Murder Is Easy (1982)

An American computer expert meets a distraught old lady on a train and she tells him that a homicidal maniac is stalking her quiet little village.

Director:

Claude Whatham

Writers:

Agatha Christie (novel), Carmen Culver (teleplay)

Stars:

Bill Bixby, Lesley-Anne Down, Olivia de Havilland

Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bill Bixby	...	Prof. Luke Williams
Lesley-Anne Down	...	Bridget Conway
Olivia de Havilland	...	Honoria Waynflete (as Olivia De Havilland)
Helen Hayes	...	Lavinia Fullerton
Patrick Allen	...	Maj. Horton
Shane Briant	...	Dr. Thomas
Freddie Jones	...	Const. Reed
Leigh Lawson	...	Jimmy Lorrimer
Jonathan Pryce	...	Mr. Ellsworthy
Ivor Roberts	...	Vicar
Trevor T. Smith	...	Rivers
Anthony Valentine	...	Abbot
Timothy West	...	Lord Gordon Easterfield
Carol MacReady	...	Mrs. Pierce
Diana Goodman	...	Rose Humbleby

Storyline

A mathematician and author, Luke Williams, is travelling up to London on a train when he meets a old lady, Lavinia Fullerton, who is also going to London, to Scotland Yard. Lavinia tells Luke that in her small village several people have died. The local police are certain that it was all accidental and are taking no action but Lavinia isn't convinced. In London Luke watches, horrified, as Lavinia is run over in a hit and run and he becomes convinced that she was telling the truth. He travels down to the village and with the aid of a local girl, who is also convinced that the deaths were murder, sets out to solve the mystery...

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Plot Keywords:

reference to agatha christie | reference to samuel taylor coleridge | reference to doctor john watson | train | computer | 

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Genres:

Crime | Mystery

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 January 1982 (USA)

Also Known As:

Agatha Christie's 'Murder Is Easy'

Filming Locations:

Marylebone Station, Marylebone, London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

CBS Entertainment Production, David Wolper-Stan Margulies Productions, Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Luke's book is "Probability and Chance".

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Goofs

At the beginning of the film Luke Williams is seen aboard a loco hauled train. The shots of the train on the journey alternate between this train and an Inter City 125.

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Connections

Version of Les petits meurtres d'Agatha Christie: Un Meurtre est-il facile? (2015)

User Reviews

Mostly dull, but with one inspired bit near the end

"Murder is Easy" begins promisingly enough, with the charming Helen Hayes boarding a train to London, where she plans to reveal to the Scotland Yard the identity of a serial killer above suspicion in her quiet little village. Unfortunately, she gets killed about 10 minutes in, and we're stuck with the bland Bill Bixby as our lead for the rest of the movie. Bixby's character acts like an amateur sleuth, but he barely figures out one thing right in the entire movie! With the exception of the lovely Lesley-Anne Down and the dependable veteran Olivia de Havilland, the rest of the cast is forgettable and their characters underdeveloped. The direction is flat. However, there is one very well-done bit towards the end: a confrontation between 2 characters who keep talking to each other suggestively, and the viewer knows that one of them is the killer but NOT which one, and only after the whole thing is over do we find out the truth. Those 5 minutes, and the 10 featuring Helen Hayes, cannot fully compensate for the dullness of the other 80, though. (**)