The Mirror Crack'd (1980)

The novel is not her best

Liz’s encumbering lard sank it.

Thanks, fatty.

Terrible daytime soap-style score, photography sets and script.

But Novak and Taylor together is worth it.

R2 That was her role though as the washed-up actress.

R3 I think the score is good. Why don't you like it? I thought Edward Fox gave the best performance in the movie.

Once again, Angela Lansbury ruined another Agatha Christie movie with her hammy acting.

What were the next planned Marple movies which got scrapped?

R4 ^ Terrible anachronistic 80s Kenny G sax - for a film set (vaguely?) in the (possible?) 50s.

Then again, the art direction is so poor it’s hard to tell whether it’s 1980 Santa Monica or mid-century England…

Makes Bridgerton look like a Merchant Ivory film

Lansbury said she played the part of Marple "absolutely straight. I'm trying to get at the woman Agatha Christie created: an Edwardian maiden lady imbued with great humanity and a mind of tremendous breadth. She's very exactly described in the books as tall, pale-complexioned, with twinkling blue eyes and white hair - not a fat galumph of a creature at all. I base my performance on that.

Sorry, I love this film. What's not to like about it? The cunty sniping between Liz and Kim's character is great fun.

R7 This part of the score is very good.

A dreadful film. Part of Liz' terrible decline.

R5 I thought Angela was very good in this film, she just was not in it much. Edward Fox did the heavy lifting.

McKenzie

This is a prime example of the kind of overly-complicated resolution for which Christie is derided. And for good reason. It requires a character to remember exactly who gave her a communicable disease years before. Even after she encountered dozens of people on the same day (and the day later on.) Just stupid.

R14 it's the opposite. The character had no idea how she caught the disease that ruined her life and does not remember the woman until the person flounce up to her, brags about having the disease and how she kissed her!

The character spent years wondering where she got sick and then this idiot unwittingly confesses!

It's actually a really simple murder when you know how it was done.

Best line: "You look like a birthday cake. Too bad everyone's already had a piece."

I think one of the issues here, as in other AC adaptations, is one of tone, which is all over the place. They don’t know ifthey wantto do a comedy, a minor campy romp or murder mystery, whereas the story is mainly a drama. No one is horrible but no one is very good either (Lansbury overacts but is not alone). The novel itself is not perfect and has more murders than necessary. The Marple adaptation with Joan Hickson, Joanna Lumley and Lindsay Duncan as Marina is very good especially the latter).

I saw it at the theater when I was about 10. I was totally engrossed, & remember feeling disappointed when the Murder at Midnight film dissolved. I loved the scenery of St. Mary Mead, interior & exterior. I liked Cherry, Marple's maid, & thought the actress would be the next big thing! Loved loved loved the country estate, the staircase, everything was so grand.

Liz was so funny.

I think it's too restrained. Needed more scenery chewing and hamminess. The director should have just let the camera roll and said have at it. Instead you get the feeling that he stood off camera with a ruler and waved it about to keep everyone in line.

R18 love your comment!

R18 yet your parents were shocked when you came out as gay.....

[quote]Lansbury overacts but is not alone

I haven't seen it in years, r17, but my memory is that she didn't and wasn't a particularly interesting Marple.

It's not quite English enough. Very 1970s/80s US television. You half expect Charlie's Angels to show up and solve the mystery.

R14, it's worth noting that this key element is based on an actual event that happened to actress Gene Tierney:

In June 1943, while pregnant, Tierney contracted rubella (German measles), likely from a fan ill with the disease. Antoinette Daria Cassini was born prematurely in Washington, DC, weighing three pounds, two ounces (1.42 kg) and requiring a total blood transfusion. The rubella caused congenital damage: Daria was deaf, partially blind with cataracts, and severely mentally disabled. She was institutionalized for much of her life. This entire incident was inspiration for a plot point in the 1962 Agatha Christie novel The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side.

