''The Mirror Crack'd'' is a 1980 British

mystery film A mystery film is a film that revolves around the solution of a problem or a crime. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur Detective, sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of an issue by means of clues, ...

directed by

Guy Hamilton Mervyn Ian Guy Hamilton (16 September 1922 – 20 April 2016) was an English film director. He directed 22 films from the 1950s to the 1980s, including four James Bond films. Early life Hamilton was born in Paris on 16 September 1922, son of ...

from a screenplay by Jonathan Hales and Barry Sandler, based on

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 ...

Miss 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 ...

novel '' The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side'' (1962). It stars

Angela Lansbury Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury (October 16, 1925 – October 11, 2022) was an Irish-British and American actress, producer, and singer. In a career spanning 80 years, she played various roles on stage and screen. Among her numerous accolades wer ...

Geraldine Chaplin Geraldine Leigh Chaplin (born July 31, 1944) is an American actress whose long career has included multilingual roles in English, Spanish, French, Italian and German films. Geraldine is a daughter of Charlie Chaplin, the first of his eigh ...

Tony Curtis Tony Curtis (born Bernard Schwartz; June 3, 1925September 29, 2010) was an American actor with a career that spanned six decades, achieving the height of his popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in more than 100 films, in roles co ...

, Edward Fox,

Rock Hudson Rock Hudson (born Roy Harold Scherer Jr.; November 17, 1925 – October 2, 1985) was an American actor. One of the most popular film stars of his time, he had a screen career spanning more than three decades, and was a prominent figure in the G ...

Kim Novak Marilyn Pauline "Kim" Novak (born February 13, 1933) is an American retired actress and painter. Her contributions to cinema have been honored with two Golden Globe Awards, an Honorary Golden Bear, a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, and a s ...

, and

Elizabeth Taylor Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was an English and American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 19 ...

. Scenes were filmed at

Twickenham Film Studios Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...

Twickenham Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...

, Middlesex, and on location in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

Plot

In 1953, in the English village of St Mary Mead, the home of Miss Jane Marple, a Hollywood

production company A production company, production house or production studio is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television show, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and video ...

arrives to film a

costume drama Costume is the distinctive style of clothing, dress and/or cosmetics, makeup of an individual or group that reflects class, gender, occupation, ethnicity, nationality, activity or epoch—in short, culture. The term also was traditionally used ...

about

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was List of Scottish monarchs, Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legit ...

and

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...

with two famous movie stars, Marina Rudd and Lola Brewster. The two actresses are old rivals. Marina is making a much-heralded comeback after a prolonged illness and retirement (due to a mental health crisis that precipitated when her son was born with severe brain damage). She and her husband, Jason Rudd, who is directing the film, arrive with their entourage. When she learns that Lola will be in the film as well, she becomes enraged and vents her anger. Lola then arrives with her husband, Marty Fenn, who is producing the film. Excitement runs high in the village as the locals have been invited to a reception held by the film company in a manor house, Gossington Hall, to meet the celebrities. Lola and Marina come face to face at the reception and exchange insults as they smile and pose for the cameras. At the reception Marina is cornered by a devoted fan, Heather Babcock, who bores her with a long and detailed story about having actually met Marina in person during the Second World War. After recounting the meeting they had all those years ago, when she arose from her sickbed to go and meet the glamorous star, Heather drinks a

cocktail A cocktail is a mixed drink, usually alcoholic beverage, alcoholic. Most commonly, a cocktail is a combination of one or more liquor, spirits mixed with other ingredients, such as juices, flavored syrups, tonic water, Shrub (drink), shrubs, and ...

which was made for Marina, but quickly dies from poisoning. An autopsy attributes the death to a

barbiturate Barbiturates are a class of depressant, depressant drugs that are chemically derived from barbituric acid. They are effective when used medication, medically as anxiolytics, hypnotics, and anticonvulsants, but have physical and psychological a ...

overdose. Everyone is certain Marina was the intended murder victim. Not only has Marina been receiving anonymous death threats made up from newspaper clippings, once shooting begins on the film, she discovers that her cup of coffee on the set has also been spiked with

arsenic Arsenic is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol As and atomic number 33. It is a metalloid and one of the pnictogens, and therefore shares many properties with its group 15 neighbors phosphorus and antimony. Arsenic is not ...

