A Caribbean Mystery (1983)

While Miss Marple is on vacation in a luxurious Caribbean resort, a fellow guest confides he has evidence that another resident of the hotel is an unscrupulous serial murderer but is poisoned before he can reveal his identity to her.

Director:

Robert Michael Lewis (as Robert Lewis)

Writers:

Agatha Christie (based on the novel by), Sue Grafton (teleplay by)

Stars:

Helen Hayes, Barnard Hughes, Jameson Parker

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Helen Hayes	...	Miss Jane Marple
Barnard Hughes	...	Mr. Rafiel
Jameson Parker	...	Tim Kendall
Season Hubley	...	Molly Kendall (as Season Húbley)
Swoosie Kurtz	...	Ruth Walter
Cassie Yates	...	Lucky Dyson
Zakes Mokae	...	Captain Daventry
Stephen Macht	...	Greg Dyson
Beth Howland	...	Evelyn Hillingdon
Maurice Evans	...	Major Geoffrey Palgrave
Lynne Moody	...	Victoria Johnson
George Innes	...	Edward Hillingdon
Brock Peters	...	Dr. Graham
Michael Preston	...	Arthur Jackson (as Mike Preston)
Bernard McDonald	...	The Minister

Storyline

Aging Major Palgrave, an idiosyncratic but charming mystery writer, reveals to Miss Marple that one of the guests at a luxurious Caribbean resort they're staying at is a Bluebeard-type wife murderer. Unfortunately, the Major succumbs to an apparently accidental overdose of alcohol and blood pressure medication before revealing the killer's identity. When it's discovered that the medicine belonged to another guest and the revealing photograph the Major was carrying is missing, Miss Marple realizes that the serial killer has struck again and more murders will follow.

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Plot Keywords:

detective working on vacation | based on a novel | caribbean island | caribbean sea | vacation | 

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Genres:

Crime | Mystery | Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 October 1983 (USA)

Also Known As:

Карибская тайна

Filming Locations:

El Encanto Hotel and Garden Villas, Santa Barbara, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Stan Margolies Company, Warner Bros. Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was Maurice Evans' final acting role before his death on March 12, 1989 at the age of 87.

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Goofs

When Marple opens a book on psychiatry, we see that the book was taken in the library five times from 1941 to 1951. However, To Define True Madness first came out in 1953 (by Sidgwick and Jackson), and the cover shown before belongs to the revised (Penguin Books) edition in 1955. In the Agatha Christie's work (Chapter 21) neither the title of the book nor the library insert is mentioned.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Tim Kendall: Miss. Marple? Hi. How do you do? I'm Tim Kendall. Your bungalow is nearly ready.
Miss Jane Marple: Oh. Thank you.

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Connections

Version of Miss Marple: A Caribbean Mystery (1989)

User Reviews

Shows up well against the British version

Cable TV here has just shown the two versions back to back. I prefer this one as the more 'solid and faithful' even though the British version has the great Joan Hickson and a strong supporting cast. This version has the great merit of sticking to the story with no fancy touches (or overacting). It's been updated (to the 80s from the 50s) but the cast have the right kind of glitter and vivid beachwear (and big hair).

This US Christie series often looks like Agatha played by the cast of Dallas - appropriately enough since she often wrote about people who didn't need to work thanks to Daddy's money! xxxxxxx