I made my mother take me to see it when it first came out. I was 12 or 13, going through a Kim Novak phase, and clearly a very, very gay child. My mother was always a fan of Taylor’s and Hudson’s (she and Elizabeth were born the same year / the 50s was my mom’s era) and a fan of mysteries, but she was left cold by it. The only thing I remember her saying specifically after the movie was “they all got so old.”

R25 There’s also this sad Tierney/Cassini coda.

I remember when this movie came out back in 1981. I was working in a small, boutique coffee shop on Lexington Avenue and Angela came in for lunch. She was so nice. Just like JB Fletcher. I remember she ordered a yogurt salad with fresh fruit. I asked he what she was doing and she mentioned she just came back from England after shooting her movie. She was just getting ready to do Sweeny Todd. I thanked her for talking to me and she wished me good luck on my career. A true star!

R28 That is a neat story.

It’s worse than Evil Under the Sun but better than Death on the Nile. Make of that what you will

I seem to recall that Lansbury, on brief hiatus from Murder, She Wrote, wasn't even on set with the stars of the film. She was filmed on a sound stage and her work edited into the final film. If you watch carefully the closing scene in the film when she walks into la Taylor's bedroom with Rock you can see the splice at the edges of the frame. The light changes, scatters.

Did she also time travel, r31?

The Mirror Crack'd was released in 1980 while Murder, She Wrote premiered in 1984.

I wonder if Rock gave anyone on the set AIDS.

Of course you do, r33...

The Brabourne-Goodwin Christie films:

Murder on the Orient Express

Death on the Nile

Evil Under the Sun

The Mirror Crack'd

Appointment with Death

[quote] I was 12 or 13, going through a Kim Novak phase

Whenever I think Datalounge can’t get any gayer…

Seriously this is adorable and belongs in the Dialing The Phone With A Pencil thread

Doesn't every gay go through a Kim Novak phase?

R37 I didn't. I was more of a Betty Bacall blonde...

I didn't, r37. I always found her too aloof.

[quote] She's very exactly described in the books as tall, pale-complexioned, with twinkling blue eyes and white hair - not a fat galumph of a creature at all.

Fuck you, Angela!

This movie isn't even camp....it isn't anything. Liz and Kim "sparring" in the midst of all these other has-beens....degrading.

R17

[quote] The Marple adaptation with Joan Hickson, Joanna Lumley and Lindsay Duncan as Marina is very good especially the latter).

Wrong.

Julia McKenzie played Miss Marple in this (2010) version. Lumley played Dolly Bantry.

Joan Hickson appeared as Miss Marple in the 1992 version. Claire Bloom played Marina Gregg and Barry Newman was Jason Rudd.

Bloom was wonderful.

Christie is fun but her stories are RIDICULOUS.

[quote]What were the next planned Marple movies which got scrapped?

The Faucet Leak'd.

The Bedspread Tore.

The Washing Machine Died.

The Marple books were never as good as the Poirot in general.

[quote]r2 Liz’s encumbering lard sank it. Thanks, fatty.

[quote]R4 That was [Fatty’s] role though as the washed-up actress.

The original star hired for the part of Marina was Natalie Wood, who was stick thin. Lord knows Wood was a limited actress, but she’d have been better in this than the sadly bloated and listless Liz.

R32 Of course your dates are correct so big oops here, but you type CUNTY and what I said still holds: she was not acting with most of that cast.

Well, r47, typing cunty is par for the course around these parts. And isn't Lansbury's separation from the rest of the cast dictated by the script? It's one of the few Christie books I've not read, but the Wikipedia summary indicates Miss Marple is incapacitated in the book, as well, solving the mystery from a remove.

Ms. Lansbury about her Miss Marple.

[quote] I remember when this movie came out back in 1981. I was working in a small, boutique coffee shop on Lexington Avenue and Angela came in for lunch. She was so nice. Just like JB Fletcher. I remember she ordered a yogurt salad with fresh fruit. I asked he what she was doing and she mentioned she just came back from England after shooting her movie. She was just getting ready to do Sweeny Todd. I thanked her for talking to me and she wished me good luck on my career. A true star!

