Marina Rudd (Elizabeth Taylor) is a has-been movie star trying to make a comeback in a film set in St. Mary Mead, which happens to be the home of Miss Marple (Angela Lansbury). Naturally, there's a murder, whereupon Miss Marple proceeds to investigate. And naturally, her nephew just happens to work for Scotland Yard and, naturally, he is on hand as the official police presence. It's all very convenient, and very typical of an Agatha Christie novel.
Christie is my favorite fiction writer. But, by the 1960s most of her best work was behind her. As a whodunit, "The Mirror Crack'd" is one of her weaker stories, along with: "A Caribbean Mystery", "At Bertram's Hotel", "Endless Night", and a couple of others, all published in the 60s. The whodunit puzzle in "The Mirror Crack'd" is easy to solve, if one knows how to "read" Agatha Christie.
The film's screenplay inherits the book's plot, naturally, and suffers accordingly. The film also suffers from a nondescript musical score, and from Lansbury's stiff and forced performance, helped not at all by overdone makeup that makes Miss Marple look pale and sickly.
Even so, "The Mirror Crack'd" does have entertainment value. Production design is excellent. And the film has an all-star cast. But, by far, the main attraction is Kim Novak's humorous portrayal as Lola Brewster, Marina's sexy and very vain "star" rival. In a series of cat-fights, the two of them verbally duel in ways reminiscent of those "Dynasty" battles between Joan Collins and Linda Evans.
Considering that there is no spectacular scenery, no memorable music, no Hercule Poirot, and a plot that is weak, "The Mirror Crack'd" should not be as good as it is. It's worth watching once for its production design, its humor, and as a comparison to other Christie films.
