3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best of the best, June 8, 2001
I enjoy all of these productions. The sets are fascinating and very detailed, and the acting is superb.
This particular story is about poor Carrie Louise. She is being slowly poisoned and her childhood friend, Miss Jane Marple is called in to investigate.
Lydia from A&E's Pride & Prejudice is one of the suspects and the tremendous Joss Ackland (the South African Drug Lord from Lethal Weapon) is another prominent character. All in all one of the best in this series. If you like Agatha Christie, don't miss this one.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The DOCTOR did it!! Or did he??, October 27, 2004
+++++
I watched this movie without reading the 1953 Dame Agatha Christie novel (also entitled "Murder With Mirrors") that it was based on. (Christie wrote twelve Miss Marple murder mysteries altogether.) I'm glad I did this! Why? Because it forced me to really watch the movie in order to try and deduce who the murderer was.
Agatha Christie's heroine sleuth Miss Marple (the late Joan Hickson) travels to a country estate (called "Stonygates") of a good friend to find out who is trying to gradually poison her. Eventually a murder occurs. Clues can be found out at the nearby reformatory for criminal youth. Chief Inspector Slack (David Horovitch) aids Miss Marple in her investigation. Later, an attempted murder occurs.
I found that I had to concentrate when watching this movie in order to keep all of the character's straight and to follow the story. Also, I found that sometimes British accents were excessive, so I found I had to concentrate when listening.
Who are the people associated with this estate? They are as follows:
1. Carrie-Louise Serrocold, wealthy socialite and the estate's owner (Jean Simmons)
2. Lewis Serrocold, Carrie-Louise's third husband (Joss Ackland)
3. Ruth Van Rydok, Carrie-Louise's sister (Faith Brook)
4. Mildred Strete, Carrie-Louise's daughter (Gillian Barge)
5. Alex Restarick, nephew to Ruth (Chris Villiers)
6. Stephen Restarick, Alex's brother (Jay Villiers)
7. Gina Hudd, Carrie-Louise's granddaughter (Holly Aird)
8. Walter Hudd, Gina's husband (Todd Boyce)
9. Edgar Lawson, one of the reformatory's inmates and assistant to Lewis (Neal Swettenham)
10. Cristian Galbrandsen, Carrie-Louise's stepson (John Bott)
11. Dr. Maseryk (Saul Reichlin)
Joan Hickson (whom Agatha Christie herself wanted to play Miss Marple) captures the essence of the super sleuth in her performance. (Hickson was 85 years old in this movie!) David Horovitch as Inspector Slack and Neal Swettenham as one of the inmates also give good performances.
The cinematography is visually stunning. All costumes are authentic looking. Also, the background music adds to each scene.
The only problem I found was with the final deduction scene. In this scene, nothing about the attempted murder (I'm assuming that this is what it was) is explained. It's as if it never happened. I felt that this was a major oversight.
In conclusion, this is a fun movie even if you have read the novel it is based on!!
(1991; 100 min; made for T.V.; British drama; full screen; color)
+++++
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
![[Start the discussion]](http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/x-locale/communities/discussion_boards/start-new-discussion-sec._V192250339_.gif){kind=small}
