Agatha Christie's Miss Marple: 4:50 from Paddington (1987)

A friend of Miss Marple's sees a woman being strangled in a passing train. When police cannot find a body and doubt the story, Miss Marple enlists professional housekeeper, Lucy Eyelesbarrow, to go undercover.

Director:

Martyn Friend

Writers:

Agatha Christie (novel), T.R. Bowen (screenplay)

Stars:

Joan Hickson, Juliette Mole, David Beames

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Joan Hickson	...	Miss Jane Marple
Juliette Mole	...	Anna Stravinska
David Beames	...	Bryan Eastley
Mona Bruce	...	Mrs. McGillicuddy
Nicholas Blane	...	Paddington Porter
Katy Jarrett	...	Mary
Leslie Adams	...	Desk Sergeant
David Horovitch	...	Detective Inspector Slack
Ian Brimble	...	Detective Sergeant Lake
Rhoda Lewis	...	Mrs. Brogan
Jill Meager	...	Lucy Eyelesbarrow
Joanna David	...	Emma Crackenthorpe
Maurice Denham	...	Luther Crackenthorpe
Andrew Burt	...	Dr. John Quimper
Pamela Pitchford	...	Mrs. Kidder

Storyline

When Miss Marple's visiting friend sees a woman being strangled on a passing train, they immediately report it to the police. Inspector Slack sees Miss Marple as a bit of a busy body and drops the investigation after only a few days. Miss Marple however determines that there is only one spot along the line where a body could have been dumped and it happens to be very near the Crackenthorpe estate. She asks a professional housekeeper, Lucy Eyelesbarrow, to go there undercover as a domestic. She soon finds the dead woman's body at which time the police take on a renewed interest but it is left to Miss Marple to solve the mystery.

---

Plot Keywords:

year 1957 | 1950s | reference to sputnik | female protagonist | space age | 

---

Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

---

Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Country:

UK Australia USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 February 1987 (UK)

Also Known As:

Agatha Christie's Miss Marple: 4:50 from Paddington

Filming Locations:

Marylebone Station, Marylebone, London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

7 Network, A+E Networks, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Miss Marple goes to meet Lucy for the first time at her club the interior is the same location used for Bertram's Hotel in "At Bertram's Hotel".

---

Goofs

When Dr Quimper takes the old man's blood pressure near the end of the movie, he doesn't have the stethoscope earpieces in his ears.

---

Quotes

Miss Jane Marple: But of course you must go on searching, Inspector! Now you might say that Elspeth is not a sophisticated person, but, I assure you, she has both feet firmly on the ground. She saw what she saw!

---

Connections

Follows Miss Marple: The Body in the Library (1984)

User Reviews

Joan Hickson trivia

I've been a mystery fan for most of my life and particularly fond of Agatha Christie's well known characters, Jane Marple and Hercules Poirot. I was surprised recently when viewing one of the old films in my collection, "Murder, She Said" from 1961. This was the first of four movies starring Margaret Rutherford as Miss Marple. The film was loosely based on Christie's "4.50 From Paddington". Marple poses as a domestic to investigate a murder. One of the other servants in the home is played by none other than Joan Hickson. This may not be completely relevant in commenting upon the later version, but I thought it was interesting that Hickson appeared in a Marple film 26 years before this one was released. The Rutherford movies aren't very faithful to Christie, but they're very entertaining. However, if you're an avid Miss Marple fan, you'll be overjoyed with these productions featuring Hickson. She truly embodies Agatha's character like no other actress. I highly recommend these to any mystery fan.