''Murder Ahoy!'' is a 1964 British film directed by George Pollock, based on elements from
Agatha Christie
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English people, English author known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving ...
's 1952 novel ''
They Do It With Mirrors
''They Do It with Mirrors'' is a detective fiction novel by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in 1952 under the title of ''Murder with Mirrors'' and in UK by the Collins Crime Club on 17 Novemb ...
'' on a mostly original screenplay adaptation by David Pursall and Jack Seddon. This was the fourth, and final, film in a series featuring
Margaret Rutherford
Dame Margaret Taylor Rutherford (11 May 1892 – 22 May 1972) was an English actress of stage, film and television.
Rutherford came to national attention following World War II in the film adaptations of Noël Coward's ''Blithe Spirit (1945 f ...
playing
Miss Jane Marple
Miss Jane Marple is a fictional character in Agatha Christie's crime novels and short stories. Miss Marple lives in the village of St Mary Mead and acts as an amateur consulting detective. Often characterised as an elderly spinster, she is one ...
for MGM between 1961-1964. Along with the previous three films ''
Murder, She Said
''Murder She said'' is a British 1961 comedy-murder mystery film directed by George Pollock, based on the 1957 novel '' 4.50 from Paddington'' by Agatha Christie. The production stars Margaret Rutherford as Miss Marple, along with Arthur Kenned ...
'' (1961), ''
Murder at the Gallop'' (1963), ''
Murder Most Foul'' (1964), Rutherford's supporting cast included
Charles 'Bud' Tingwell
Charles William Tingwell Member of the Order of Australia, AM (3 January 1923 – 15 May 2009), known professionally as Bud Tingwell or Charles 'Bud' Tingwell, was an Australian actor. One of the veterans of Australian film, he acted in his fir ...
as (Chief) Inspector Craddock and
Stringer Davis
James Buckley Stringer Davis, generally known as Stringer Davis (4 June 1899 – 29 August 1973), was an English character actor on the stage and in films, and a British army officer who served in both world wars. He was married to actress Marg ...
(Rutherford's husband) as Mr. Stringer. It was produced by
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...
and the film score was by
Ron Goodwin
Ronald Alfred Goodwin (17 February 19258 January 2003) was an English composer and conductor known for his film music. He scored over 70 films in a career lasting over fifty years. His most famous works included ''Where Eagles Dare'', ''Battle ...
. Location shots included
Denham Village and
St Mawes
St Mawes () is a village on the end of the Roseland Peninsula, in the eastern side of Falmouth, Cornwall, Falmouth harbour, on the south coast of Cornwall, England. The village, formerly two separate hamlets, lies on the east bank of the Carri ...
, Cornwall.
Unlike the previous three films that were adapted from Christie novels – ''
The 4.50 from Paddington'' (''
Murder, She Said
''Murder She said'' is a British 1961 comedy-murder mystery film directed by George Pollock, based on the 1957 novel '' 4.50 from Paddington'' by Agatha Christie. The production stars Margaret Rutherford as Miss Marple, along with Arthur Kenned ...
'' – the only Miss Marple novel used), ''
After the Funeral
''After the Funeral'' is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in March 1953 under the title of ''Funerals are Fatal'' and in UK by the Collins Crime Club on 18 May of the same ye ...
'' (a Poirot mystery, adapted for Miss Marple with the title ''
Murder at the Gallop'') and ''
Mrs. McGinty's Dead
''Mrs McGinty's Dead'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in February 1952 and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 3 March the same year.Chris Peers, Ralph Sp ...
'' (another Poirot novel, adapted as ''
Murder Most Foul'') – this film used an original screenplay that was not based on any of Christie's stories.
It does, however, employ elements of the 1952 Miss Marple story ''
They Do It With Mirrors
''They Do It with Mirrors'' is a detective fiction novel by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in 1952 under the title of ''Murder with Mirrors'' and in UK by the Collins Crime Club on 17 Novemb ...
