Murder She Said (1961)

Director:

George Pollock

Writers:

Agatha Christie (novel)
David D. Osborn (adaptation)

Release Date:

7 January 1962 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Mystery

Tagline:

Agatha Christie-The First Lady of Mystery and Margaret Rutherford-The Last Word in Detectives, Bring You a Killer of a Suspense Yarn...No Ifs, Ands or Butlers About It!

Plot:

Whem Miss Marple reports witnessing a murder through the window of a passing train, the police dismiss her has dotty spinster when no trace of the crime can be found.

Plot Keywords:

Miss Marple | Train | Murder | Manor | Manor House

Cast

Margaret Rutherford	...	Miss Jane Marple
Arthur Kennedy	...	Dr. Paul Quimper
Muriel Pavlow	...	Emma Ackenthorpe
James Robertson Justice	...	Ackenthorpe
Thorley Walters	...	Cedric Ackenthorpe
Charles 'Bud' Tingwell	...	Inspector Craddock (as Charles Tingwell)
Conrad Phillips	...	Harold Ackenthorpe
Ronald Howard	...	Brian Eastley
Joan Hickson	...	Mrs. Kidder
Stringer Davis	...	Mr. Jim Stringer
Ronnie Raymond	...	Alexander
Gerald Cross	...	Albert Ackenthorpe
Michael Golden	...	Hillman
Barbara Leake	...	Mrs. Hilda Stainton
Gordon Harris	...	Bacon

Also Known As:

Agatha Christie's 'Murder, She Said' (USA)
Meet Miss Marple

Runtime:

USA:87 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Norway:12 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:Unrated | West Germany:12 | Netherlands:AL

Filming Locations:

Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

George H. Brown Productions

Trivia:

Miss Marple gives her address as Old Pasture Lane, Milchester.

Goofs:

Continuity: Miss Marple is shown walking along Platform 2 towards the front of the train then, after stopping at the newsagents, she appears to be walking in the opposite direction.

Quotes:

Miss Marple: [Quimper's about to inject her with poison] One more murder may be one too many.
Dr. Quimper: This won't be a murder, the death certificate I'll write up will say heart failure.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Murder Most Foul (1964)

Only the First of Four!

I do like "good films" and I rate this as one of the best! Margaret Rutherford is not an ideal Miss Marple according to the books, but Agatha Christie did visit the set of this film and was a good friend of Margaret Rutherford. Apparently she also said to Joan Hickson that she would one day make a good Miss Marple... which she did indeed do in the BBC series! However, Margaret Rutheford brought Miss Marple to the public's attention, and despite rumours, she only played the role 4 times! Stringer Davies always played the role of Mr Stringer, in fact he was her real life husband! The theme music by Ron Goodwin is outstanding, and he should have been knighted for his contribution to cinema music, not just for this film, but for films like "Where Eagles Dare".(Tony Blair take note!) The themes to each of the 4 films were a slight variation: hence for "Murder Ahoy" it included tradition sea melodies.

I have the four disc DVD set released last year. It is a pity the makers MGM did not include "making of" material, or even locational information. MGM seem to have forgotten that they made many of their greatest films in Borehamwood in Hertfordshire, UK, and not in the USA!