Murder with Mirrors

Based on Agatha Christie's They Do It With Mirrors, this TV film is entertaining if rather too obvious at times. I will admit though, the book isn't Christie's best, but it is an interesting read. Here, the mystery is updated, and does deviate from the book. I will admit, although the Joan Hickson version wasn't that faithful to the book, I admit I do prefer it. Back to Murder With Mirrors, the adaptation does have some nice camera-work, some lovely locations, and the costumes while nothing fancy were pleasing to the eye. Helen Hayes, in her swansong, gives a very enjoyable performance as Miss Marple, and is quite cute too. Out of the supporting actors, Leo McKern comes out on top, with a gleefully gruff portrayal of Inspector Curry. Nice turns also from Dorothy Tuton and Tim Roth. However, Bette Davis and John Mills, two fine actors, and two of the three main reasons why I wanted to see this, the other bring I love Agatha Christie, have very little to do in their roles. But my main problem with the film, other than the rather contrived final solution, was the screenplay. I thought every character was badly underwritten, and most of the plot changes are badly underdeveloped. Also, Miss Marple's speech before she is almost killed in the theatre, was very poorly written, but maybe that's just me. All in all, entertaining but could have been better. 6/10 Bethany Cox

One of Agatha's easier mysteries to solve begins with some decent location atmosphere and solid characters then soon nosedives, like most Christie adaptions, into the silly. I agree that Dame Bette looks sadly old here and is basically wasted, so Helen Hayes makes up for a lot as the nosy Miss Marple. The funniest part of unintentional giggles, next to that exploding car crashing thru the gate, which never happened in book form, is seeing Tim Roth as a so called delinquient teen. He's a riot here and helps the disappointment factor from jumping too high. It's also nice to see Leo McCern from Rumple of the Bailey in a token, gruffy, voice-of-the-law role which plays off the Hayes cuteness level without too much strain. Too bad the plot wasn't as meticulously handled as the scenery...

This is a made-for-TV movie starring Helen Hayes as Miss Marple and features several prominent stars - Bette Davis, John Mills, Dorothy Tutin and Leo McKern.

Miss Marple is asked to visit an old friend, Carrie-Louise Serrocold (Davis) by her stepson who is concerned that his stepmother is being slowly poisoned. Once Miss Marple arrives at the English country estate, she soon discovers that all is not as it seems.

The location scenery is lovely, however the story is set in the 1980's, losing the authentic period atmosphere so closely associated with Agatha Christie.

Helen Hayes gives a decent performance, although Bette Davis is under-used and looks visibly frail. John Mills is good, as always, and Dorothy Tutin gives a sympathetic turn as Davis's down-trodden daughter. Leo McKern portrays the police inspector with relish, including several entertaining exchanges with Miss Marple.

The plot keeps you guessing, complemented by the usual red herrings supplied by Agatha Christie. Overall, an enjoyable film.

An old friend asks elderly sleuth Miss Marple to root out her stepson's killer, who she suspects is also out to get her grand ancestral home - but the plot begins to thicken when it emerges the deceased had a host of enemies.

An efficient version of Dame Christie's They do it with mirrors, that follows the literary source in general fashion - it keeps one interested, though it just gets better after the murder in the room with the gunshot going off.

Helen Hayes is excellent as Miss Marple, and unfortunately it's her final film. Bette Davis, who was clearly ill, made three more films before the curtain came down on her illustrious career. The rest of cast, especially Leo Mckern is fine. Entertaining enough mystery.

If "A Caribbean Mystery" (1983) was the traditional "murder at an exotic resort during the holidays" story, "Murder with Mirrors" (1985) is the traditional "murder in a huge English countryside manor" story. It was the second and last appearance of Helen Hayes as Agatha Christie's Miss Marple, and it's a shame she didn't make any more: she is a very wily yet very human Marple, and acts quite youthfully for her 80+ years. The films themselves are better than the TV movies with Peter Ustinov as Hercule Poirot that were made around the same time, mainly because they don't overplay the comedy. Although the big names in the supporting cast are an old Bette Davis and a young Tim Roth, if anyone stands out it's the beautiful redhead Liane Langland and Leo McKern as the inspector on the case. The story contains the typical AC false assumptions and crafty illusions, and I, for one, did not have a clue what was going on until Miss Marple and the inspector revealed it. A good solid outing for fans of the genre. (***)