The Mirror Crack'd | | Cast : | Angela Lansbury, Tony Curtis, Rock Hudson | | Director : | Guy Hamilton | | Studio : | Anchor Bay Entertainment | | Format : | Color, Widescreen | | Released Date : | December 19, 1980 | | DVD Released Date : | June 08, 2004 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), English (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | January 09, 2005 | | Summary | Though not a masterpiece, a movie worth watching! | Content
 | The Mirror Crack'd was a bit of a disappointment, considering the makeup of the cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, Tony Curtis, and Geraldine Chaplin among others; though by no means is it a bad movie.
The acting is good (but surprisingly nothing great!!!), the humor is very good, and there's the Agatha Christie element, which really saves the day.
This is a Miss Marple mystery trying to uncover who is behind the assassination attempt (by poison) of a Hollywood actress and subsequent murder of an innocent in a mansion in England.
So it's an interesting plot, a great setting and a wonderful cast, and yet it fails to take off, even though the potential for a great movie was definitely there.
One thing, which is noteworthy and has also been pointed out by other reviewers, is Pierce Brosnan's silent appearance for a few seconds (serving as an extra!!!) beside Elizabeth Taylor.
In a nutshell, it's a good movie, but it lacks that extra something to put it over the top as in the case of Evil Under the Sun, Murder on the Nile, and Murder on the Orient Express. Nevertheless, The Mirror Crack'd will surely provide for an evening's entertainment.
|
| Rating | | | Date | December 01, 2004 | | Summary | Fun Agatha Christie Mystery With 1950's Hollywood Stars | Content
| I've always had a warm affection for 1980's "The Mirror Crack'd", as being a fan of both Agatha Christie novels and murder mysteries in general I was prepared to like it anyway. However for me the main attraction is the wonderful cast of 1950's and 60's stars that have been gathered together for this movie with some of them only working with each other for the first time here in their long careers. It might not perhaps be the most engrossing or intriguing film based on a Christie novel but it is a lot of fun as fact and fiction are cleverly intermixed in the screenplay performed by some very high profile Hollywood stars of yesteryear. The legendary Agatha Christie character of Miss Marple has been played on screen by a battery of talented women over the years from Margaret Rutherford to Joan Hickson to Helen Hayes and most Agatha Christie fans are very definite about which actress in their opinion captured best the intrepid elderly sleuth. Here we have Angela Lansbury doing her one off interpretation of the character and while it may not be the best work of her career she erforms well in the role and she compliments the enjoyable performances of such legends as Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, Kim Novak and Tony Curtis to make "The Mirror Crack'd", a good if not great murder mystery.
Set in the 1950's the action takes place in the quaint English village of St. Mary Meade which is home to the renowned amateur detective Miss Jane Marple. An American film crew have arrived in the village to film "Mary, Queen of Scots", which is marking the much heralded return to the screen of Hollywood legend Marina Gregg (Elizabeth Taylor), after a long "illness". Excitment runs high in the village as the silverscreen celebrities begin arriving which include Marina's husband director Jason Rudd (Rock Hudson), the film's producer Marty Fenn (Tony Curtis), and his wife actress Lola Brewster (Kim Novak),an old rival of Marina's who is playing Queen Elizabeth 1st in the film. All starts out pleasantly enough when the American crew host a large reception at Gossington Hall inviting all the locals to meet the stars. One local named Heather Babcock (Maureen Bennett),is a devoted fan of Marina's and had actually met her during the war years. Invited to the reception she corners Marina and recounts in lengthy detail the meeting they had all those years ago. When the drinks are handed around however something goes seriously wrong as very soon Heather Babcock is dead from poisoning after having drunk from a glass originally intended for Marina. Having injured her foot at the reception Miss Marple is confined at home however the appearance of her nephew Insp. Delbert Craddock (Edward Fox)from Scotland Yard is most apt and she still involves herself in the case. The suspects in the supposed attempt on Marina Gregg's life pile up as Inst. Craddock interviews them one by one. Is it Jason's assistant the wily Ella Zielinsky (Geraldin Chaplin), who is secretly having an affair with Jason and would like Marina out of the way? Or is it the hot headed Lola Brewster who has a deep seated hatred for, and rivalry with Marina that goes back many years? Once production on "Mary Queen of Scots", begins Marina discovers that apart from threatening notes made up of newspapers clippings being sent to her, her tea on the set is also spiked with poison sending her into fits of terror. Things start to get very muddled when unexpectably the main suspect Miss Zielinsky is killed by a lethal nose spray. Miss Marple now back on her feet visits the house where Marina and Jason are staying and views the spot where Heather Babcock died. Working off some information given to her by cleaning girl Cherry Baker (Wendy Morgan), who was waitressing the day of the murder Miss Marple begins to piece together the events of the fatal meeting between Marina Gregg and Heather Babcock. Miss Marple works out that the wartime meeting between the two women had serious consquences on Marina's personal life as she was pregnant at the time and Heather had been suffering from German Measles so that when Marina's baby was born it was seriously retarded causing her to suffer a major breakdown. By the time Miss Marple is able to collect all this evidence that indicated who the actual murderer is another tragedy plays itself out at Gossington Hall which not only will put a stop to production of "Mary, Queen of Scots", which was to be Marina's triumphant return to the screen, but will also rather sadly close the case on who the mysterious murderer actually is.
