Miss Marple: The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side

An earlier version of this movie "The Mirror Crack'd (1980) ASIN: 6302990149" was made with a lot of glitzy characters. Some of them were quite well such as Rock Hudson (Jason Rudd). Others were distracting as they let their real personalities overwhelm the characters. One of the worst was Angela Lansbury's portrayal of Miss Jane Marple; she was much too cutesy. This film was to Americanize (black and white, judgmental.) and half the characters were combined for brevity.

Based on a novel, Christie, "Agatha. Mirror Crack'd, the", the film Miss Marple: The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side (1992) (TV) (UK: series title) stays true to form. Joan Hickson as Miss Marple. Agatha Christie always considered her as the ideal Miss Marple; she shows this through her reserve savvy. Jane takes an interactive interest in the mystery and yet each character as part of the discovery, stands on their own. The ending of the story is as is in life, it is appropriate, not black and white judgmental.

This adaptation respects its material, and is overall a solid adaptation of the book. The book, I will admit isn't Christie's best, but what made it so interesting was the victim Heather Badcock, and I felt that the adaptation could have developed her more. The adaptation is also overlong but maintains interest, thanks to the way it was filmed, the pace and the acting. The adaptation is beautifully filmed, and the music is fantastic. It also moves along at a much more reasonable pace than say They Do It With Mirrors (that was good but i had a real problem with the pace). And the acting is very good, as is the case with the Joan Hickson Marple adaptations. Hickson is indeed terrific as Miss Marple, and Claire Bloom, Barry Newman and Norman Rodway are a fine supporting cast. Gwen Watford is the standout in a hilarious performance. The adaptation which further benefits from good plotting is fairly faithful save a couple of questionable liberties, and the Ella Zeilinsky murder was quite a disturbing scene for me I will admit. All in all, solid adaptation and well worth the look. 8/10 Bethany Cox

It may not be the best of the bunch but it's still a good TV movie. A nice touch is the fact that we see several faces that we saw in Murder At The Vicarage an earlier movie of this series. There is Dolly Bantrey ( now a widow), there is the vicar ( he was not the vicar in Murder at the vicarage but seems to have made a promotion) and some more characters. This one is surely better than the movie with Liz Taylor and Angela Lansbury. This was the last one of the series and it's a shame they did not continue it with movies of some of the Miss Marple short stories. Hickson was - up till now - the best Miss Marple. Let's hope they 'll find another person just as good and still use the short stories!

The village is all of a buzz at the news that the Hall has been bought by American film star Marina Greg and her husband Jason Rudd. When Greg throws a garden party of the locals it ends badly whenever a local woman from the St John's suddenly falls ill and dies. The autopsy finds that she has been poisoned and that it most likely came from a drink – a drink intended for Marina Greg. With such a high profile murder on his hands, Superintendent Slack calls for help in the form of DI Craddock, who also happens to be the nephew of one Miss Marple. With her insightful mind and his detective work the future is bright but the ongoing threats against Greg shows that time is not on their side.

It is ironic that some fans of the BBC's Miss Marple don't rate this film as highly as some others because personally I think this is one of the more enjoyable ones I have seen recently, probably for the same reasons that others don't. It might be the presence of American accents, or the use of the film world as a backdrop or the use of humour within the plot and characters but somehow this film had more life and energy to it than some of the other films. The plot moves along quickly and we have the death within thirty minutes rather than the usual hour; this means we spent little time dawdling before the story starts. After this point it keeps up a good pace and is enjoyable from start to finish. The mystery itself benefits from the pace and avoids the trap of being deadly dull, becoming something that feels a bit lighter and more entertaining – although fans of CSI will still struggle with the rather sedentary pace it still has in common with the rest of the series.

The addition of comedy to the character of Miss Marple is welcome, as is the way she is a bit edgy and rude at times (well, by comparison anyway). Hickson takes to this well – playing off her housekeeper well and having a frustration that I hadn't seen before. Castle works well as her nephew and leads the investigation well as a sort of sidekick to her. The presence of Bloom and Newman add a bit of class to proceedings and by virtue of being American help to loosen the rather tight corset that this series always wore. I thought Gregory's (Fenn) accent was awful but when I found out he was American I realised that it must just be an all round bad performance rather a problem with accents. Support is roundly good and all do their bit to keep the film moving by never being too stiff or "English".

Overall this is not the film that will win fans of the MTV mystery series (CSI etc) but it is one of the lively films from the BBC Miss Marple series. The story, characters and tone all work together to produce a rather flowing story that has more interest and pace to it than I have seen in other Marple films and it made it more fun than usual.

So, here we are with the redoubtable Miss Marple, a lovely Claire Bloom and a fine cast. Some of the neighborhood regulars are back, like Ms. Bantry, the maids, Inspectors Slack and Craddock. It is fun to be at Gossington Hall again, albeit under new owners. Of course, that's key to the storyline and adds to the interest. I liked Ms. Bantry before and again in this. The relationship between her and Ms. Marple is interesting. Somehow, their talks offer up a spark that leads to a rewarding line of inquiry. Inspector Slack is always an entertaining character, in attitude expressing looks, droll remarks and the die hard approach he always takes, many times in error.

One review here mentions a part of the book that greatly impressed me as well. It was a description of Heather Badcock. In the allusion to her village parallel, Alison Wilde, she says, "… She didn't know what people were like. She'd never thought about them. And so, you see, she couldn't guard against things happening to her. It comes really from being self-centered and I don't mean selfish by that. You can be kind and unselfish and even thoughtful. But … you never really know what you may be doing … most people have a sense of protection. They realize when it's unwise to say or do something because of the person or persons who are taking in what you say, and because of the kind of character that those people have. But as I say, AW never thought of anybody else but herself. She was the sort of person who tells you what they've done and what they've seen and what they've felt and what they've heard. They never mention what any other people said, or did. Life is a kind of one-way track, just their own progress through it. Other people seem to them just like – like wallpaper in a room. I think HB was that kind of person."

And of Ms. Badcock particularly, "… she wasn't a considerate woman. Kind, yes. Considerate – no. She would be fond of him (her husband) and look after him when he was ill and see to his meals and be a good housekeeper, but I don't think she would ever – well, that she would ever even know what he might be feeling or thinking. That makes a lonely life for a man."

However, Ms. Marple did speak most of this in this adaptation, which was revealing of the woman's vulnerability to danger.

Some say this is a weaker entry in the BBC Marple lineup, but I don't see it like that. The 1980 version with Taylor/Hudson et al. and Lansbury as Ms. Marple strayed more from the book - well, it's the Hollywood treatment. Some compare this BBC version to that since it came along later, but shouldn't. The BBC series is entirely truer. They did it right. The village and settings are always wonderful. I enjoy it thoroughly, one for the collection to see regularly. This gets a "well done" from me.