Lansbury had already left Sweeney Todd before she shot The Mirror Crack'd. And by the time she finished shooting it, the show had closed. Maybe you and the Murder She Wrote person share the same calendar.

I watched it recently on BritBox, I wanted to like it, but I fell asleep. Elizabeth seemed tired, I guess appropriately given the plot. Kim was fun. Rock and Tony... zzz. I didn't buy the plot at all. I know the Gene Tierney story, that part I get, but movie star Liz had access to poison? Miss Marple solved the murder because of a painting Liz was seen staring at?

I saw the movie in the theater when I was ten, also. I knew it was shit then and it's still shit.

It isn't fun. Evil Under the Sun was fun.

I enjoy the movie.

The cast didn’t gel and everyone’s aporia have to their character seemed to misfire.

[quote]The Washing Machine Died

I was so shocked when it turned out the killer was the icebox!

It didn't have a train, river steamer or tropical locale with over the top costumes. It was lacking in visuals.

The tone's all off in the movie and it looks cheap, Rock and Tony Curtis are just phoning it in, Angela is forgettable in it, and Liz is just awful. No oomph, she's just *there*, with all the charisma of a menopausal housewife unenthusiastically chatting with a neighbor she really doesn't care about at the grocery store. Kim was a lousy actress (and yes, that includes Vertigo) but she's the only one trying to lift the material, and she succeeds. She's the only reason to watch it.

Nothing can hold a candle to the Margaret Rutherford Agatha Christie movies. I could watch those over and over again and never get tired of them.

I just want to watch all of Murder at Midnight

[quote]R6 What was the next planned Marple movie that got scrapped?

[quote]r44 “The Washing Machine Died”

[quote]R56 I was so shocked when it turned out the killer was the icebox!

SPOILER ALERT, if you don’t mind!

R51 she doesn't use poison to kill, it's an overdose of tranquilizer.

Miss Marple solves it through working out multiple clues, such as the story of Heather's measles, Cherry telling her it looked like Marina deliberately spilled her own drink and some other little things.

It's not one of Christine's top 10 but it's still a decent read and clever puzzle.

I had never seen this until a year or two ago. It’s not great, but Kim Novak is a blast in it. I have used her line, “I could eat a can of Kodak, and PUKE a better movie!” many times since. About HOUSE OF GUCCI, most recently.

I *must* find the Joanna Lumley version.

Why is no one talking about Charles Gray as the creepy butler???

Apparently Helen Mirren was almost cast as Lola Brewster, but talks broke down over nudity.

Lol.. in what way? Mirren wanted it, but the producers refused?

This thread cannot continue without a reminder of the appearance of Pierce Brosnan with Elizabeth Taylor in this bit coming just before Liz complains about "Lola" being in her eye line.

Could someone please explain the apostrophe in the verb? Why wasn't there just the 'e'? Is that an outdated way of writing that I'm not aware of?

R68 ^ It’s a Tennysonian medievalism…

Maybe the best thing about it was its pro-vaccine message (German Measles)

[quote] I watched it recently on BritBox, I wanted to like it, but I fell asleep.

Maybe you need to go to bed right after dinner, gramps.

r68, the title of the book in the UK is The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side (shortened to The Mirror Crack'd in the US and for the film); it's taken from The Lady of Shalott (1833-42) by Alfred Tennyson, who's imitating the style of medieval poetry; basically, there's this woman hidden in tower near Camelot, cursed to observe the world outside only through a mirror, weaving what she sees; one day, she sees Lancelot riding by, she stops weaving and looks out of her window to see him more clearly, bringing about the curse.

Out flew the web and floated wide—

The mirror crack'd from side to side;

"The curse is come upon me," cried

The Lady of Shalott.

Christie refers to it in the book as a signal of the vain Marina realizing the truth of what had happened to her and her baby years earlier.