''. Specifically, the ''Battledore'' is a training ship for teenage boys with criminal tendencies, who are supposedly being set on the straight and narrow path – when, in fact, one of the members of the crew is training them for careers in housebreaking. Likewise, in ''They Do It With Mirrors'', a boarding school for delinquent youths is actually being used to hone their criminal skills. This is the only element in the film borrowed from a Christie story.
Plot
The action takes place mainly on board an old wooden-walled
warship
A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is used for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the navy branch of the armed forces of a nation, though they have also been operated by individuals, cooperatives and corporations. As well as b ...
, HMS ''Battledore,'' which has been purchased by a Trust for the rehabilitation of young criminals and intended by the founder to "put backbone into young jellyfish."
Shortly after joining the board of management of the Trust, Miss Marple witnesses the sudden death of fellow trustee Ffolly-Hardwicke, who has just returned from a surprise visit to the ship, much disturbed by something he has discovered there. He dies without being able to reveal his discovery. Miss Marple manages to obtain a small sample of his
snuff, which is found to have been poisoned.
Resolving to learn what the murdered trustee had discovered, she visits the ship, while her dear friend and confidante, Mr. Jim Stringer investigates on shore. The captain takes an immediate dislike to her, and makes a sarcastic comment to the ship's First Mate (second in command) Commander Breeze-Connington, about her outdated formal naval attire, asking "Who does she think she is, Neptune's mother?" His distress intensifies when she announces her intention to remain on board several days. The captain reluctantly complies with her wish and gives up his own quarters to her, which causes the relocation of the officers from their own quarters to the ones of their respective next-lower subordinates.
That night, Miss Marple and Mr. Stringer use
Morse code
Morse code is a telecommunications method which Character encoding, encodes Written language, text characters as standardized sequences of two different signal durations, called ''dots'' and ''dashes'', or ''dits'' and ''dahs''. Morse code i ...
and flashlights to communicate and Miss Marple asks him to tail the sailors that just went ashore. Mr. Stringer finds that they are robbing houses and takes their dinghy to row to the ship and inform Miss Marple. Lt. Compton – who incites the boys aboard the Battledore to the robberies – overhears their conversation and is heading down, presumably to kill Miss Marple, when he is murdered – run through with a sword and then hanged from a mast. As the police investigation proceeds, the assistant matron Shirley Boston is killed, apparently by an injection of poison. Miss Marple's own investigation reveals that Boston was the lover and accomplice of Lt. Compton in the robberies. She pretended to be in love with Sub-Lieutenant Humbert, whose family belongs to the upper-class, to receive invitations to social events and therefore to explore potential robbery targets. Boston was killed trying to hide jewellery from the robberies. The further investigation interferes with the ship's traditional celebration of
Trafalgar Day
Trafalgar Day is the celebration of the victory won by the Royal Navy, commanded by Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, over the combined French and Spanish fleets at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805.
History
The formation of the Navy Le ...
in the hotel at the shore. Somewhat unreasonably, the captain blames Miss Marple for this. He begs Chief Inspector Craddock to find a way to get her off the ship, saying: "She's a jinx! She's a Jonah! She's ''blowing an ill wind!''"
Miss Marple sets a trap. First, she persuades Chief Inspector Craddock to allow the crew to go ashore for their Trafalgar Day celebration. Then, she announces to the crew that she knows that the poison was administered using a mousetrap as a booby-trap, and she hints that she intends to reveal the murderer's identity shortly. When the crew leaves the ship, Chief Inspector Craddock and his assistant, Sgt. Bacon secretly remain on board, hiding in wait for the murderer to reveal himself by attempting to silence Miss Marple. As she snoops around, she encounters Lt. Commander Dimchurch skulking about the ship. In fact, he stayed behind to confess to Miss Marple his hidden
seasickness
Motion sickness occurs due to a difference between actual and expected motion. Symptoms commonly include nausea, vomiting, cold sweat, headache, dizziness, tiredness, loss of appetite, and increased salivation. Complications may rarely include d ...
