Murder with Mirrors

In the last role of her career, Helen Hayes gives a fine performance as Jane Marple, in this Agatha Christie whodunit, set mostly at an English estate. Although not one of my favorite Christie puzzles, the story is still pretty good, and worth watching, once. Character relationships are a bit complex, but the suspect pool is still manageable at seven or eight people.

With breaks where the commercials would be, and cheap, nondescript background music, the film has a very made-for-TV look and feel. Some of the dialogue in the first ten minutes can be easily misinterpreted, so you must listen carefully or you will be led astray. As usual, clues are pleasantly subtle. Once you figure out the main clue, identifying the killer is easy.

In addition to Helen Hayes, actor Leo McKern, as the gruff inspector, also gives a nice performance; he seems like he's enjoying his role. Other performances tend to be perfunctory or stagy. Bette Davis, looking embalmed, has little to do; mostly she just sits or stands, as she mouths her few lines, and makes facial expressions suitable to the scene. I suspect she was brought in only for her star power, to draw in viewers.

"Murder With Mirrors" will appeal mostly to viewers who like whodunits, especially Agatha Christie whodunits. Although the story is a somewhat generic murder mystery, it does have entertainment value.

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

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.

I cannot explain why but, when Agatha Christie is brought to life by The BBC or ITV it has a magic and quality that cannot be matched, when it's made on the big screen it always seems flashy, and Murder with Mirrors is another example, the story is lost in favour of celebrities and showy staging. The screen play is dull, it's not one of Christie's finest plots, but it's still decent, this adaptation does not make the most of the subtleties of the plot. Once again, filling the production with stars is an attempt to make something good, but it fails miserably. Bette Davies dazzled in Death on the Nile, but I find it quite sad watching her in this, her delivery is a little laboured. I didn't care for Helen's characterisation of Jane Marple, she simply isn't the character in the text. I also find the accents really irritating, too many attempts at sounding 'English,' not everyone in the UK sounds like Queen Elizabeth. On the plus side, Frances de la Tour and Leo McKern are both very good, and it starts off well, but ten minutes in it becomes a struggle to watch.

She's never been near St Mary Mead in her life, watch Hickson's version for the definitive production, even Julia McKenzie's is superior.

Poor 4/10

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...