe where McGuinty had worked once as an actress. Its impresario Driffold Cosgood (Ron Moody) is not keen on having Jane Marple as his newest stage star, but he thinks he can dupe her into being a financial backer by indulging what he sees as her acting whim.

Marple, however, knows that there is a murderer among the actors. Who could the murderer be? There are more victims, some intentional, some accidental, until with some help from her Boy Friday Jim Stringer (Stringer Davis) she finds that McGuinty's killer means to do her in too. The murderer, however, learns too late that Miss Marple has a few tricks up her own sleeve.

Murder Most Foul got an unexpected bonus when its star, Margaret Rutherford, won Best Supporting Actress for The V.I.P.s. Now with an Academy Award-winning actress at your star, you can tout the Oscar in your ads. This may have been a nice touch, but frankly by now audiences should know what they are getting with a Margaret Rutherford as Miss Marple film. 

What that is, is a nice and not uncomplicated mystery punctuated with bits of humor. Murder Most Foul has some surprisingly clever wordplay. Poor Constable Wells (Terry Scott) bemoans the lack of a conviction. "That woman's made a mockery of my one and only murder," he sadly notes. Cosgood remarks that Miss Marple would make for a good Angel or Duchess, and at least one is a pun (Angel as both a character and the name for a financial backer). Whether "Duchess" is a nod to her Oscar-winning role as the Duchess of Brighton I cannot say for certain, but it is a nice touch. 

We get a nice shoutout to Agatha Christie herself when Miss Marple rifles through old playbills from the fictitious Christie play Murder She Said. 

The film also has the blessing of being set in the world of the theater, allowing for actors to ham it up to their hearts content. Ron Moody's equally daffy and pompous actor/director is wickedly amusing. It's a pity that he could not end up being Miss Marple's sidekick given how well they work together. He and Rutherford, who puts in another charming performance, do an excellent job.

Rutherford too gets a chance to indulge a little bit of comic theatricality when performing her audition monologue. The film falters in terms of performance only when we get such characters as Eva (Alice Seebohm), who is a bit too exaggerated as a fellow thespian who goes into psychic trances and has intuitions. 

Despite taking Mrs. McGuinty's Dead from Hercule Poirot to Jane Marple, the adaption is probably less complex than the book it is based on. We get a group of suspects, a few victims and a conclusion to the mystery. Murder Most Foul keeps to the "murder and mirth" formula that these Christie adaptations created. It is a pleasant romp which satisfies those who enjoy them.

DECISION: B-

Murder at the Gallop: A Review (Review #1555)

 

MURDER AT THE GALLOP

As Murder, She Said was a surprise hit, there was no doubt that a Miss Marple sequel would be made. Murder at the Gallop stays close to the Margaret Rutherford Miss Marple formula: a not-very-complicated murder mystery punctured with some humor. It is the very definition of a light romp, a breezy and enjoyable film that seeks only to entertain.

After coming upon the sudden death of rich recluse Mr. Enderby, Miss Marple (Rutherford) and her friend Mr. Stringer (Stringer Davis) suspect it was not a mere heart attack. Instead, it was murder, where Mr. Enderby was literally frightened to death.

Who could be the murderer among his relatives, all of whom benefit from his death? His estranged sister Cora is soon ruled out, as she herself is quickly murdered. Miss Marple, aware that a murder based on inheritance rarely if ever ends in one murder, knows there's another one coming. Launching her own investigation, she goes to the Gallop Hotel and Riding Establishment.

Mr. Enderby's cousin Hector (Robert Morley) is delighted to have a formidable horsewoman staying at the Gallop. The other suspects: fourth cousin George Crossfield (Robert Urquhart), niece Rosamund (Katya Douglas) and her husband Michael (James Villiers) are less enthusiastic. What role if any could Cora's loyal companion Miss Milchrest (Flora Robson) have had in the case? Whodunit and why? Will solving the mystery mean Miss Marple may be the next victim herself?

