The Mirror Crack'd
by Guy Hamilton
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Angela Lansbury, Edward Fox, Geraldine Chaplin, Rock Hudson, Tony CurtisDirector: Guy Hamilton
DVD: 2 Layers, Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Anamorphic, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen, 1.85:1
Running Time: 105 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-02-27
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay
Movie Reviews of The Mirror Crack'd
Movie Review: One of the best of its kind
Summary: 4 Stars
A group of Hollywood actors and filmmakers (including Tony Curtis, Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson and Kim Novak) come to Miss Marple's small country village to shoot a movie, and needless to say, given the fact that this is based on an Agatha Christie novel, someone turns up dead. Miss Marple's nephew (Edward Fox), a Scotland Yard detective is called in to investigate, but as you would expect, he is assisted along the way by Miss Marple (Angela Lansbury).
I've seen many films and telemovies based on the novels of Agatha Christie, over the course of my life, but "The Mirror Crack'd" stands out as being one of the best. It is true that, plotwise, if you've seen one such mystery, you've seen them all, but this film stands out because (i) it is clearly made with a higher budget than most of these mysteries (which are usually made for television), and so has higher production values, (ii) there are actually enough clues given to the audience for them to solve the murder and (iii) the script is really funny. Elizabeth Taylor and Kim Novak, as two rival actresses, spend most of their screen time insulting each other and some of the insults that they sling are absolutely hilarious. These liven up the script no end and make this film a thorough pleasure to watch.
Angela Lansbury is not my favourite Miss Marple (that is still Margaret Rutherford), but she does a far better job of playing Miss Marple than many of the actresses who have come after her. My main criticism of Lansbury in this role is that she is too young for the part. When this film was made, Lansbury was only 59, so is buried under very heavy make-up in order to disguise this fact. Nevertheless, for fans of "Murder She Wrote" (which started four years after this film was made), Lansbury is already in "Jessica Fletcher" mode and this film can essentially be viewed as being another episode of this series, albeit a longer and better made one.
Summary of The Mirror Crack'd
Angela Lansbury does the honors as Agatha Christie's determined sleuth, Miss Marple, in this adaptation of Christie's novel. A washed-up movie star (Elizabeth Taylor) is attempting to make a comeback but is driven to distraction by a mysterious event from her past. Also problematic for Taylor's struggling actress is a series of murders occurring with clockwork regularity in the quiet, 1950s English village where a film is being produced--killings that are all somehow connected to her. Despite the British backdrop, most of the suspects, including Rock Hudson, Kim Novak, and Tony Curtis, are American in this 1980 feature directed by Guy Hamilton (Evil Under the Sun). (At least Miss Marple's nephew, the redoubtable Inspector Craddock, is played by Edward Fox.) The bad news: this is a curiously flat, monotonous film, with a mystery hook that, sad to say, is among Christie's more familiar and predictable. Hamilton doesn't demand much of his largely ornamental cast, and they don't volunteer much to fill the void. Still, fans of Miss Marple and Christie, especially those with a burning hunger to see every film or television program based on the books, will want to check it out. This DVD edition is presented in the film's original widescreen format, and it includes television spots that were part of the film's marketing at the time of its theatrical release. --Tom KeoghArt House & International DVD Video
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