Elizabeth’s hairstyle is awful in the movie and ages her horribly. She only looked good in the beginning with the hat. Also her weight fluctuates throughout the movie

[quote]R58 Kim was a lousy actress (and yes, that includes Vertigo) but she's the only one trying to lift the material

That’s not all the dame fuckin’ lifted…

[quote] Elizabeth’s hairstyle is awful in the movie and ages her horribly. She only looked good in the beginning with the hat. Also her weight fluctuates throughout the movie

R 73 It's called acting, dear. People don't know much about that these days.

Yes R65 apparently Mirren thought Lola's grand entrance on the staircase should be something like this..!

The funniest part is the flashback to the WWII years, when La Liz in all her 1980s fatness (and wearing an enormous anachrornistic robe-like dress) tries to convince us she was a glamorous starlet on a USO tour.

R77

Liz was more beautiful that most women, in spite of her weight. The "flashback" could be seen as the character remembering, not actually how things were.

[quote] Lol.. in what way? Mirren wanted it, but the producers refused?

Bless your heart, honey.

I am a huge fan of Agatha Christie, and she and the Miss Marple character are unfairly maligned in this thread by Certain People whom I won't name... Marple has never had a decent big-screen adaptation, and the TV versions have tended to alter the character out of all recognition. Joan Hickson came closest to what Christie wrote, but even she came across as too strong a personality. As for trashing Christie's plots, that's laughable. She is one of the best-selling authors of all time!

The Mirror Crack'd was neither fish nor fowl. Not funny enough for a comedy. Not stylish or glamorous enough. The acting was mostly phoned in, and Rock Hudson could have considered this film his formal coming out -the lack of any chemistry with Taylor made it clear that the characters had a totally sexless marriage and that Hudson was not to be swayed by violet eyes or big tits.

Maybe his character just wasn’t a chubby chaser who fucked COWS?

[quote]R79 Liz was more beautiful that most women, in spite of her weight.

One of the Washington wives met her at a function during the John Warner years and later said, “All our lives we wanted to look like Liz Taylor. And now, god help us, we do.”

R82 R83

To me what hurt the movie the most was the look of everything, costumes, hair. This approach, giving it a historic look but also contemporary, always fails. It certainly never ages well. I feel like the Hickson series captured the 50s-look the best and for some reason I find that it has aged best as well because everything looked old right from the start.

Yes OP, it’s true .

In 1980 whenever I looked in the mirror 🪞

It CRACKED

Liz Taylor was never really that good of an actress.

R87 hi Miss Turner!

[quote] I was working in a small, boutique coffee shop on Lexington Avenue and Angela came in for lunch....... I thanked her for talking to me and she wished me good luck on my career.

You career at a boutique coffee shop?

Smartass 89: Coffee shop waiter + New York = Actor. There is the career aspiration. Not too hard to deduce.

So how would we make it a better movie?

The boutique coffee shop worker/actor was busted at R50 anyway.

What about Geraldine Chaplin's role?

[quote] What about Geraldine Chaplin's role?

Who do you think crack'd the mirror?

[quote]What about Geraldine Chaplin's role?

It made Geraldine anti-anti-histamine.

Some nudity would have lightened proceedings. Not from that old turd Tony Curtis though, he was a rotten actor.

I Hate that kind of bouncy music. (R10). Is there a name for the style? Yuck.

r89 r90 r92 I was working as a waitress in a cocktail bar at about the same time!

Better cast:

Marina Gregg- Natalie Wood

Inspector Craddock- Edward Fox

Jason Rudd- Paul Newman

Lola Brewster- Marlo Thomas

Marty N. Fenn- Steve McQueen

Ella Zielinsky- Helen Mirren

Bates- Charles Gray

and Angela Lansbury as Miss Marple

Mmmm I'd suck Paul Newman's big cock, right in the middle of St Mary Meade's Community garden in front of Colonel Melchard AND Miss Marple!

We can't take you anywhere, r100.

Charles Gray for the win

All I remember was Liz wore a purple outfit to match her eyes.

Everybody is talking about Liz in this movie.

Let's talk more about Wendy Morgan as Cherry!

"Marlo" and "better" can't be used in the same sentence.

