Fun, star filled mystery, this cut off from the Hercules Poirot films went back to an already familiar Agatha Christie character, Miss Jane Marple. Less "tweedy" than Margaret Rutherford who played the part in several well remembered 1960's films, Angela Lansbury is every bit as clever as her predecessor if less snoopy, only sticking her nose in if she happens to smell a clue.
This entry has Miss Marple's town a agog over the arrival of a film crew and its major stars, filming "Mary Queen of Scots". Playing the leading role is the still gorgeous Elizabeth Taylor whose director husband Rock Hudson is trying to protect her allegedly fragile state. Taylor's old rival (Kim Novak) shows up to play Queen Elizabeth and this begins a series of amusing bitch fights between the two divas, interrupted on occasion by murder. Who would want to murder la Liz, and accidentally kill an over zealous fan and her assistant? While the local police zoom in, it's up to Miss Marple to really dig deep to figure it all out.
Among the suspects are Tony Curtis as a crass producer, Geraldine Chaplin as a blackmailing secretary, the nasty Novak (who wants to change history to increase her part at Taylor's expense) and Taylor or Hudson for mysterious reasons of their own. The witty and calculating script will keep you guessing, and long after you have seen it, you'll want to revisit what lead its star to T.V. immortality as a New England variation of the same character. The ending is tragically heart wrenching.
This entry has Miss Marple's town a agog over the arrival of a film crew and its major stars, filming "Mary Queen of Scots". Playing the leading role is the still gorgeous Elizabeth Taylor whose director husband Rock Hudson is trying to protect her allegedly fragile state. Taylor's old rival (Kim Novak) shows up to play Queen Elizabeth and this begins a series of amusing bitch fights between the two divas, interrupted on occasion by murder. Who would want to murder la Liz, and accidentally kill an over zealous fan and her assistant? While the local police zoom in, it's up to Miss Marple to really dig deep to figure it all out.
Among the suspects are Tony Curtis as a crass producer, Geraldine Chaplin as a blackmailing secretary, the nasty Novak (who wants to change history to increase her part at Taylor's expense) and Taylor or Hudson for mysterious reasons of their own. The witty and calculating script will keep you guessing, and long after you have seen it, you'll want to revisit what lead its star to T.V. immortality as a New England variation of the same character. The ending is tragically heart wrenching.