Played out in an at times semi comical and nostalgic manner, "The Mirror crack'd", makes enjoyable viewing while never really taxing you on just who is the murderer on the film set in Miss Marple's village. Made at the height of the cinema release versions of some of Agatha Christie's novels such as "Murder on the Orient Express", and "Death on the Nile", these films were always characterised by their starry casts of Hollywood veterans and nowehere was this more evident than in "The Mirror Crack'd". The film actually marked a comeback of sorts for Elizabeth Taylor after almost four years away from the big screen since her last effort "A Little Night Music". Here she is reunited with her great friend and "Giant", costar Rock Hudson and while the two dont have the really meaty roles to work with here that they enjoyed in their earlier effort together both are fine. Elizabeth Taylor combines especially well with Kim Novak in the many very humourous cat fight scenes the two share as rival actresses. Novak steals every scene she is in in an hilariously over the top performance spewing out lines like "My Svengali!! (To Hudson), "Chin up darling, both of them!" (To Taylor) and "I see you haven't only kept your figure but you've added soooo much to it" (To Taylor). Not lines straight out of Christie perhaps but very enjoyable nevertheless. The whole film has a warm "old country" feel about it and Guy Hamilton who went on to direct some of the very successful James Bond films here works in a very leisurely style that never hinders the stars own personalities from coming through. Period detail is beautifully captured in the film however by the on location photography in Kent and great attention is paid to recreating the distinct fifties feel. The fact that all four major stars had some of their most sucessful acting years during that decade also gives "The Mirror Crack'd", a sort of autobiographical feel to it. The scenes detailing the filming of "Mary, Queen of Scots", are also of great interest in that Elizabeth Taylor shares a small scene supposedly while making the historical movie with a very young non speaking Pierce Brosnan in a bit part. The clever use of a black and white prologue where a film titled "Murder at Midnight" which stars some veterans of Bristish theatre is shown to the villagers also further cultivates that warm feeling of yesteryear so inherent in this film.
Is this the best film version of an Agatha Christie novel atempted by Hollywood or for that matter the best interpretation of the Miss Marple character on screen? Certainly it isn't but this movie does grow on you with each screening in particular if you are a fan of old Hollywood and the great stars of the Studio system like I am. The film really comes alive when Elizabeth Taylor and Kim Novak square off against each other and while their exchanges might not be what you expect from a murder mystery they really get the laughter going. Any Christie story is really worth seeing and despite its flaws "The Mirror Crack'd", makes enjoyable old style entertainment where murder mixes with laughs in a most pleasing manner.
|
| Rating | | | Date | October 30, 2004 | | Summary | A Movie to Watch for its Legendary Cast | Content
| +++++
This movie is based on the 1962 novel entitled "The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side" by Dame Agatha Christie who wrote twelve Miss Marple murder mystery novels altogether. (The title of this particular novel comes from a line in a poem called "The Lady of Shalott" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.)
As a brief synopsis, an American movie company has come to a small English village where Miss Marple (Angela Lansbury) lives to shoot a movie. A famous movie actress has come out of long retirement (brought about by the death of her child) to be the lead in this movie. She has to act in this movie with another popular actress whom she despises. A murder soon occurs (call this the first murder). Miss Marple attempts to solve the crime with the aid of her "favorite nephew" Inspector Delbert Craddock (Edward Fox) and her maid Cherry Baker (Wendy Morgan). Eventually another murder occurs (call this the second murder). By the end of the movie a death occurs.