[quote]R104 Everybody is talking about Liz in this movie.

Because she literally takes up so much room onscreen.

The murder of Lord Findley was far more interesting than the murder of Heather Babcock.

[quote] Lansbury had already left Sweeney Todd before she shot The Mirror Crack'd. And by the time she finished shooting it, the show had closed. Maybe you and the Murder She Wrote person share the same calendar.

Okay, perhaps I got the two shows visa versa, as I wasn't paying much attention to what I was saying. Not when Angela Lansbury is tipping me for her frozen yogurt. Hells bells, it was 40 years ago!

The film is too English

R109 ^ The trouble is it’s not English enough

To be set in England 🙄

How did it do in Japan?

The ugly hat could have been yours.

FOOLS!

It still could, r112...

Heat up that glue gun!

Just remember to start at the edges and work your way up to the crown.

Rock was much more handsome than Tony in their heyday

This is the movie where it was brought home so strongly to me how SHORT Edward Fox is and how TALL Rock Hudson is.

Particularly noticeable at first in the scene where Fox (as the Inspector) goes into Rock's office to interview him. Rock is standing behind his desk and Fox in front of the desk. When I saw this movie the first time, I thought Rock and his desk were up on a pedestal because the height difference was so great.

But the scene continues as the 2 men leave the mansion together and walk, side by side, across the lawn. This was shot from a distance so the audience could see the house, the large grass lawn in front and the 2 men approaching from a bit of a distance. No way to hide the massive difference in their heights.

Served as a reminder to me how with most movies, these height differences are disguised by shooting angles. Not possible here with that outside scene.

We don’t want to hear any “it was 40 years ago” crap. Datalounge stands for accuracy. We are routinely cited in academic papers and barroom debates. NASA relies upon our calculations. Please, if your are not CERTAIN, do some research before you post.

[quote]Rock was much more handsome than Tony in their heyday

Until he got the AIDS Rock was always dreamy.

Dame Angela should have won the Oscar back in '62, just like me!

I remember bursting out laughing at the scene where lardass Liz fell down on top of Rock Hudson on the bed. I thought "that poor man".

How did Liz slim down? I remember an interview with Barbwa (?) where Liz looked stunning and swelve, wrapped in some fur I think. Gosh she must have been in her 50s and looked so good.

I'm sure lots and lots of drugs were involved. Didn't she get fat after she married that old Virginia politician John Warner? She was a behemoth.

[quote]r117 We don’t want to hear any “it was 40 years ago” crap.

Come on now, be fair. DL years are often a little blurry. It might have been 40 years ago, but it looks like 20!

I think the film felt less grand after Murder on the Orient Express and Evil Under The Sun had such exotic locations. The countryside set-ups seem cozy and great for TV shows and TV movies, but they lack big budget movie magic. Seeing stars like Liz Taylor and Rock Hudson in such a movie felt almost demeaning and humiliating, because it felt like a TV movie instead of a real cinema movie.

He was Alfred, Lord Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson, thank you very much. Victoria adored him.

[qoute] We don’t want to hear any “it was 40 years ago” crap. Datalounge stands for accuracy. We are routinely cited in academic papers and barroom debates. NASA relies upon our calculations. Please, if your are not CERTAIN, do some research before you post.

My dearest R117. How astute and quite right you are! However, while Lady Lansbury was faffling along about her famous exploits giving elaborate corroborative detail, intended to give artistic verisimilitude to an otherwise bald and unconvincing narrative, she forgot to pay me for her lunch. Mary Travers was a well know lush who stiffed anyone she can. However, Angela paid extremely well.

r117

R108 At first it was a "yogurt salad" (whatever that is), now it's a "frozen yogurt". Miss Marple wouldn't have let you get away with that.

[quote]Rock Hudson could have considered this film his formal coming out -the lack of any chemistry with Taylor made it clear that the characters had a totally sexless marriage and that Hudson was not to be swayed by violet eyes or big tits.

R81 Lack of any chemistry with Taylor?? Have you ever seen a little film called Giant?

