There were a lot of great actors, it was enough well done, but I didn’t like this smug Marple, who looked eager to show how smart she is, and also eager to have a new interesting mystery to solve, never mind that a young woman of her village had just been murdered, she just looked happy about the puzzle.
The rest of the cast was good, of course. My favorite was Hudson, but they were all good, from the most famous to the minor roles.
Plot details, because I know I won’t remember it for long, with my head (and likely my ADD, I’ve been doing a lot of studying on myself lately, and I fit it to a tee).
The book was one of the best, a truly touching story, in a way.
Marple’s village St. Mary Mead gets invaded by the movie industry, because a whole troupe moves there for a historical movie. Not sure why, since they appear to shoot everything in a studio, never outdoors. Anyway: Marina is a famous actress, she’s not done much lately and this should be her great comeback; she’s had two severe breakdowns in the past, due to the loss (I think) of her child. When she was pregnant she got sick and the baby was born with severe problems. They don’t say it in words, but I guess it died because there doesn’t seem to be anyone else in their lives. Jason is her husband, and also the director of this movie. They seem very much in love. Then there’s Lola, another actress whose goal in life appears to be to outclass Marina in everything, maybe because Jason chose Marina over her. Martin is Lola’s husband, and also this movie’s producer, and he insisted she be in it too. Then there’s Elle, their assistant.
They have a big reception at Gossington Hall, where Lola and Marina insults each other but always smiling for the camera (there’s a girl who keeps raking pictures, not sure if she’s local or a journalist or what), while they all mingle with the village population. So many have come to meet the celebrities, and those who actively helped in some way (I think, not sure how though) were invited to personally talk with the stars, to be thanked for it I suppose. Anyway, when Elle takes Miss Babcock to Marina, she instantly starts chatting. Heather can’t stop smiling and talking, everyone in the village has probably heard her story of when she met Marina Gregg during Second World War, and now she’s telling it all in excruciating details. How she wasn’t supposed to make it because she got ill, but then she got better and sneaked out, and even if she was without a ticket for the show, she had an uncle who could open the door for her so she waited backstage and at the end of the show she stopped Marina for an autograph, and she even kissed her.
Everyone can see Marina staring into space, then she goes back to her usual self; later, Heather Babcock dies, and the autopsy will say it was poison.
Miss Marple injud her ankle earlier at the fair, somshe has tomstay home, but she asks gossip/details from everyone she sees, and also her nephew Dermot Craddock talks to her about it. (I remember Raymond, I don’t remember anything about a Dermot…).
She listens to everything to put things together. Jason got Heather a drink, but later she spilled it all so Marina gave her her own drink, the one with the poison, so Craddock starts investigating thinking of Marina as the intended victim. While they’re shooting a scene, Marina is handed a coffee and after a moment she yells that it’s been poisoned. And it did have poison!
Elle uses a public phone to do a silly thing: she calls people saying that she saw them putting the poison in the glass, and waits their reaction, to find who did it… and she eventually calls the right person because that night she’s poisoned in her own room, when she uses her meds against her allergy. She’s dead in moments.
Marina shows detective Dermot two letters, threats to her life, but when Jason learns about it he’s stunned that she didn’t tell him. That’s what makes him think more on it, and reach the right conclusion.
Thing is, Heather had the rubella virus when she kissed her years ago, and even if she felt better she was contagious, it was her fault that Marina got sick and everything that happened because of it. While Heather talked to her, all proud and happy, Marina saw the painting of Mother Mary and realized the truth, and went to get the poison. It was her who made Heather spill her drink, of course, so she could give her the poisoned one.
When Marple gets it - after calling the vicar during the night because she didn’t know Heather story well - she goes to Gossington Hall in a taxy without calling Dermot, and asks to speak to Marina. She’s denied so she sits down refusing to leave (quite rude in someone else’s house) and when she’s left alone for a moment she takes the liberty to go upstairs on her own, but is caught by Jason and soon after Dermot.
Again she refuses to leave when Jason yells at them (Dermot is police, she’s not), and simply explains what happened, even if nobody asked her. Then Jason confesses that he put poison in Marina’s nightly hot chocolate, so she didn’t have to face the shame of the arrest. Marple enters her room to find her dead, yes, but not because of the chocolate, she didn’t drink that. She killed herself.
P.s. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a smoking Marple before…
ITA assassinio allo specchio
Miss Marple… Angela Lansbury
Heather Babcock… Maureen Bennett
Marina … Elizabeth Taylor
Jason… Rock Hudson
Lola… Kim Novak
Martin… Tony Curtis
Ella… Geraldine Chaplin
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