Regardless of the logic of the conclusion, you know what kind of film Murder at the Gallop is when you see the portly, elderly Margaret Rutherford shake her groove thing when dancing The Twist. This is meant as light entertainment, with a greater focus on mirth than on murder. As such, we get treated to the double act of Rutherford and Morley doing sight gags. There is nothing that says "this is not serious" more than Hector literally putting his foot on Miss Marple's ample derriere as she pulls his boot off.

We even get a bit of an in-joke when Miss Marple advises the disbelieving Inspector Craddock (Bud Tingwell) to read Agatha Christie's fictitious The Ninth Life, where a cat is the murder weapon. "Agatha Christie should be compulsory reading for the police force," Miss Marple intones. Perhaps this homage to Christie was a way to apologize for taking her novel After the Funeral and switching the detective from Hercule Poirot to Miss Marple.

Then again, the MGM Miss Marple films were not exactly straightforward adaptations to start with.

The murders themselves are not graphic, adding to the lightness of Murder at the Gallop. As such, the enjoyment comes less from trying to find out who the murderer is than on the performances. Here, we get treated to a couple of nice ones.

Rutherford has an absolutely endearing face and manner as Miss Marple. She isn't stupid by any means, but she also is not strict or serious. Instead, she balances the danger with an almost impish manner, a twinkle in her eye among the various bodies lying around.

She is matched by Morley, who keeps to his usual slightly befuddled Englishman. Though the idea that Hector could be the murderer given how often he tut-tuts around, there are flashes of potential menace underneath the addled manner. Robson, the third of the three best-known names in the film, was a bit too forced in the "meek maid" manner, but I think this was right for the role.

Murder at the Gallop even allows for an ever-so-slightly opening to the innocent yet sweet manner between Miss Marple and Mr. Stringer, no surprise given that in real life Rutherford and Davies were married. While always referring to each other as "Miss Marple" and "Mr. Stringer", there is one moment when she calls him "Jim", indicating a little more than perhaps we have seen before.

If there are flaws to note in Murder at the Gallop, it is in the plot itself. Miss Marple overhears, for example, something about a valuable painting that may have been the motive (Miss Marple is a Mistress of Eves-dropping). Yet we have already heard the discussions about a painting that everyone wants but which Hector won't give (as it is not listed in the will he isn't required to). It feels a bit of a MacGuffin but not a particularly good one. 

Moreover, given its brief running time (at 81 minutes it is the shortest in the Miss Marple series) we do not have much time to see who could be the murderer. The actual murderer is slightly obvious only due to how they behave, not so much for the clues pointing this particular person out.

Still, those are minor quibbles. Murder at the Gallop is a delight from start to finish, a mystery one can watch without delving too much into things, anchored by a delightful performance from Margaret Rutherford. It may not be pure Christie, but it is pure entertainment.

DECISION: B+

The Mirror Crack'd: A Review

 

THE MIRROR CRACK'D

This is part of the Summer Under the Stars Blogathon. Today's star is Kim Novak.

It's an all-star cast for murder in The Mirror Crack'd, the adaptation of Agatha Christie's The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side. It is a mildly entertaining adaptation done in by its far too lackadaisical manner.

Famed film star Marina Gregg (Elizabeth Taylor) is making a comeback in a biopic, starring as Mary Queen of Scots. She and her director husband Jason Rudd (Rock Hudson) have bought an estate in the quaint village of St. Mary Meade and will film nearby. Everyone in town seems excited save for Miss Jane Marple (Angela Lansbury), who is unimpressed with celebrity and can't fathom why anyone would be.

She, however, is impressed when local ditz Heather Babcock (Maureen Bennett) dies at the welcoming party for Marina. Babcock's drink had been poisoned, a drink that was originally Marina's but which she gave to Heather when Marina accidentally jolted her. Yes, Heather had bored Marina to tears by recounting an old story about how despite being ill she had broken quarantine to meet and even kiss Marina when she had entertained troops during the war, but that was no reason to kill Heather, was it?