W&W, if I still have one left, r126. Someone knows their G&S.

It's not that Ms. Taylor couldn't keep it together. There was a brief period in the late 80s where she looked pretty awesome again. I guess she noticed that her constant backup, Ms. Joan Collins, out-did her. So for a while she stepped up her Bush-years look.

Liz was terribly up and down during the shooting of A Little Night Music while Hal Prince tried to keep the film's finances together and shooting certain scenes occurred months apart.

R46, Natalie pulled out at the last minute, but Rock was happy when Elizabeth was signed to replace her. Natalie had also passed on "The Towering Inferno" several years prior, the Faye Dunaway role. She found the script schlocky, buf that didn't keep husband Robert Wagner from being in it.

[quote] At first it was a "yogurt salad" (whatever that is), now it's a "frozen yogurt". Miss Marple wouldn't have let you get away with that.

R127 Aw, oui. Well, even Poirot would have known that the frozen yogurt salad was served, and yet... fruit gone and only melted yogurt remains. Problem solved.

N'est-ce pas?

I always felt so sorry for Florence Klotz having to let the seams in and out of that sequined red dress.

Murder on the Orient Express had the brilliant designs of Tony Walton and Death on the Nile and Evil Under the Sun had genius costume designer Anthony Powell. I couldn't even tell you who designed Mirror but I'll bet the other two gents knew to pass on it.

R132 You're a good sport.

^^^^^ L'honneur est tout à moi. Merci !!

Caftan Alert: Code Red

Before Liz got fat, the saying was "If Elizabeth won't, Natalie Wood."

No love for "Appointment with Death"?

I wasn't even aware of that movie.

[quote]I always felt so sorry for Florence Klotz having to let the seams in and out of that sequined red dress.

You think Flossie did that, r133? Bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!!!

R140, One of DL icon Betty Bacall's most embarrassing films, next to "Shock Treatment".

Well, it wasn't my high point!

They should have utilized Charles Gray a little more. They hinted that he was the villain just a tad but never expanded on it. would have been interesting.

[quote] Rock was much more handsome than Tony in their heyday

Tony Curtis was way hotter.

I've never been attracted to Tony Curtis, I don't know why. I always liked him, and objectively he's attractive, but does nothing for me.

R13 I could never quite reconcile Julia McKenzie as Miss Marple with this Julia McKenzie (start at 1:55):

Anytime I run into an anti-vaxxer I tell them to see this movie and repent.

Wow, she’s totally shading the fabulous Margaret Rutherford at R8!! AL always seemed supremely unlikeable to me anyway.

R149 Well the fact is Margaret Rutherford's Miss Marple was/is beloved (I wish there were twice as many movies as there are), while Lansbury's is forgotten.

Backstage at Mame in the 60s.

National Velvet

Now I'm confused. There is another thread with the same name.

It needed Betty Bacall.

Joan Rivers probably paid off her Bel Air mansion based on Elizabeth Taylor's weight gain. She was ruthless but karma punched her in the face and she died looking like an alien.

R155 Joan or Liz?

How many murders were there?

Three

I remember the mousy girl getting killed at the beginning and Geraldine Chaplin sniffing to her doom, but who was the third?

Liz of course!

Duh. I'm an idiot.

She murdered herself

Liz was a rug muncher

Who played Dolly Bantry? Has anyone read the Marple short stories "The Thirteen Problems"?

[quote]Liz was rug muncher.

Are you kidding? She loved huge dick. Remember Larry Fortensky and John Warner?

A shockingly bad movie in almost every respect.

R164 Dolly Bantry was played by Margaret Courtenay, the same actress who played Miss Knight in the 1992 BBC version.

I don't know why this man was hired.

He was obviously visually-impaired and more interested in cars than humans.

.,.,

Mike Todd spoiled Liz in so many ways, huge cock and all. She never got over it, Always looking for more.

I believe you mean Margaret (Vera Charles) Courtenay, r167...

You're right, R171. Apologies for my grave omission.

r90 has zero sense of humor about himself.

