This film is a comedy. Dame Rutherford has one of the funniest faces ever to be filmed. It is worth watching just to see her parading around in a formal maids costume, and she slogs her enormous saggy breasts around like comic sidekicks. Watch it for that. She is enormously entertaining in all senses of the word! Watch this for her mugging! She is a parody of the elderly, fat, but stouthearted English lady seen in Hitchcock films. And a really, really funny one.
As a mystery, however, this fails completely; and if this is your introduction to Agatha Christie, well too bad for you. There are no clues. There are no red herrings. Actors are knocked off all over the place but since they don't seem to have anything to do with the plot, it doesn't make much difference. It is wrapped up in the last five minutes or so, but in a way almost unrelated to the earlier part of the film. I also was able to identify the killer as soon as he or she appeared, although not from any clues.
There are several other Miss Marples that are better: Joan Hickson is very close to the books. And you couldn't have a worse script (from a decent enough book of this genre).
Finally, although filmed (if it was actually "filmed" and not "videotaped") does not have the depth one expects in a black and white film (visually). It looks like a Munsters TV show, including some of the characters (like the Eddy Munster-esquire kid).
Finally, the soundtrack is truly TV quality and consists mainly of a harpsichord playing the same phrase over and over and over again. Cheasey to the max. But kind of comfortingly cheesy.
As a mystery, however, this fails completely; and if this is your introduction to Agatha Christie, well too bad for you. There are no clues. There are no red herrings. Actors are knocked off all over the place but since they don't seem to have anything to do with the plot, it doesn't make much difference. It is wrapped up in the last five minutes or so, but in a way almost unrelated to the earlier part of the film. I also was able to identify the killer as soon as he or she appeared, although not from any clues.
There are several other Miss Marples that are better: Joan Hickson is very close to the books. And you couldn't have a worse script (from a decent enough book of this genre).
Finally, although filmed (if it was actually "filmed" and not "videotaped") does not have the depth one expects in a black and white film (visually). It looks like a Munsters TV show, including some of the characters (like the Eddy Munster-esquire kid).
Finally, the soundtrack is truly TV quality and consists mainly of a harpsichord playing the same phrase over and over and over again. Cheasey to the max. But kind of comfortingly cheesy.