, sending her into fits of terror. The detective from

Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's London boroughs, 32 boroughs. Its name derives from the location of the original ...

investigating the case, Inspector Craddock, is baffled. He asks his aunt, who happens to be Jane Marple, who recently injured her foot at the village fête and is therefore confined to her home, for help. The suspects are Ella Zielinsky, Jason's assistant who is secretly in love with him and would like Marina out of the way, and the hotheaded actress Lola. The main suspect, Ella Zielinsky, after going to a pay phone in the village where she telephoned and threatened to expose the murderer, is then killed by a lethal nasal spray substituted for her hay-fever medication. An autopsy reveals that there was

prussic acid Hydrogen cyanide (formerly known as prussic acid) is a chemical compound with the formula HCN and structural formula . It is a highly toxic and flammable liquid that boils slightly above room temperature, at . HCN is produced on an industrial s ...

in her medication. Miss Marple, now back on her feet, visits Gossington Hall, where Marina and Jason are staying, and views where Heather's death occurred. Working from information received from her cleaning woman, Cherry Baker, who worked as a waitress the day of the murder, Marple begins to piece together the events and solves the mystery. By that time, however, another death has occurred at Gossington Hall, which explains who the killer was: Marina Rudd, who has apparently died by suicide. Miss Marple explains that Heather Babcock's story was Marina's motive. Heather suffered from

German measles Rubella, also known as German measles or three-day measles, is an infection caused by the rubella virus. This disease is often mild, with half of people not realizing that they are infected. A rash may start around two weeks after exposure and ...

, a rather harmless disease to most adults but dangerous for a pregnant woman's foetus. Heather innocently infected Marina when she kissed her during the Second World War, while Marina was pregnant: she had caused Marina's child to be born with

mental retardation Intellectual disability (ID), also known as general learning disability (in the United Kingdom), and formerly mental retardation (in the United States), Rosa's Law, Pub. L. 111-256124 Stat. 2643(2010).Archive is a generalized neurodevelopmental ...

. Upon hearing Heather cheerfully tell this story, Marina was overcome with rage and deliberately poisoned her. She then spread the idea that she was the intended victim, concocting the death threats and poisoning her coffee. Ella, who made phone calls to various suspects from a phone box, accidentally guessed correctly, prompting Marina to murder her. Jason confesses to Miss Marple that he had put poison in his wife's hot chocolate to save her from being prosecuted, but the drink has not been touched. Marina is nonetheless found dead, seeming to have poisoned herself.

Cast

as Miss Jane Marple *

as Marina Gregg-Rudd *

as Jason Rudd *

as Martin "Marty" N. Fenn *

as Lola Brewster *

as Ella Zielinsky * Edward Fox as Inspector Dermot Craddock (Jane's nephew) * Charles Gray as Bates, the butler * Richard Pearson as Doctor Haydock * Wendy Morgan as Cherry * Margaret Courtenay as Mrs Dolly Bantry * Marella Oppenheim as Margot Bence * Maureen Bennett as Heather Babcock *

Carolyn Pickles Carolyn Pickles (born 8 February 1952) is a British actress from Halifax, England, who has appeared in West End theatre and on British television. She is known for playing DCI Kim Reid in ''The Bill'' and Shelley Williams in ''Emmerdale''. ...

as Miss Giles * Eric Dodson as the Major *

Charles Lloyd-Pack Charles Lloyd-Pack (10 October 1902 – 22 December 1983) was a British film, television and stage actor. Life and career Lloyd Pack was born in Wapping, East London, to working-class parents. He appeared in several horror films produced by ...

as the Vicar * Thick Wilson as the Mayor * Pat Nye as the Mayoress * Peter Woodthorpe as the Scout Master *

Norman Wooland Norman Wooland (16 March 19103 April 1989) was an English character actor who appeared in many major films, including several Shakespearean adaptations. Wooland was born in Düsseldorf, Germany, to British parents. During the Second World War, ...

as the Medical Examiner * Richard Leech as Director of Photography *

Sam Kydd Samuel John Kydd (15 February 1915 – 26 March 1982) was a British actor. Most of his film roles were very small but he appeared in more than 290 films, more than any other British actor, including 119 between 1946 and 1952. His best-known ro ...

as Film Technician *

Pierce Brosnan Pierce Brendan Brosnan (born 16 May 1953) is an Irish actor and film producer. He was the fifth actor to play the fictional secret agent Portrayal of James Bond in film, James Bond in the List of James Bond films, James Bond film series, starri ...

as actor playing Jamie (uncredited). In addition, Anthony Steel, Dinah Sheridan, Nigel Stock, Hildegard Neil, John Bennett and Allan Cuthbertson are among the actors who appear in ''Murder at Midnight'', a black-and-white "teaser" movie shown at the beginning of the film.

