Customer Reviews

Murder at the Gallop [VHS]

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I was very excited to find this video! I have been looking for it for over a year.

Although Margaret Rutherford is not the Miss Marple that I envisioned when reading Agatha Christie's books (Joan Hickson is much closer), I find Margaret Rutherford a delightful eccentric. She is lively, independent and forceful! She is my favorite Miss Marple!

Stringer Davis(Mr. Stringer) and Margaret are a wonderful pair. They are a delight! In addition, Robert Morely and Margaret team up for some comedic fun.

I would really like to see the four Margaret Rutherford, Miss Marple films(Murder at the Gallop, Murder She Said, Murder Most Foul, Murder Ahoy) brought out on DVD as a box set. Anyone listening?

When elderly spinster Jane Marple (played by Margaret Rutherford) witnesses the death of Mr. Enderby, she realizes that this is no accident. Eavesdropping at the reading of the old man's will, she overhears Aunt Cora state categorically that he was murder, and later Aunt Cora is ruthlessly murdered. There's a murder on the loose, and Miss Marple is determined to find out who it is! [Black and White, released in 1963, with a running time of 1 hour, 22 minutes.]

I must admit that my wife and I chanced across this Miss Marple movie after having become great fans of Joan Hickson's interpretation of the role, and were not too happy with it. Later, however, having accepted that this is not Joan Hickson's Miss Marple, but accepting it for its self, we came to love this movie. Margaret Rutherford brings a real presence to the role, adding a touch of humor, and making the story (based on Agatha Christie's "After the Funeral") quite entertaining.

So, if you like a good mystery, or if you like old movies, then I highly recommend this movie to you. It's great!

Oscar winner Dame Margaret Rutherford was the first to play the famous Agatha Christie amateur sleuth. This time around, Miss Marple is doing her usual charity drive and runs across a dead wealthy recluse. The death is cited as a heart attack due to his fear of cats, but Marple has a piece of hardened mud of a riding boot marking. She deliberately listens through the window of the reading of the will and none of the family seem to upset over the death but are keenly interested in what they might gain. The estranged sister declares he was murdered and Miss Marple finds her later stabbed through the back of a chair with a long hat pin. The nephew owns "The Gallop" a pseudo hotel riding stable and Ms. Marple declares to the always exasberated Inspector Craddock, she is going on holiday--much to his relief (or so he falsely assumes). It it at the Gallop the movie unfolds and clues mount complete with false leads until the killer is revealed. But only after Marple fakes a heart attack in order to corner the murderer of the brother and sister.

The Miss Marple MGM series made in the UK only totalled 4 films although a fifth installment was announced at the end of the 4th movie--it never materialized (possibly due to Ms. Rutherford's failing health).

There have been many Miss Marple incarnations, but Rutherford was the first and the best. She plays the role as Christie created her with great panache and wit. The spinster sleuth is as clever a detective as any of Mrs. Christie's inventions and other writers of the genre.

Rutherford is a delight, as usual and real-life husband Stringer Davis plays her friend and sidekick. Charles Tingwell is also great as the sometimes harassed Inspector Craddock who has to take the snooping Miss Marple with more than a just grain of salt.

The complete Miss Marple series has been compiled into a DVD set and is worth the investment because once you watch just one, you will want to see the other movies in this worthwhile but short-lived series.

Extremely well done.

Novelist Agatha Christie occasionally remarked that while she was a great fan of the actress, Dame Margaret Rutherford was NOT the Jane Marple of her novels--for instead of giving us a fluttery and demure woman, Dame Margaret played the role with considerable aplomb and considerable eccentric British humor. Chrisite purists will probably be outraged by Dame Margaret's complete reinterpretation of the character, but there is no denying that she is a great deal of fun to watch.

This particular outing finds Dame Margaret investigating the mysterious death of an elderly man and the subsequent murder of one of his heirs--an investigation which leads her, most improbably, to an inn catering to the horsey set. Although very free in adaptation, the actual plot follows Christie's novel "Funerals Are Fatal" quite closely, and a charming supporting cast--including Flora Robinson--add to the fun. Lightweight and charming.