Agatha Christie thought Margaret Rutherford was brilliantly funny in the Miss Marple movies but insisted she was absolutely nothing like how she had written the character.

R173 R174

R175

It is a fun film

[quote] "The curse is come upon me," cried he Lady of Shalott.

So she was on the rag?

This thread is more entertaining than the actual movie.

Piece.O.Crap

I like Angela in it

I thought Liz Taylor was overreacting

A movie about someone spreading a dangerous communicable disease and Rock is fucking all the stagehands.

R182 he, he is the "straight man" in this one

The scene where fat Liz Taylor flings herself onto a bed was hilarious. I thought "that poor bed".

R184 lol true.

The cast had so much potential, but they all seem tired and annoyed

Your bitchy comments, about Elizabeth Taylor, are vile. Shame on you.

Elizabeth Taylor was a humanitarian, our champion. She left $300 million dollars to AIDS causes in her will. She founded two AIDS foundations, and supported our community, financially and vocally until she died. Where would we be without her?

She accepted gay men, and fought for us. It was terrible in 1980s, with the AIDS crises. Very few gave a damn about us. Do you remember?????? Do you even give a damn????

Take a chill pill, [R186]. OF COURSE she was magnificent in her response to AIDS. She also made a bunch of shitty movies.

Change your tampon R186. You're beginning to draw flies.

Everything about it was bad. Everything!!! Even the titles which is the easiest thing to do. As best as I can recall from about 2 years ago when I first saw this movie the title sequence was poorly paced, drawn out and blandly scored. The perfect introduction to a sub-TV movie. I can't believe the guy who directed it previously directed a few James Bond films.

R189 I agree about the titles. The Murder on the Orient Express and Evil Under the Sun titles are so much fun!

Horrible film but still entertaining.

Rock 's reaction to the Doris Day remark: gold.

R191 who is Doris Day?

The book, while a lesser Christie, is much better than the film. As i said above, they didn’t know what to do with it, just filled it with stars and lost the original meaning, which is in fact a revenge in the moment murder. Lindsay Duncan is very good in the Marina Gregg Role (it s only Chanel). This central idea is actually very powerful, but even in the book is somewhat lessened by adding u necessary murders to keep it going.

R159 5 murders: you forgot the script and Liz’s sagging four-poster.

R47 “It's one of the few Christie books I've not read, but the Wikipedia summary indicates”

Oh dear.

Just watched it. In several shots it looks like Liz has a mustache.

Maggie Smith and Diana Rigg did catty frenemies so much better in Evil Under the Sun.

[quote] He was Alfred, Lord Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson, thank you very much. Victoria adored him.

“When I’m with Alfred, Lord Tennyson, all seems to breathe freedom and peace, and to make one forget the world and its sad turmoils.“

Guy Hamilton is a very wooden director. I don’t know how Goldfinger happened. His other Bond films were duds.

He had cast Charles Gray as Blofeld in Diamonds Are Forever. Nice to see him toss Charles a bone 9 years later. Very small bone. Perhaps a hamate?

So bad it's good

Not quite bad enough to be good.

Liz was perfect as a washed up psychotic actress. But that floral hat she wore…..

Bacall was perfect in the part, but late career Elizabeth Taylor would have been interesting alternative casting as Mrs. Hubbard in Murder on the Orient Express, and probably truer to how the character was written in the novel.

Another weird implausibility in the Mirror Crack’d novel, if I’m remembering correctly, is that Heather Badcock’s dull little petit bourgeois husband turns out to have been Marina Gregg’s discarded first husband. A funny (perhaps unintentional?) re-occurring theme in the novel, that the movie doesn’t really capture, is of the menace and destruction being wrought by a cheerfully rapacious and ascendant new lower middle class - both in the form of Heather Badcock and the new housing development in St. Mary Mead.

And what, pray tell, is a “lower middle class?”

Didn’t the photographer play a bigger role in the TV version? As I recall she was a discarded adopted daughter of Marina Rudd, if you can imagine.