Who are the people associated with this movie? They are as follows:
(1) Ella Zielinsky, the production assistant (Geraldine Chaplin)
(2) Martin Finn, the movie's producer (Tony Curtis)
(3) Jason Rudd, the movie's director (Rock Hudson)
(4) Lola Brewster Finn, popular actress (Kim Novak)
(5) Marina Gregg Rudd, the famous actress who's come out of retirement (Elizabeth Taylor)
(6) Heather Babcock, devoted fan of Marina (Maureen Bennett, her movie debut)
I solved who was responsible for the first murder (actually it was a lucky guess) but had to wait for Miss Marple to tell me the motive for it. Miss Marple tells us the motive saying that she deduced this on something that was said by the murder victim earlier in the movie. I went back to this point in the movie and discovered that nothing that Miss Marple claimed was said was really said!! Instead, it seems to me that the murder occurred (as depicted in this movie) because the murderer assumed something. I had to ask myself, "Is assumption really a good motive for murder?"
As well, Miss Marple mentions nothing about the second murder in her deduction. The viewer can assume who did this murder but Miss Marple never tells us why it occurred. I thought this was a major oversight.
Finally, by the end of the movie, a death occurs. I was not sure whether this was a "compassionate" murder or suicide. The viewer is never told. Again, it's possible to assume what happened and to assume why this death occurred.
If you're like me and find murder mysteries based on assumption frustrating and perhaps unrealistic, then a good reason to see this movie is because of its legendary movie stars in it namely Angela Lansbury, Geraldine Chaplin, Tony Curtis, Rock Hudson, Kim Novak, and Elizabeth Taylor. (They were all movie stars of the 1950s and 1960s.) Both Hudson and Taylor do good jobs in their roles. Curtis does a good job as the sassy and unlikable producer. Hudson made four movies after this one before his death from AIDS in 1985. Geraldine Chaplin is the daughter of Charlie Chaplin. Lansbury, Curtis, and Hudson are the same age in this movie, in their mid-fifties. Novak and Taylor were also about the same age, in their late forties. Novak made three movies after this one. (Also look for a young Pierce Brosnan in a thirty-second, non-talking role. This may have been his first movie appearance.)
I think Angela Lansbury does a good job portraying Miss Marple. (She even pulls off a somewhat shocking scene of Miss Marple smoking!) Unfortunately, we don't get to see her much. This movie may have been an audition for Lansbury's leading role in the long running television program "Murder She Wrote." (Also look for Angela Lansbury's fantastic job in the excellent murder mystery "Death on the Nile," 1978.)
Finally, the cinematography and music of this movie are well done. As well, all costumes are authentic looking.
In conclusion, Agatha Christie fans may be frustrated by this movie's murder mystery based on assumptions. However, if you do not care about the murder mystery, it's possible to watch this movie for the legendary movie stars.
(1980; 1 hr 45 min; widescreen; color)
+++++
|
| Rating | | | Date | January 06, 2004 | | Summary | Humourous and Likeable | Content
| It's not big, it's not terribly clever, and it won't change the way anyone thinks about anything at all, but this 1980 version of one of Agatha Christie's less-loved novels of the same name is still an enjoyable tale of murder and gentle rebuke. Set in a highly stereotypical American vision of the 1950's English countryside, the whole town is abuzz when Lola Brewster (Kim Novak) and Marina Rudd (Elizabeth Taylor) take up residence to film a production of 'Mary, Queen of Scots'. When one of Ms. Rudd's long-time fans is murdered at a reception given for the Star, Miss Marple (Angela Lansbury) and her nephew Inspector Delbert Craddock (Edward Fox) investigate the crime. Script and direction are nothing more than diverting, with a nod here and there to the likes of Joan Crawford and Bette Davis - the two movie Queens feud continually - and some extremely clever one-liners - Ms. Taylor's line about Doris Day takes on a whole new level of meaning, as her director husband Jason is played by Rock Hudson. As Christie's well-loved sleuth, Angela Lansbury as Miss Marple is amusingly self-depracatory in her role, claiming that not everyone who comes into contact with her winds up dead. She'll never be Joan Hickson, but in a film such as this, Lansbury's lighthearted and somewhat campy performance is perfectly pitched. Tony Curtis and Rock Hudson do passable jobs in their respective roles as Producer and Director, and the supporting cast is nothing more than perfunctory (including a rare nonspeaking cameo from a VERY young Pierce Brosnan), but for all that, they hang together well enough as an ensemble. The plot and subsequent climax are forgettable, but, as with the rest of the film, come with a gentle likeable atmosphere that saves them from being mundane. If you can pick it up cheaply, then go for it, it's perfect Sunday afternoon viewing. In total, 'The Mirror Crack'd' is a sweet, campy film that unfortunately stays too close to 'Average' to be a definite recommendation. |
| Rating | | | Date | October 30, 2003 | | Summary | good Movie | Content
| this is a good movie and Angela Lansbury makes a wonderful Miss Marple. And Elizabeth Taylor is great as always. |
|