This mystery is a marvel. Miss Marple is once again fascinating. Fascinating because she can do so many things that are so unexpected, such as climbing the top of a pile of barrels on a draughtsman's cart to snoop, overhear and eavesdrop in order to know what is being said in a private meeting in some notary public's office. But she reveals herself again as an ex-champion this time in horse riding in some kind of competition some decades ago. She even reveals herself as a Charleston dancer in the old days turned a twist dancer in the early 1960s. Persistent little booger who cannot be stopped even by a criminal, and a nasty criminal there is in the surrounding vicinity. Everyone expects a man and it is not. Everyone expects a family person and it is not. Everyone expects the criminal to hit and strike again and that is the real truth. It happens in no time, over and over and over again. Marvelous. But she declines a proposal that would have been charming business for her but she is too keen on snooping and meddling and investigating that she cannot accept to become a businesswoman behind a counter even if it is a luxury counter. And I must admit Margaret Rutherford is a prodigious actress that can turn any simple situation into some kind of dark deep mysterious menacing trap, for criminals of course but also for the audience. And her films have such a wonderful level of humor that it becomes hilarious at times like when she pretends she is suffering a severe heart attack. We wonder how gullible people can be, criminals can be to fall into such a shady but threadbare trap. It is true this second level reading or watching is also one essential element in these simple films.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines

When elderly spinster Jane Marple (played by Margaret Rutherford) witnesses the death of Mr. Enderby, she realizes that this is no accident. Eavesdropping at the reading of the old man's will, she overhears Aunt Cora state categorically that he was murder, and later Aunt Cora is ruthlessly murdered. There's a murder on the loose, and Miss Marple is determined to find out who it is! [Black and White, released in 1963, with a running time of 1 hour, 22 minutes.]

I must admit that my wife and I chanced across this Miss Marple movie after having become great fans of Joan Hickson's interpretation of the role, and were not too happy with it. Later, however, having accepted that this is not Joan Hickson's Miss Marple, but accepting it for its self, we came to love this movie. Margaret Rutherford brings a real presence to the role, adding a touch of humor, and making the story (based on Agatha Christie's "After the Funeral") quite entertaining.

So, if you like a good mystery, or if you like old movies, then I highly recommend this movie to you. It's great!

Margaret Rutherford is an absolute jewel playing the amateur detective, Miss Marple. She steals almost every scene with her semi-dotty manner, but each time surprises with that smashingly brilliant and piercing British logic!

Ms Rutherford's foil in this movie is the ever-droll Robert Morley, a stand-alone comedian in his own right.

Margaret is also abetted in her humorously sleuthy ways by another excellent actor ... this time, her true-life spouse, Stringer Davis (although not many knew of this cinefact).

All-in-all, Murder at the Gallop is a delightful canter across a country lane and is a whodunit par excellence, based on Agatha Christie's After the Funeral.

The entire DVD is clear and wonderfully transferred from the original B/W 35mm negative elements.

Dash it all ... what an entirely wonderful and satisfying romp!

-- D. Kerr

Murder at the Gallop (George Pollock, 1963)

Miss Marple has a penchant for turning up in the oddest places. This was never more evident than in two of George Pollock's Miss Marple movies, Murder at the Gallop and Murder Most Foul, both of which were actually adapted from Christie novels featuring Hercule Poirot instead of Miss Marple. As to be expected from the Pollock/Rutherford pairing, it's witty, urbane, and utterly shallow, but a great deal of fun while you're watching it.

Marple (Rutherford) and her friend Mr. Stringer (Rutherford's husband, Stringer Davis) are called out to investigate the death of Mr. Enderby (Finlay Currie), supposedly frightened to death by a cat. That's a bit far-fetched, and sure enough, Miss Marple turns up evidence of murder in short order. Gather the suspects, there's a mystery afoot.

Margaret Rutherford may have been close to the end of her career here (she retired from film in 1967), but she's at the top of her game, as are much of the rest of the cast. And a fine cast it is, including Robert Morley, Bud Tingwell, Katya Douglas, James Villiers, and the great Flora Robson. It may be empty calories, but just like that chocolate cheesecake, the consumption of it is enough of a delight that you don't mind the extra workout afterwards. *** ½

This is a fabulous old time movie - lots of fun - mid 20th century British acting.

WHEN I INITIALLY ENCOUNTERED THIS FILM ON TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES, I DIDN'T LIKE MARPLE BEING SO FORCEFUL AND FAT. I HUNG IN THERE, AND BOY WAS I IMPRESSED. I EVENTUALLY ENDED UP CATCHING ALL THE MARPLES STARRING MARGARET RUTHERFORD, ALL 4 OF THEM, ON TCM. MARGARET RUTHERFORD DOES AN EXCELLENT JOB BRINGING THE BRILLIANCE OF MARPLE ALIVE, ALTHOUGH IN A QUITE DIFFERENT WAY THAN JOAN HICKSON DOES IN THE A&E SPONSORED MARPLE SERIES. THIS MARPLE IS DELIGHTFUL, PUSHY, FUNNY AND NOW MY FAVORITE MISS MARPLE ON FILM. THE OTHER FILMS ARE: MURDER MOST FOUL, MURDER AHOY, AND MURDER SHE SAID. CATCH THEM IF YOU ENJOY BRITISH MYSTERY WITH LIGHT COMEDY.