, which she already suspected, since she observed him getting the respective medication from the sickbay. Miss Marple reassured him that shan't hinder his capacity at sea. After Dimchurch gratefully thanks Miss Marple he is about to leave the ship to belatedly join the celebrations onshore but is struck unconscious by an unknown man.
Miss Marple searches the ship for the loaded mousetrap, cautiously using a sword, not her hands, to poke into possible hiding places. She finds the mousetrap concealed in the barrel of a cannon, and with it, a large sum of money. Commander Breeze-Connington, armed with his sword, confronts her. In response to her questioning, he informs her that he has embezzled the money gradually during his many years on the ''Battledore'' – money he considers the service owed him because he was unjustly passed over for promotion while serving in the Royal Navy. He acknowledges the murders of Ffolly-Hardwicke, who uncovered the scam, and Compton, who learned of the scams too and blackmailed Breeze-Connington. Shirley Boston was trying to hide the loot at the same place Breeze-Connington was hiding the earnings of his years-long fraud and got struck by the poisoned mousetrap he installed to protect his hiding place. Breeze-Connington concludes that he intends to kill Miss Marple on the spot, take the money, and flee the country.
Miss Marple calls out to Chief-Inspector Craddock to make the arrest, but Craddock and Sgt. Bacon have been accidentally locked in their hiding place and cannot help. Breeze-Connington draws his sword, intending to run Miss Marple through, but Miss Marple is herself an accomplished amateur fencer. She and Breeze-Connington engage in a ferocious sword-fight. Breeze-Connington succeeds in disarming her and is about to administer the ''
coup de grace'', but Mr. Stringer, whom Miss Marple had thought was ashore, clubs him over the head from behind with a belaying pin.
The captain faces a court martial for failing to detect the embezzlement during his command. As he enters the state-room to hear the verdict, he sees his sword on the table with the hilt toward him, and mistakenly infers that he has been found guilty. Miss Marple corrects him; the board has found that he is not at fault. Although greatly relieved to have avoided disgrace, he announces that he must resign even so, because he has been having a long affair with the ship's matron. This is a violation of the golden rule of the trust that there should be "no hanky-panky between the sexes" on board ship. They now intend to get married, which would disqualify him for his position as captain. He makes his farewell and turns to go, but Miss Marple stops him, saying, "I think I speak for my fellow trustees when I say ''that'' golden rule is hereby rescinded. You're a fine sea dog captain, but it seems to me the ''Battledore'' could well do with a woman's hand at the helm." He and matron embrace joyfully.
As Miss Marple steps into the dinghy to leave the ship, matron and the captain wave good-bye from the deck. The captain turns to matron and remarks, "You know, the moment I clapped eyes on her, I said to myself, 'What an old darling'!" matron, remembering his actual first reaction, raises her eyebrows archly, causing the captain to laugh sheepishly.
Cast
*
Margaret Rutherford
Dame Margaret Taylor Rutherford (11 May 1892 – 22 May 1972) was an English actress of stage, film and television.
Rutherford came to national attention following World War II in the film adaptations of Noël Coward's ''Blithe Spirit (1945 f ...
– Miss Jane Marple
*
Lionel Jeffries
Lionel Charles Jeffries (10 June 1926 – 19 February 2010) was an English actor, director, and screenwriter. He appeared primarily in films and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, Golden ...
– Captain Sydney De Courcy Rhumstone
*
Charles Tingwell
Charles William Tingwell AM (3 January 1923 – 15 May 2009), known professionally as Bud Tingwell or Charles 'Bud' Tingwell, was an Australian actor. One of the veterans of Australian film, he acted in his first motion picture in 1946 and we ...
– Chief Inspector Craddock
*
William Mervyn
William Mervyn Pickwoad (3 January 1912 – 6 August 1976) was an English actor best known for his portrayal of the bishop in the clerical comedy ''All Gas and Gaiters'', the old gentleman in ''The Railway Children'' and Inspector Charles Rose i ...
