Murder at the Gallop
Director: George Pollack
Year: 1963
Rating: 6.5
Margaret Rutherford is back for her second outing
as Miss Marple in another murder mystery based on an Agatha Christie novel
- After the Funeral. After the Funeral though is a Hercule Poirot mystery
- so they switch their detective around to accommodate Rutherford - but also
change nearly everything else except the victim and the killer. I have been
reading the Christie novels over the past year or so whenever I need an easy
two-day read. But I jumped ahead on this one because I am always curious
to see how the scriptwriters think they have improved on the best selling
author of all time.
They didn't in this case. They simplify it down by removing 5 suspects, speeding
up the plot considerably and setting it inside a horse riding club (there
are no horses of any kind in the book) , but even worse they also remove
all the clues that Christie laid down like bread crumbs to give the reader
a chance to figure it out. How the movie Marple solves the crime is as big
a mystery as the mystery. It is still enjoyable enough but the book was quite
clever and this feels less so. Author Sophie Hannah who has written a few
new Hercule Poirot books that are supposed to be quite good, picks After
the Funeral as her favorite Christie novel.
By the time of this production Rutherford is in her early 70's and looks
it. I think people just aged faster back then. I am not that much younger
than she was but at least I like to think I don't look as old. Some of course
might disagree. But she still manages to ride a horse, run a bit and dance
the frug - which is more than I can do. Miss Marple and her friend Mr. Stringer
(played by her real life husband Stringer Davis) discover a dead body while
collecting for a charity and they spot a cat that they know the victim was
terrified of. So they suspect foul play especially as Miss Marple explains
to the Superintendent, this is how murder was done in an Agatha Christie
book and that all police should be required to read them all. The Superintendent
of course dismisses her theory as batty.
The dead man was quite wealthy and his heirs are quite greedy - but at the
reading of the will - which Marple eavesdrops on - one of the heirs claims
that of course he was murdered. A day later she gets a long needle in the
back killing her. Marple goes undercover to ferret out the killer. Among
the suspects are Robert Morley, a mainstay of British comedies during the
1960's and Flora Robson who was one of the premiere English character actors
from the 1930's on. Quite nice seeing these golden oldies on the screen.
Christie had not been too fond of the first adaptation in this series - Murder
She Said - and she didn't think too much of this one "Whether I liked it
or not was my headache. Miss Marple galivanting around on horses was ludicrously
unlike the original. But worst of all she was never in the book at all. I
do not think you should distort a book to that extent". At the same time
she gladly took payment from MGM. In both books that the series has so far
been based on, Christie constantly harps about high taxes which my guess
was a personal gripe of hers!
