Passage à tabac

Seems old Follie Hardwick gets snuffed out after a visit to the HMS Battledorn, a old wreck used to rehibilitate wayward boys. That leaves another old wreck, Jane Marple to personally investigate the shennanigans aboard ship, and so she does much to the shagrin of all aboard including the eventual murder. This is great fun and Dame Rutherford is at her peak. I think its the best of the four Christie films in this series, altho they are all great.

This was the fourth and final offering in the Rutherford/Marple quartet of old English masterpieces. As good as it was though - and it did not let us down as yet another reminder of how quaint some parts of a middle class England of yesteryear were - this was, perhaps, the least riveting of the great Dame's portrayal of the delightful Miss Marple.

For those who are interested in locations, the centrepiece of the tale, H.M.S.Battledore, was anchored in the bay betwixt Falmouth and St.Mawes (in cushty Cornwall) with the latter named small town providing the backdrop for the thefts of the scallywags who were supposed to be being reformed as part of a trust initiative to aid young men who had been led astray. From the outset of the plot, a 'snuff' murder way ahead of its time, we were kept on our toes as Miss Marple (as ever, ably assisted by her elderly beau, Mr.Stringer) weaved her way through the suspects aboard that fabulous old ship which looks as if it has just been vacated by Drake or Nelson. Nevertheless, the contemporary Captain, played to perfection (by Lionel Jeffries) with a mixture of 'old sea salt' zest and a zany personality unmatched by the rest of the crew, almost upstages the film's star with his demeanour ranging from the seeming son of Blackbeard through to a sort of Peter Pan who has lived all his dreams and desires of great seamanship within a perpetual stone's throw of land.

The sword fight at the end may ahve been a bit naff - but it didn't matter, we knew who would win as Jane was bound to have been a fencing champion of some sort in her merry old past. But what was surprsing was that this proved to be the last of a proven fromula that ought to have been repeated many times over.

A thoroughly good yarn - best watched with a flaggon of cider to keep one's whistle wet!

Just a little rectification: if the order of releases in Great-Britain is correct, this film is the fourth, not the third, in the series. The British releases were as follow: Murder, She Said - August, 1961 Murder at the Gallop - April, 1963 Murder Most Foul - February, 1964 Murder Ahoy - July, 1964

Whilst visiting the monthly meeting of a naval trust set up long ago one of her relatives, Miss Marple is surprised by the rudeness of Follie Hardwick who demands to speak outside of the agenda. Hardwick insists that his news will drop the rest of the agenda as irrelevant and, taking a pinch of snuff, he stands to speak. Seconds later he is dead from a heart attack and the police are called. Marple notices later that someone has stolen the dead man's snuff, but left the snuffbox. Believing the death was murder by way of poisoned snuff, Miss Marple insists on investigating, much to the chagrin of Detective Inspector Craddock.

For many viewers, myself included, this is not really a Miss Marple film as we think of it. For most of us this should be a film with Joan Hickson that is very slow and very English, however this is not to say that the Rutherford versions are not any good because they are actually pretty enjoyable. Less of a Miss Marple film, this is more a Margaret Rutherford film because she does her usual performance of huff, puff and sheer bloody-minded persistence. The plot is written around this well and is lively and fun with a surprise amount of comedy for a mystery film. The actual development of the case is not that strong but the whole thing is entertaining enough to avoid having to rely too heavily on just this aspect.

The cast make it work as well as it does. Rutherford could be accused of doing what comes naturally but so what if it works? Real life partner Stringer Davis is good value as always in his small role as is Tingwell in the typically cynical Detective Inspector. The crew of the ship are great fun; Jeffries is nearly always funny and he is well supported by Nimmo, Parsons, Mervyn and Benham. Nobody is brilliant and the film belongs to Rutherford, but the presence of some great comedians helps matters.

Overall this is an entertaining and enjoyable film that is driven by the force of Rutherford's presence. She may not be a great Miss Marple but she does what she does well. The rest of the cast are fun as well and they manage to cover the fact that the mystery side of things could have been stronger and more interesting. Light fun though.

I have enjoyed watching all the Miss Marple/Margaret Rutherford movies for they provide light entertainment. This one in particular was worth your time because of a great performance by Lionel Jeffries as the captain of the ship. Jeffries, Rutherford, and Ron Goodwin's marvelous music make the film a treat to watch. Of course, the direction lacks punch if we judge it 40 years after it was made.

The Rutherford/Stringer relationship (that was not Agatha Christie's) on and off screen adds additional trivia interest. I note that Stringer died soon after the death of Dame Rutherford.