Then again, who could want Marina dead? Perhaps her eternal frenemy Lola Brewster (Kim Novak), forever taunting her over her age and past breakdowns? Not the film's producer and Lola's lover Martin N. Fenn (Tony Curtis), who would lose millions if the Mary Queen of Scots biopic didn't go through. What of Marina's loyal assistant Ella Zielinsky (Geraldine Chaplin), who had a relationship with Jason? It's all a mystery to Miss Marple's detective nephew Inspector Craddock (Edward Fox), made more difficult by Aunt Jane not able to look in on things due to an injured leg. However, never count out the intuitive powers of an old English woman, who brings the case to a successful albeit tragic conclusion.

Perhaps those behind The Mirror Crack'd thought they'd take the formula that proved successful in previous Christie adaptations of Hercule Poirot novels and rework it with her female detective. Unlike Murder on the Orient Express or Death on the Nile however, The Mirror Crack'd did not have an exotic locale to whisk us to. The lack of the foreign, however, does not explain why The Mirror Crack'd kind of flopped.  

I think the filmmakers took some of the wrong lessons from previous Christie adaptations and applied them here to if not disastrous results at least lesser ones. One was by looking at the Margaret Rutherford Miss Marple films, which were so comedic that Christie openly hated them and drew weary of other film adaptations. As a side note, the hatred did not extend to Rutherford herself: Christie dedicated ironically enough The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side to her. Those Rutherford films worked as light entertainment, but were also product of their times. Rutherford played her as a shrewd but slightly dotty old woman. The Mirror Crack'd, on the other hand, did not have that overtly light manner as Lansbury played her more seriously, the sore thumb among the hams populating the film.

Filling your cast with big names, or at least big names from the forties and fifties for a film in the eighties is not a guarantee of success. The Mirror Crack'd at times seems more interested in showing how much fun everyone in the cast is having at almost sending themselves up than in the story itself.

There is a lot of fun to be had in the bitch-fest Taylor's Marina and Novak's Lola have, trading barbs and insults at each other with barely repressed glee. They do get a chance to rattle off quips at each other and behind their backs in an almost wink-wink manner. There's when Lola crashes the party and jams herself into the scene. "Chin up, both of them," Lola tells Marina. "Do you know the two things I hate about you are?", Marina asks through a clenched smile. "No, what?" Lola replies. "Your face," is the answer.

Hearing Liz ridicule the idea that Lola would play the Virgin Queen, hearing Ella call Lola "Mary, Queen of Sluts" and seeing Novak wildly overact flirtatious with Inspector Craddock may have been fun for the actors, but it's no fun for audiences who want said actors to take this seriously. If one likes in-jokes like Marina sing-song saying "Bags, bags, go away, come right back on Doris Day" to a befuddled Rock Hudson, then fine. Bits like that can work, but not when your actors and story are not really bothering to try and make this real.

Instead, The Mirror Crack'd seems oddly lethargic and restrained for what should be a murder mystery. Part of the problem is the cast. Lansbury took as good a stab as she could with her Miss Marple, but no amount of makeup could make anyone believe that the then-54-year-old could possibly be this elderly spinster. Moreover, she wasn't a major player in The Mirror Crack'd. The leg injury Miss Marple had early in the film reduces her to almost an observer in the goings-on. How she managed to solve anything when she had everything relayed secondhand is a bigger mystery than who wants Marina Gregg dead. As if adding insult to injury, having Miss Marple say, "That'll teach me to be dogmatic" after a dog causes her fall is cringey, not funny.

Taylor similarly did what I think is her best, but she too suffered from what plagued almost everyone in the cast: they were not taking this seriously. Her acting at times veered towards parody, not more so than when as Marina she recites lines that fanboy Craddock immediately recognizes from a Marina Gregg film Danger in the Dark. Taylor's uninhibited cackle is probably the more real moment in her performance.