– Commander Breeze-Connington
*
Joan Benham
Joan Benham (17 May 1918 – 13 June 1981) was an English actress best known for her portrayal of Lady Prudence Fairfax in the ITV period drama series '' Upstairs, Downstairs''. She was born in London and was the first cousin of Hollywood actr ...
– Matron Alice Fanbraid
*
Stringer Davis
James Buckley Stringer Davis, generally known as Stringer Davis (4 June 1899 – 29 August 1973), was an English character actor on the stage and in films, and a British army officer who served in both world wars. He was married to actress Marg ...
– Mr. Jim Stringer
*
Nicholas Parsons
Christopher Nicholas Parsons (10 October 1923 – 28 January 2020) was an English actor, straight man and radio and television presenter. He was the long-running presenter of the comedy radio show ''Just a Minute'' and hosted the game show '' S ...
– Dr. Crump
*
Miles Malleson
William Miles Malleson (25 May 1888 – 15 March 1969) was an English actor and dramatist, particularly remembered for his appearances in British comedy films of the 1930s to 1960s. Towards the end of his career, he also appeared in cameo roles ...
– Bishop Faulkner
*
Henry Oscar
Henry Wale (14 July 1891 – 28 December 1969), known professionally as Henry Oscar, was an English stage and film actor. He changed his name and began acting in 1911, having studied under Elsie Fogerty at the Central School of Speech and Dr ...
– Lord Rudkin
*
Derek Nimmo
Derek Robert Nimmo (19 September 1930 – 24 February 1999) was an English character actor, producer and author. He is best remembered for his comedic upper class "silly ass" and clerical roles, including Revd Mervyn Noote in the BBC1 sitcom ...
– Sub-Lieutenant Eric Humbert
*
Gerald Cross
Gerald Cross (20 February 1912 – 26 February 1981) was an English actor. Among his credits are ''Doctor Who'', Francis Durbridge's ''The World of Tim Frazer'' and the ''Miss Marple'' films '' Murder, She Said'' (1961) and '' Murder Ahoy!'' (19 ...
– Lieutenant Commander Dimchurch (listed in end credits as "Brewer")
* Norma Foster – Assistant Matron Shirley Boston
*
Terence Edmond
Terence Edmond (22 November 1939 – 14 March 2009) was an English actor, who played PC Ian Sweet in 78 episodes of ''Z-Cars'' between 1962 and 1964.
His popular TV character was killed off in an episode of the police drama transmitted live in ...
– Sergeant Bacon
*
Francis Matthews – Lieutenant Compton
*
Lucy Griffiths – Millie
* Bernard Adams – Dusty Miller
* Tony Quinn – Kelly (tramp)
* Edna Petrie – Miss Pringle
*
Bill Dean – Police Constable (uncredited)
*
Roy Holder
Roy Trevor Holder (15 June 1946 – 9 November 2021) was an English film and television actor who appeared in various programmes including '' Ace of Wands'', ''Z-Cars'', '' Spearhead'', the ''Doctor Who'' serial '' The Caves of Androzani''. His ...
– Petty Officer Lamb (uncredited)
*
Henry B. Longhurst – Cecil Ffolly-Hardwicke (uncredited)
*
Desmond Roberts
Desmond Roberts (5 February 1894 – 11 January 1968) was a British stage and film actorLeibfried & Lane p. 105. who also played first-class cricket, 1913–1936, for Surrey.
He began his film career at the end of the silent era and had his on ...
– Sir Geoffrey Bucknose (uncredited)
*
Ivor Salter
Ivor Charlie Salter (22 August 1925 – 21 June 1991) was an English actor who appeared in character roles in numerous United Kingdom television productions and films from the early 1950s until the 1980s often appearing as a police constable.
...
– Police Sergeant (uncredited)
* Arnold Schulkes – Officer (uncredited)
* Paddy Smith – Steward (uncredited)
References
External links
*
*
{{George Pollock
1964 films
1960s mystery films
British murder mystery films
Films based on Miss Marple books
Films directed by George Pollock
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films
Films scored by Ron Goodwin
Films shot at MGM-British Studios
1960s English-language films
1960s British films
English-language mystery films