Natalie Wood Natalie Wood (née Zacharenko; July 20, 1938 – November 29, 1981) was an American actress. She began acting at age four and co-starred at age eight in ''Miracle on 34th Street'' (1947). As a teenager, she was nominated for an Academy Award f ...

was originally chosen to play the role eventually played by Taylor. Margaret Courtenay later appeared in the BBC TV adaptation '' The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side'' starring

Joan Hickson Joan Bogle Hickson (5 August 1906 – 17 October 1998) was an English actress of theatre, film and television. She was known for her role as Agatha Christie's Miss Marple in the television series '' Miss Marple''. She also narrated a number of ...

as Miss Marple.

Production

The novel was published in 1962. In 1977,

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

announced that

Helen Hayes Helen Hayes MacArthur (; October 10, 1900 – March 17, 1993) was an American actress. Often referred to as the "First Lady of American Theatre", she was the second person and first woman to win EGOT, the EGOT (an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and ...

would play Miss Marple in adaptations of '' A Caribbean Mystery'' and ''The Mirror Crack'd''. Film rights for ''Mirror'' passed to John Brabourne and Richard Goodwin, who had previously produced adaptations of ''

Murder on the Orient Express ''Murder on the Orient Express'' is a work of detective fiction by English writer Agatha Christie featuring the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. It was first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club on 1 January 1934. In the U ...

'' (1974) and ''

Death on the Nile ''Death on the Nile'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 1 November 1937 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. The UK edition retailed at ...

'' (1978). In 1979, they announced they would make the film starring Lansbury, who had played a support role in ''Death on the Nile'' and was appearing on stage in ''

Sweeney Todd Sweeney Todd is a fictional character who first appeared as the villain of the penny dreadful serial '' The String of Pearls'' (1846–1847). The original tale became a feature of 19th-century melodrama and London legend. A barber from Fleet St ...

''. Production would be put on hold until Lansbury finished her run in the musical. Nat Cohen who had made the decision to finance ''Orient Express'' and bought the rights to other Poirot novels felt it was a mistake to make a Miss Marple film. In August 1979, Brabourne suffered leg injuries in a bomb blast that killed his mother, son, and father-in-law,

Lord Mountbatten Admiral of the Fleet (Royal Navy), Admiral of the Fleet Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (born Prince Louis of Battenberg; 25 June 1900 – 27 August 1979), commonly known as Lord Mountbatten, was ...

, but he proceeded with the picture. Hamilton was given the job as director. He told the producers he was not a fan of Christie's novels and they said that is what would make him ideal for the film. Hamilton described the script as "awfully funny". The casting director, Dyson Lovell, said that since the film was set in the 1950s "it seemed like a good idea to use stars from that era". Rock Hudson, Kim Novak, Tony Curtis and Taylor signed to play support roles. Taylor took over from Wood. Curtis made the film after being fired from the Broadway play '' I Ought to Be in Pictures''. It was Taylor's first film in three years. She said, "I have said for two years now that I would not go back to films unless it was something that absolutely intrigued me, and something that would not take me away from my husband for too long. I have found just that in ''The Mirror Crack'd'' and am longing to work with some very dear friends again." There had been a series of Miss Marple films in the 1960s starring

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 ...

. Hamilton said that Rutherford "was a divine clown but she was no more Miss Marple than... fly to the moon. We are doing Miss Christie's Miss Marple, a more serious person, a gossip, a bit of a snob. And she doesn't fall off her bicycle into the village duckpond". Lansbury said she played the part of Marple "absolutely straight. I'm trying to get at the woman Agatha Christie created: an Edwardian maiden lady imbued with great humanity and a mind of tremendous breadth. She's very exactly described in the books as tall, pale-complexioned, with twinkling blue eyes and white hair - not a fat galumph of a creature at all. I base my performance on that. Also on the fact that she has tremendous alertness and curiosity allied to a great appetite for murder." She signed a three-picture deal, meaning the intention was to make two more Marples.

