Quem Viu, Quem Matou...

Many people criticise this movie because Margaret Rutherford doesn't have the "look" to play Miss Marple. However, that doesn't change the fact that this is an excellent film that, while it doesn't stick to the book much, does a great job of entertaining the viewer. It's getting harder and harder to find all 4 videos from the series (this was the first). It took me around a year to get all of them , with Murder Ahoy being the easiest (easily found at Suncoast Video) and Murder Most Foul being the hardest to find. (I had to special order from Canada for around $20) These movies are well worth the price though, and provide not only great mysteries, but also wonderful entertainment!!

This film was a real discovery for me. A real feel-good murder mystery if ever there was one. Margaret Rutherford as Agatha Christie's Miss Marple is quite something different I was expecting. Usually in other films and TV-series I've found the character a bit boring compared to Hercule Poirot and have much more preferred Christie stories involving the latter. Not this time, because this must be the best Agatha Christie movie I have seen yet. I haven't read the book the film is based on, '16.50 from Paddington', so I can't tell how faithful the film adaption is. But Rutherford's Marple sure sparkles. She is above all witty, energetic and enormously fun to watch.

What generally makes this movie so delightful is the humorous style which I strongly connected to the classic Ealing comedies. There is also some obvious influence of Hitchcock's early films from his English period, for example the trick of using a woman's scream and a train whistle together very effectively. Good looking sharp photography and fast-paced direction keep things moving . The dialog is very stylish, so "utterly British" for someone from a different language area and a treat for one's ear. I doubt if anyone really talks like that anymore, but hopefully I'm utterly wrong.

And for once I guessed the murderer right beforehand without spoiling any of my fun. On the contrary, the movie gave me such a good time it fully surprised me in that. Judging by this and the trailers of the other films in the series (Yes, hurray, there is more of it!) I'll have to catch up with the rest of them too. Do let your evening be crowned or saved by this wonderful film.

An elderly spinster called Miss Marple witnesses a man strangling a woman on a passing train. When nobody believes her she investigates the crime herself.

Murder She Said marked the first big-screen appearance of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple. The script by David Pursall and Jack Seddon is based on the 1957 novel "4:50 From Paddington". Its success lead to three more equally entertaining films starring Margaret Rutherford. Agatha Christie liked Rutherford as an actress but thought that she was all wrong for the part. Indeed Rutherford is nothing like the Jane Marple that Joan Hickson would portray in the highly successful BBC series of the 1980's-90's, but she is a delight to watch as she makes the part entirely her own and earned herself a legion of fans. Incidentally, Hickson appears in this film in a minor role as the miserable housekeeper Mrs Kidder. A great supporting cast includes Muriel Pavlow, Arthur Kennedy and James Robertson Justice. Charles Tingwell plays the hapless Inspector Craddock who cannot bear Miss Marple interfering and solving his cases for him, a role which in which he is featured in all the entries in this series. Another regular in the series is Stringer Davis (Rutherford's real life husband) who plays the local librarian and her closest friend Mr Stringer.

Director George Pollock worked steadily as an assistant director during the forties and fifties and during that time he learned at the feet of some of Britain's most acclaimed directors such as Thorold Dickinson on Gaslight (1940) and David Lean on Brief Encounter, Great Expectations (both 1945) and Oliver Twist (1948). After directing a few trivial comedies such as Village Of Daughters (1961), Pollock had an opportunity with the Marple films to show that he was a very good director investing the films with great British humour as well as intriguing mystery making them timeless entertainment. The films resembled the quota quickies of the 1950's, but they were done with a slightly higher budget, more professionalism and better production values. In addition, Ron Goodwin's music is splendid and the harpsichord laden theme tune would become familiar as it was used in all the other entries in this series. I don't think I would be going over the top to use a well-worn phrase "they don't make them like that anymore". "4:50 From Paddington" has been filmed twice subsequently. In 1987 the BBC gave us a faithful but rather stodgy version starring Joan Hickson and ITV filmed it in 2004 as part of their new series of Miss Marple whodunits starring Geraldine McEwan. But the less said about these the better.

Sequels: MURDER AT THE GALLOP (1963), MURDER MOST FOUL (1964) and MURDER AHOY (produced in 1964 but released in late 1965 to space out the series).

As other critics have previously pointed out, Margaret Rutherford's portrayal of Jane Marple has little in common with the visions of the character's creator, Agatha Christie. However, just as Basil Rathbone's depiction of Sherlock Holmes (both in his character portrayal and in the film company's telling of most of the tales) had little to do with the original writer's intentions, so too did both he and Miss Rutherford seem to create pseudo-characters, from worthwhile plots, of equal value and entertainment levels.

As the first of a wonderful quartet of easy-to-view movies made in black and white in early 60's England (and the second best of them, overall, in my opinion), this appropriately atmospheric film takes us through a clever little screenplay centred around the family of a large estate 'in the sticks' (on the outskirts of London). The storyline is littered with a mixture of eccentric and fundamental cameo parts that serve up the right amount of suspense and partial comedy as Miss Marple (and her buddy, Mr.Stringer) take it upon themselves to solve a railway murder that Inspector Craddock, the local 'head plod', had put down to being the by-product of her rambling 'hallucinations'.

Not surprisingly, we are kept on our toes as to whom was the culprit as the intrepid Jane goes undercover as a geriatric maid who proves to be so competent in her matriarchal manoeuvres that the 'Lord of the Manor' (superbly played, as ever, by the magnificent James Robertson Justice) seeks her hand in marriage as a sort of reward for her spirited detective work. However, Dame Rutherford had Stringer to consider - not least because he was her partner in real life - and there were of course other stories to film in the future...

What a pity they didn't follow Rathbone and Bruce by making around a dozen of these marvellous movies!

Waking from a doze in her train seat, Miss Jane Marple awakes in time to witness thru her window a young lady being strangled aboard a passing train. When she cries murder to the police, they suggest she was most likely only dreaming. Undaunted, she sets out to find the truth and to prove that she isn't indeed a dotty old spinster.

Directed by George Pollock, Murder She Said is adapted by David Osborn, David Pursall & Jack Seddon from the best selling book "4:50 From Paddington" (also published as What Mrs. McGillicudy Saw!) written by the legendary Agatha Christie. It stars Margaret Rutherford, Arthur Kennedy, Muriel Pavlow & James Robertson Justice.

Lets forget the book eh, and lets forget that Agatha Christie felt that Margaret Rutherford was wrong for the role of Miss. Jane Marple. How about we just view this delightful English mystery on its filmic terms? Rutherford is just lovely as Marple, putting her own classy stamp on the role, she was an instant hit and went on to make a further three Marple movies. It has all the classic elements for a Christie murder mystery. An odd family at a big foreboding residence {Ackenthorpe Hall} and sure enough there's something afoot here. Enter Rutherford's determined sleuther Miss. Marple as she enrols as housekeeper there and pokes around in search of clues. The suspense is built up, as is the mystery "who done it?" element, but the film never loses its sense of humour. Something that makes Rutherford's incarnation of Marple a joy to be involved with. Her play offs with James Robertson Justice's blustery old grump (Ackenthorpe), and wee Ronnie Raymond's Alexander are true high points in Pollock's movie.

Be it Marple or Poirot you know the formula at the heart of these murder mysteries. There are many adaptations to the screen of Christie's works, and for sure not all of them work. With that, Rutherford's tenure as Miss Marple probably ranks about middle tier in the pantheon. But that is still good enough for a jolly day of viewings, fun viewings that are propelled by the wonderful talent of Margaret Rutherford. 7.5/10