Marple: The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side (2010)

The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side is an entertaining and suspenseful murder crime movie . Beautiful and veteran film star Marina Gregg (Lindsay Crouse , and in the classic cinematic version played by Elizabeth Taylor) and her young husband move to St. Mary Mead, but their arrival becomes clouded in tragedy . Being last lead starring role in a cinema movie for this actress and directed by his husband , she is attempting to make a comeback to play Nefertiti , after being off-screen for many years due to an emotional breakdown and substance abuse. She is supported by her fifth husband and director of the movie, Jason Rudd ( Nigel Harman , priorly performed by Rock Hudson) . They rent a manor house in St. Mary Mead to Dolly (Joanna Lummley) , Miss Marple's best friend ; and host a reception for the villagers . Then, there appears her former husband and his new wife and things go wrong . At the reception for the fading film star making a screen comeback , a gushing, pushy fan is poisoned by a drink apparently meant for the actress . There she met Gregg briefly before her breakdown and being poisoned by a drink apparently meant for the film star . Because of Gregg's celebrity status, Police Superintendent assigns one of his most skilled and discreet investigators, Inspector Hewitt (Hugh Bonneville , prepiously performed by Edward Fox) who is helped by Miss Marple (Julia McKenzie) . Together they set about investigating the murder , death threats and jealousy associated with the case . The plot is plain and simple : A troubled Hollywood star celebrates a party when a fan is fatally poisoned during the garden fête, as Miss Marple to investigate it ; Who is the killer ? . This movie was made and released about fifty years after Agatha Christie's source novel of the same name was first published in 1962. The film is a detective story in which you are the detective . In the picture there is mystery , emotion , suspense , actors's interpretations are acceptable and including wonderful outdoors . The support cast is pretty good such as Joanna Lumley , Hugh Bonneville , Michele Dotrice , Charlotte Riley , Will Young and special mention for Linsay Duncan as the veteran and bittered actress . The movie gets a lush costume design by Sheena Napier and adequate production design by Jeff Tessler . Colorful and sunny cinematography by Cinders Forshaw . This Miss Marple episode was efficiently directed by Tom Shankland . Miss Marple was firsly played by Margaret Rutherford who had made the role famous during the 1960s. Following Angela Lansbury with the film Crack Mirror (1980) by Guy Hamilton became the second actress to play Miss Marple on the big screen, after Lansbury was the fourth if one counts TV where Gracie Fields and Inge Langen also played Marple. Subsequently in TV was starred by Joan Hickson who played a successful series . And finally Agatha Christie's Marple series starred by Geraldine McEwan and Julia McKenzie as Miss Marple . This Tv movie had a former and known rendition directed by Guy Hamilton in 1980 with all-star-cast as Elizabeth Taylor , Kim Novak , Rock Hudson , Edward Fox , among others . Rating : Decent and acceptable , well worth watching . The flick will appeal to suspense lovers and Agatha Christie novels buffs .

Miss Marple is thrilled when one of her favourite movie stars, Marina Gregg, and her husband, director Jason Rudd, move to her village of St Mary Mead. Ms Gregg and her husband throw a housewarming party and, unfortunately, Miss Marple is injured shortly beforehand, so can't attend. The party turns out to be very eventful as one of the guests, Heather Badcock, dies of an overdose of anti-depressants in her cocktail. Ms Gregg suspects the poison was meant for her, a fear which is justified when her coffee is poisoned on a film set. The police, aided by Miss Marple, investigate.The best of the Miss Marple series. Very intriguing mystery, quite plausible in its back story, and quite simple in its implementation. For once it's about the characters and everyday human motives, rather than a fantastical, long-winded story. Miss Marple is less bland than usual but the episode is aided and abetted considerably by the presence of Joanna Lumley as Marple's friend Dolly Bantry. She gives the episode a great deal of colour.

The book is not Agatha Christie's best, but it was very good and interesting. Likewise with the Joan Hickson adaptation, and the Angela Lansbury film was flawed but enjoyable. When I heard about this version, I was curious in both a good and bad way. Part of me was looking forward to it, seeing as how superb The Blue Geranium was, something that felt like Agatha Christie and had a great tone to it that was missing I think. But part of me was worried, I was hoping it wouldn't be another Sittaford Mystery or At Bertram's Hotel, in short an adaptation that not only was a complete disrespect in detail and spirit to the Queen of Crime but also on its own terms.After seeing it, I needn't have worried. The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side is one of the better entries of the series, and I also think it is the best adaptation of the book. In fact it is almost perfect, though I think the second murder could have been more drawn out than it was and the story of the photographer could have done with more development.That said, the adaptation succeeds as an adaptation. The story is wonderful and compelling. Also, it felt like Agatha Christie, the tone was tense when it needed to be, the memorable characters were there and just as interesting and her style was there. While there are some changes, the backbone is still intact, in fact in comparison this is one of the more faithful Marple adaptations. The script does do justice to the book, there are the red herrings and the charming and witty dialogue that makes her work furthermore engrossing.The adaptation also succeeds on its own terms. The pacing is bright and breezy, while the final scene is quite poignant. The production values are superb, I loved everything about how the adaptation looked, from the way it was shot to the house itself. The music is lovely, some of it is beautiful(the final scene) while some of it is intense and haunting(the scene on the film set about half way through). As always, the cast are impeccable, Julia McKenzie is terrific while Joanna Lumley seems to be thoroughly enjoying herself. Hugh Bonneville at the moment seems to be one of the busiest men on television, and he is interesting, and Nigel Harmon is a nice addition. I also loved Caroline Quentin here, her character is tiresome but Quentin is great, plus this is the best developed Heather Badcock I've seen. The real revelation though is Lindsay Duncan as Marina, she is brilliant and by far and large the best Marina Gregg I know of. Not only in the delivery of the lines, the voice and the gestures but especially her look of what seemed like a combination of guilt and sadness.All in all, a wonderful adaptation and one of the best. 9/10 Bethany Cox

I haven't been a fan of the new Miss Marple series that began with Geraldine McEwan as the lady sleuth, but this time--with JULIA McKENZIE as the inquisitive old lady, readers of the book should be pleased to know that it follows the original story fairly well. The plot itself is not as gimmicky as some of the other Christie stories and is easy to follow. An alert viewer will realize what's going on from the start, since the incident surrounding the death of movie fan Heather Badcock was based on the true-life case of movie star Gene Tierney's situation involving a fan who got out of her sickbed to greet the actress. From that incident, Miss Christie drew her inspiration for writing this murder mystery centering around the tragic result based on a casual meeting.As Marina Gregg, the temperamental Hollywood star, LINDSAY DUNCAN does a fine job and her handsome young husband is played well by NIGEL HARMAN. Others in the supporting cast are all proficient and well cast in their respective roles.The solution is one you can spot coming if you know the background story of the Gene Tierney incident. One of the better Agatha Christie tales to be transposed to the screen, it's interesting from start to finish with never a dull spot or lagging moment.