Filming

St Clere Estate, in Heaverham, part of the

Sevenoaks Sevenoaks is a town in Kent with a population of 29,506, situated south-east of London, England. Also classified as a civil parishes in England, civil parish, Sevenoaks is served by a commuter South Eastern Main Line, main line railway into Lo ...

town of

, was used as the grand home of Marina Rudd (Taylor) and her husband Jason (Hudson). Ye Olde George Inn and a bridge on Church Street in Shoreham are both noticeable in the production, doubling as part of the village of St Mary Mead. The village of

Smarden Smarden is a civil parish and village, west of Ashford in Kent, South East England. The village has the Anglican parish church of St Michael the Archangel which, because of its high scissor beam roof, is sometimes known as ''"The Barn of Kent" ...

and St Michael's Church are also used to double as the village. Also throughout filming the "Thatched House" cottage in Smarden was used as Miss Marple's cottage. Smarden is located in the Ashford district of Kent, and the traditional thatched houses and village shops made it a perfect filming location. The film was shot on a 10-week schedule from 12 May to 18 July 1980. "It was fun", said Curtis. "A piece of cake. I didn't have to get all sweaty like in ''

Spartacus Spartacus (; ) was a Thracians, Thracian gladiator (Thraex) who was one of the Slavery in ancient Rome, escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major Slave rebellion, slave uprising against the Roman Republic. Historical accounts o ...

'' and I had a good time." "I never had so much fun making a movie", said Novak. "It may not be my greatest role, but I didn't have a studio executive breathing down my neck, dictating my every move." Novak added that she and Taylor "...both had a lot of funny, bitchy lines to say to each other. In real life, that bitchiness rarely exists on a movie set, but actresses have certainly thought about it a lot. But they've never said it. That's why this movie was so much fun." However, her return to filmmaking was only temporary. "Doing something once in a while, like ''The Mirror Crack'd'', is fine and it makes me feel like

Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...

at the ball. But as a steady diet — no way."

Title

The title — shortened from the one used for Christie's book — is part of a line from '' The Lady of Shalott'' by the English poet

Alfred, Lord Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (; 6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of ...

: :Out flew the web and floated wide — :The mirror crack'd from side to side; :"The curse is come upon me", cried :The Lady of Shalott.

Inspiration theory

Biographers theorise that Christie used an incident in the real-life of the American film star

Gene Tierney Gene Eliza Tierney (November 19, 1920November 6, 1991) was an American stage and film actress. Acclaimed for her great beauty, Tierney was a prominent Leading actor, leading lady during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood. Sh ...

as the basis of the plot of ''The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side''. In June 1943, while pregnant with her first daughter, Tierney contracted

during her only appearance at the Hollywood Canteen. Due to Tierney's illness, her daughter was born deaf, partially blind with cataracts and severely developmentally disabled. Some time after the tragedy surrounding the birth, the actress learned from a fan who approached her for an autograph at a tennis party that the woman (who was then a member of the women's branch of the Marine Corps) had sneaked out of quarantine while sick with German measles to meet Tierney at her only Hollywood Canteen appearance. In her autobiography, Tierney wrote that after the woman had recounted her story, "I stood there for a very long minute. There was no point in telling her of the tragedy that had occurred. I turned and walked away very quickly. After that, I didn't care if I was ever again anyone's favorite actress". The incident, as well as the circumstances under which the information was imparted to the actress, is repeated almost verbatim in Christie's story. Tierney's life experience had been well-publicized.

Reception

The film was considered a box office disappointment in the United States. Lansbury never reprised her performance as Miss Marple.

References

External links

* *
''The Mirror Crack'd''
at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mirror Crack'd 1980 films 1980s British films 1980 crime thriller films 1980s English-language films 1980s mystery thriller films British crime thriller films British mystery thriller films EMI Films films Films about actors Films about filmmaking Films based on Miss Marple books Films directed by Guy Hamilton Films scored by John Cameron (musician) Films set in 1953 Films set in England Films shot at Twickenham Film Studios Films shot in Kent Films set in country houses British murder mystery films Films about poisonings Cultural depictions of Mary, Queen of Scots Cultural depictions of Elizabeth I British World War II films Films with screenplays by Jonathan Hales Films with screenplays by Barry Sandler Films produced by John Knatchbull, 7th Baron Brabourne Films produced by Richard Goodwin (producer) English-language crime thriller films English-language mystery thriller films