Murder with Mirrors (1985)

When Carrie Louise Serrocold (Bette Davis) suspects that someone is trying to poison her, she sends for the one person who might be able to help, her old friend Miss Jane Marple (Helen Hayes).

Director:

Dick Lowry

Writers:

Agatha Christie (novel), George Eckstein (teleplay)

Stars:

Helen Hayes, Bette Davis, John Mills

Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Helen Hayes	...	Miss Jane Marple
Bette Davis	...	Carrie Louise Serrocold
John Mills	...	Lewis Serrocold
Leo McKern	...	Inspector Curry
Liane Langland	...	Gina Markham
John Laughlin	...	Wally Markham
Dorothy Tutin	...	Mildred Strete
Anton Rodgers	...	Dr. Max Hargrove
Frances de la Tour	...	Miss Bellaver
John Woodvine	...	Christian Gilbranson
James Coombes	...	Steven Restarick
Tim Roth	...	Edgar Lawson
Christopher Fairbank	...	Sergeant Lake
Amanda Maynard	...	Miss Valentine

Storyline

Christian Gilbranson (John Woodvine), Miss Jane Marple's (Helen Hayes') lawyer, persuades her to visit the baronial estate of his stepmother, Carrie Louise Serrocold (Bette Davis), an old friend of Marple's. Carrie Louise's devoted husband Lewis (Sir John Mills) has turned the manor house into a halfway house for young men with criminal records, and has hopes of expanding the facilities. He confides to Miss Jane Marple that he suspects that someone is slowly poisoning Carrie Louise with arsenic. One of the young charges, Edgar Lawson (Tim Roth), claims to be Lewis' illegitimate child and wants his alleged father to acknowledge him. While they are arguing behind closed doors, a gun is discharged, and the visiting Gilbranson is found murdered in another room. It is up to Miss Jane Marple to aid crusty Inspector Curry (Leo McKern) discover the murderer's and poisoner's identities.

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Plot Keywords:

miss marple | old friend | arsenic | woman | mother daughter relationship | 

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Genres:

Crime | Mystery | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 February 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

Зеркальное убийство

Filming Locations:

Brocket Hall, Lemsford, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hajeno Productions, Warner Bros. Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Similar to the experience Celeste Holme had with Bette Davis in All About Eve (1950), Helen Hayes on the set said "Good Morning" to Davis, which Bette completely ignored. Again, a second time with a gathering of some of the cast, Helen once again attempted to say "Hello", but slightly waving to Davis, to Which Bette snapped "What was that for ?" Helen said, "Oh, I was saying good morning to you", to which Bette snapped back, "You already did that!'

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Connections

Version of Marple: They Do It with Mirrors (2009)

User Reviews

Entertaining if rather obvious whodunit

Based on Agatha Christie's They Do It With Mirrors, this TV film is entertaining if rather too obvious at times. I will admit though, the book isn't Christie's best, but it is an interesting read. Here, the mystery is updated, and does deviate from the book. I will admit, although the Joan Hickson version wasn't that faithful to the book, I admit I do prefer it. Back to Murder With Mirrors, the adaptation does have some nice camera-work, some lovely locations, and the costumes while nothing fancy were pleasing to the eye. Helen Hayes, in her swansong, gives a very enjoyable performance as Miss Marple, and is quite cute too. Out of the supporting actors, Leo McKern comes out on top, with a gleefully gruff portrayal of Inspector Curry. Nice turns also from Dorothy Tuton and Tim Roth. However, Bette Davis and John Mills, two fine actors, and two of the three main reasons why I wanted to see this, the other bring I love Agatha Christie, have very little to do in their roles. But my main problem with the film, other than the rather contrived final solution, was the screenplay. I thought every character was badly underwritten, and most of the plot changes are badly underdeveloped. Also, Miss Marple's speech before she is almost killed in the theatre, was very poorly written, but maybe that's just me. All in all, entertaining but could have been better. 6/10 Bethany Cox