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 | caribbean island | caribbean sea | vacation | bouquet | 

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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

Followed by Murder with Mirrors (1985)

User Reviews

Poor stuff

Helen Hayes just doesn't cut it.

Rather than going the whole hog and playing Miss Marple as an American, she plays her as an Englishwoman. This is a mistake,since her accent veers from deep south of USA to England via Ireland. In short, her accent is all over the place.

Her lines are also peppered with Americanisms which no British person would ever say. Two examples:

1) She refers to "tourist class" when British people call it "economy class".

2) She says she's going to "mail" some postcards, when a genuinely British person say "post", not "mail".

Two minor examples, I know, but they add to a general feeling that this Miss Marple is as British as a fudge brownie. All the references to her hometown of St. Mary Mead in England can't change that.

Another point is that Santa Barbara is not in the slightest bit convincing as a stand-in for the Caribbean. The one shot of a caribbean town, Havana perhaps, is obviously grainy archive footage.

Steer clear of this poorly made rubbish, and watch the BBC productions starring Joan Hickson instead.