Taylor, however, was the model of restraint compared to Curtis and Novak. The two of them, particularly the latter, devoured the scenery like Charles Dickens orphans. Novak so openly and brazenly overacts that she transcends spoofing and slips into something beyond self-aware. It's like watching someone at a stage rehearsal working out their excessive tendencies and not realize she is actually on camera. 

One odd moment is when Fox and Hudson walk and talk. The 6'5" Hudson so towers over the 5'8" Fox that it looks almost freakish. Fox looks like a midget next to him, and why director Guy Hamilton allowed that is beyond me.

Jonathan Hales and Barry Sandler's screenplay is also illogical. One character is killed off pretty late in the film, yet no proof is presented as to who or why said character is killed. In fact, this character's death, once shown for the shock value of things, is not only forgotten but never mentioned again. As the case is wrapped up, we are left to wonder whether this death really was accidental or related to the previous murder. Add to that the fact that this character had been harassing other suspects to find out if they reacted and the whole thing seems looney.

Judging from the final product I think everyone involved in The Mirror Crack'd had fun making it. It's easy to see why: a nice paycheck without bothering to put in any effort and a chance to camp it up to an almost comic level must have made the production a lark. However, while one can have a bit of fun in a murder mystery it should be to the point where it's clear nothing is serious. Thanks to The Mirror Crack'd, perhaps the film's overall failure is a reason as to why as of this writing there has not been another Miss Marple feature film made.

DECISION: C-

Murder She Said: A Review (Review #818)

MURDER SHE SAID

I love Agatha Christie.  As a middle school student, I devoured Christie's books.  Over time, the passion has tempered a bit, though And Then There Were None (aka Ten Little Indians) still remains among my favorite books.  Christie herself was not particularly fond of the film adaptations of her work, in particular with the four films based on her Miss Marple character.  Miss Marple, a spinster whose sharp intellect unmasked many a killer, was one of her two great detectives (the Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot the other).  Murder She Said, the first of the four Miss Marple films, may not be faithful to the original novel it's based on (4:50 From Paddington), but it functions well for what it was meant to be: a lighthearted mystery romp, with a charming turn by its star, Margaret Rutherford.

Miss Marple (Rutherford) is aboard a train when she looks out the window and is shocked to see a woman being strangled on another train riding next to hers.  The police don't believe there was any murder, especially since they didn't find a body anywhere on route.  Miss Marple, being a fan of murder mysteries, decides she will investigate the crime herself.  Aiding her is the librarian Mr. Stringer (Rutherford's real-life husband, Stringer Davis), who is covertly sweet on her. 

Soon, Miss Marple's investigations lead her to Ackenthorpe Hall, where she finds just enough evidence to suggest the body of the murdered woman is there.  She decides to go undercover as a maid, and finds the Ackenthorpe family a very unhappy one.  Ruled by comically tyrannical Mr. Ackenthorpe (James Robert Justice), about the only child willing to tolerate him is his widowed daughter Emma (Muriel Pavlow).  All his sons save Edmund (who was killed in the war) stay as far away from Ackenthorpe Hall as possible, coming only when required.  Ackenthorpe's only grandson Alexander (Ronnie Raymond), a most mischievous fellow, is also at the Hall.

As the investigation goes on, Miss Marple manages to find the body.  Now the family knows there is a murderer about.  Things grow more complicated when it's discovered that the murdered woman may have been Edmund's hereto unknown widow, the product of a wartime marriage in France.  If it's proven that she was Edmund's widow, then it must have been someone in the family as only they would benefit from her death.

Emma has her own complications, as she and her father's doctor, Dr. Quimper (Arthur Kennedy) are in love but find that revealing their relationship at this time is out of the question.  More suspects...and more bodies...keep popping up, until Miss Marple at last, with a little accidental help from Alexander, realizes who the killer is.  Once brought to justice, Miss Marple leaves for her home, but not after turning down a surprise marriage proposal from the cantankerous Mr. Ackenthorpe.  Off she goes with Mr. Stringer, still very sweet on Jane, and as they ride off together, both are unaware that Alexander has tied a bunch of cans behind their car with a "Just Married" sign to it.

