The Mirror Crack'd (1980)

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

Director:

Guy Hamilton

Writers:

Jonathan Hales (screenplay), Barry Sandler (screenplay)

Stars:

Angela Lansbury, Tony Curtis, Rock Hudson

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Angela Lansbury	...	Miss Marple
Geraldine Chaplin	...	Ella Zielinsky
Tony Curtis	...	Martin N. Fenn
Edward Fox	...	Inspector Craddock
Rock Hudson	...	Jason Rudd
Kim Novak	...	Lola Brewster
Elizabeth Taylor	...	Marina Rudd
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

Storyline

The year is 1953. The small English village of St. Mary Mead, home to Miss Jane Marple, is delighted when a big American movie company arrives to make a movie telling of the relationship between Jane Grey and Elisabeth I, starring the famous actresses Marina Rudd and Lola Brewster. Marina arrives with her husband, Jason, and when she discovers that Lola is going to be in the movie with her she hits the roof as Lola and Marina loathe each other on sight. Marina has been getting death threats and at a party at the manor house, Heather Babcock, after boring Marina with a long story, drinks a cocktail made for Marina and dies from poisoning. Everybody believes that Marina is the target but the police officer investigating the case, Inspector Craddock isn't sure so he asks Miss Marple, his aunt, to investigate...

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Plot Keywords:

woman murders a woman | murderess | amateur sleuth | strong female lead | strong female character | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Crime | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 December 1980 (USA)

Also Known As:

Agatha Christie's The Mirror Crack'd

Filming Locations:

St. Clere Estate, Heaverham, Kent, England, UK

Box Office

Gross USA:

$11,000,000, 31 December 1981

Company Credits

Production Co:

G.W. Films,EMI Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White (opening sequence) Color Color (colour) (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Miss Marple is seen smoking a cigarette.

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Goofs

In the scene where Jason Rudd is driving away with his car, you can clearly see the chalked position marks on the ground that had been applied to place the car rightly for the shot.

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Quotes

Inspector Delbert Craddock: [speaking of Marina Rudd and Lola Brewster] I heard the two of them are close. Is that true?
Ella Zielinsky: Close? If you put the two of them together in a tank with a shark, the shark would have an identity crisis.

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Crazy Credits

Opening credits prologue: 1953

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Connections

Referenced in Elizabeth Taylor: A Tribute (2011)

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Soundtracks

There's No Business Like Show Business
(uncredited)
Composed by Irving Berlin

User Reviews

In its own way, a camp classic

The Mirror Crack'd is one of the many Agatha Christie stories made into an all-star film. This one is more campy and less opulent than "Murder on the Orient Express," for instance, but for what it is, it's pretty good. Set in the '50s in Miss Marple's village of St. Mary Mead, the film stars lots of big names from that era: Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, Tony Curtis, Kim Novak - a veritable who's who of '50s megastars. Angela Lansbury plays Miss Marple, and she's perfect in the role. The film also has an appearance by Pierce Brosnan in a small, uncredited part.

The script has the Taylor and Novak characters camping it up with bitchy insults which I don't quite remember from the book. The story concerns a movie star, her husband, her co-star nemesis, etc., coming to St. Mary Mead to make a movie. During a party, a local resident is murdered, but the intended victim is assumed to be Taylor. It's up to Miss Marple to unravel the mystery as more murders occur.

The scene between Taylor and Edward Fox is especially good, and I've never been sure if Taylor falling on top of Hudson on the bed was supposed to be funny or not - in the movie theater, it got a laugh.

It's great to see all these old stars in the same film. By the way, perhaps this was mentioned by one of the posters - this story is based on a real-life incident that happened to Gene Tierney.