Miss Marple (played by Helen Hayes) is asked to renew her acquaintance with her old friend Carrie Louise Serrocold (played by Bette Davis) by Christian Gulbrandsen (played by John Woodvine), Carrie Louise's stepson, who suspects that something seriously wrong is happening at Stonygates, her country estate. She arrives to discover that Carrie Louise has married a man called Lewis Serrocold (played by John Mills), who in partnership with psychologist Dr Max Wargrove (played by Anton Rodgers), has turned the estate into a reform institute for young offenders. Lewis confides in Miss Marple his suspicions that someone is trying to murder Carrie Louise by slow poisoning her. Gulbrandsen arrives and, while Lewis quarrels with Edgar, one of the juvenile delinquents in his study, he is shot dead in his room upstairs. Inspector Curry (played by Leo McKern) from the Yard is called in to investigate and, with Miss Marple's assistance, traps the killer. An attempt is made upon Miss Marple's life; Carrie Louise receives an anonymous box of poisoned chocolates and Stephen Restarick (played by James Coombes), one of the principal suspects, tries to leave since he isn't happy that Carrie Louise's granddaughter, Gina (played by Liane Langland), has reconciled her marriage with the American medical school dropout Walter Markham (played by John Loughlin); an issue that was causing much tension at Stonygates. Dr. Wargrove is alarmed by Miss Marple's request that he analyses Carrie Louise's fingernail clippings to determine whether or not she is being poisoned. He pulls a gun and tries to escape, but he is killed when his car explodes. In addition, Edgar drowns when he also attempts to flee before Miss Marple can reveal the identity of the murderer...
Efficient, pacy and workmanlike adaptation of Agatha Christie's 1952 novel, which would again be filmed as part of the BBC's TV series featuring Joan Hickson as Miss Marple in 1992. Here, the story has been updated to the present day and this does it no real harm at all. Helen Hayes, who had previously played the spinster amateur detective in another made-for-TV film version of A Caribbean Mystery in 1983, is competent in the role but her portrayal certainly isn't the best of them. There is some amusing chemistry between her and Leo McKern's Scotland Yard man who is aware of Miss Marple's talents from a colleague who had referred to her as "obstinate, infuriating but bloody useful." There is a little scene in a theatre where Miss Marple recites some lines from a play, which recalls the classic scene from Murder Most Foul (1964) in which Margaret Rutherford's portrayal of the character did an hilarious rendition of 'The Shooting of Dan McGrew' when auditioning for a job in a hapless amateur theatrical group to solve a murder. The best acting here comes from John Mills as Lewis Serrocold; Anton Rodgers as Dr Wargrove; John Woodvine as Christian Gulbrandsen, Dorothy Tutin as Carrie Louise's daughter, Mildred Crest and McKern. Bette Davis's part is more like a cameo where she is simply being Bette Davis while Liane Langland and John Laughlin are only adequate as Gina and Walter Markham. The reconciliation of their marriage is supposed to provide an emotional centre to the plot, but they lack the dramatic range to give it the emotional tug. George Eckstein's script, on the whole, plays fair with the audience and the solution when it comes is plausible. Dick Lowry's direction is more than serviceable and all other technical aspects are good.
Efficient, pacy and workmanlike adaptation of Agatha Christie's 1952 novel, which would again be filmed as part of the BBC's TV series featuring Joan Hickson as Miss Marple in 1992. Here, the story has been updated to the present day and this does it no real harm at all. Helen Hayes, who had previously played the spinster amateur detective in another made-for-TV film version of A Caribbean Mystery in 1983, is competent in the role but her portrayal certainly isn't the best of them. There is some amusing chemistry between her and Leo McKern's Scotland Yard man who is aware of Miss Marple's talents from a colleague who had referred to her as "obstinate, infuriating but bloody useful." There is a little scene in a theatre where Miss Marple recites some lines from a play, which recalls the classic scene from Murder Most Foul (1964) in which Margaret Rutherford's portrayal of the character did an hilarious rendition of 'The Shooting of Dan McGrew' when auditioning for a job in a hapless amateur theatrical group to solve a murder. The best acting here comes from John Mills as Lewis Serrocold; Anton Rodgers as Dr Wargrove; John Woodvine as Christian Gulbrandsen, Dorothy Tutin as Carrie Louise's daughter, Mildred Crest and McKern. Bette Davis's part is more like a cameo where she is simply being Bette Davis while Liane Langland and John Laughlin are only adequate as Gina and Walter Markham. The reconciliation of their marriage is supposed to provide an emotional centre to the plot, but they lack the dramatic range to give it the emotional tug. George Eckstein's script, on the whole, plays fair with the audience and the solution when it comes is plausible. Dick Lowry's direction is more than serviceable and all other technical aspects are good.