The Mirror Crack'd (1980)

Director:

Guy Hamilton

Writers:

Jonathan Hales (screenplay) and
Barry Sandler (screenplay)

Release Date:

19 December 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the murderer among them all?

Plot:

Jane Marple solves the mystery when a local woman is poisoned and a visiting movie star seems to have been the intended victim.

Plot Keywords:

Agatha Christie | Miss Marple | English Country Village | Detective | Film Making

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Angela Lansbury	...	Miss Jane Marple
Wendy Morgan	...	Cherry
Margaret Courtenay	...	Mrs. Bantry
Charles Gray	...	Bates, the Butler
Maureen Bennett	...	Heather Babcock
Carolyn Pickles	...	Miss Giles
Eric Dodson	...	The Major
Charles Lloyd Pack	...	Vicar (as Charles Lloyd-Pack)
Richard Pearson	...	Doctor Haydock
Thick Wilson	...	The Mayor
Pat Nye	...	Mayoress
Peter Woodthorpe	...	Scout Master
Geraldine Chaplin	...	Ella Zielinsky
Tony Curtis	...	Martin N. Fenn
Edward Fox	...	Inspector Craddock

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | Ireland:PG | Singapore:PG | Australia:PG | Finland:K-12 | Norway:12 (1981) | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:PG | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Kent, England, UK

Company:

EMI Films

Trivia:

Pierce Brosnan's first brush with James Bond has him working with Guy Hamilton, director of Goldfinger (1964). It would take another 15 years before Brosnan landed the role of 007 .

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: At the end when the lady was lying on the chaise longue she is supposed to be dead, but her chest rises and falls slightly.

Quotes:

Inspector Delbert Craddock: [to Jason Rudd] I'm sure you'll make a fine film without the aid of Scotland Yard. I'm here about a minor matter of murder.

Movie Connections:

References A Chump at Oxford (1940)

A very good adaptation.

Being a fan of both Agatha Christie, Angela Lansbury, and Rock Hudson I watched this film with pleasure. The cast here has done a great job, everybody is convincing, even Liz Taylor, although her acting is at times overdone, as usual. The movie has a good pace, dialogues are witty and humorous, and the mystery itself engaging. I think the proportions of each character's involvement in the story are true to the original (I was afraid they'd make Miss Marple into an action figure or something, but was glad to see she stayed in the background to make her grand entrance in the finale). All in all, it's a very good and convincing adaptation of Christie's book.