Murder She Said is not 4:50 From Paddington.  You know this straight off the bat by the book's alternate American title, What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw.  Based on that, you can deduce that it was Miss Marple's friend Mrs. McGillicuddy who witnessed the murder, not Miss Marple herself.  There are other changes, large and small, from book to screen.  Christie disliked the whole thing, but while I tend to be on the purist side of film adaptations, I can forgive Murder She Said because the film didn't set out to be a serious drama.

Instead, Murder She Said is meant to be a light, almost comic film.  We know this first and foremost by Rutherford's take on Marple.  The stout, endearingly haggard Rutherford was nothing like the prim, proper, but shrewd Marple, a woman with a dark idea of human nature.  She makes Marple not into a figure of ridicule, but not someone who is inwardly suspicious of all people. 

The comedic nature of Murder She Said comes into the foreground particularly whenever Rutherford and Justice face off.  When Emma introduces the new maid, Jane, Ackenthorpe quickly turns to his gardener/footman and says, "And a plainer Jane I've never seen", to which Jane replies with aplomb, "We can't ALL be good-looking".  The verbal sparring between Rutherford and Justice, full of quick quips, verbal insults, and physical comedy, clearly shows that Murder She Said would mix, as the trailer says, "murder and mirth".

The comic elements are also evident in the scenes between Rutherford and Davis.  It's clear that Mr. Stringer is very sweet on Miss Marple, but whether Miss Marple returns the feelings isn't revealed.  There is a suggestion that she might eventually marry Mr. Stringer when she turns down Ackenthorpe's marriage proposal, saying that if she ever would enter that venture, it would be with someone else...perhaps the man picking her up from her latest adventure.  Davis and Rutherford have a wonderful rapport with each other, and together they lend more comedic elements to the story.

For those of us who are Christie fans, a particular highlight is the meeting of the two women best known for playing Miss Marple.  Joan Hickson, who would go on to play Marple in the highly acclaimed television series, has a small role as a part-time housekeeper.  It's interesting to see Hickson, whom I remember as the definitive Miss Marple, playing someone of a far lower social class than the more upmarket Miss Marple.  It shows that Hickson was a far more diverse actress than she was given credit for. 

If there is any debate as to whether Rutherford or Hickson made for the better Miss Marple, I would remind people that they were essentially playing two versions of the character.  Rutherford was playing a more lighthearted Miss Marple, while Hickson was playing it more straight.  Each succeeds in her own way to make the character her own, and while I personally favor Hickson, after watching Murder She Said, I find Rutherford was endearing, charming, and most pleasant as Miss Marple.  Both played the part correctly as they were written and directed, so both of them make ideal Miss Marples.

I found Murder She Said sometimes dragging slightly (despite its remarkably brief running time of 80-odd minutes), but apart from that the whole film can correctly be called 'a romp'.  We know this by the Ron Goodwin's light musical score; we can also tell from the fact that after the murderer was unmasked, we had a sight gag.  The murderer had tried to kill Marple with poison but was stopped by the police, who were listening in.  Once the murderer was removed, the Inspector turned to Marple, only to find that she had fainted dead away from delayed shock.

If you look at Murder She Said as a romp, something of a trifle to be enjoyed for a lighthearted take on murder, with a somewhat dotty but endearing detective, then you can enjoy it for the amusing picture that it is.  It may not please Christie purists (and it didn't please Christie at all, though in time she came around to the benefits of Rutherford's role in popularizing the character, dedicating a Miss Marple novel to her), but as a light treat with some deadly delights, Murder She Said is a pleasant diversion.

Two Branches of the Marple Tree

DECISION: B-