You’re never too old to become a star – look at Marie Dressler, Judi Dench, Morgan Freeman and Margaret Rutherford. True they were often in supporting roles but they were also given leads in the sunset of their years. Rutherford in particular was a genuine box office draw as Miss Marple, who she played four times in films for MGM directed by George Pollock. (MGM’s British operation turned out some interesting films during its early 60s phase including Village of the Damned).
This one was the first and benefits from having a strong story: Marple sees a murder on a train (in the original novel it was a friend of hers who witnessed it) and sets about investigating by going undercover as a maid. Rutherford’s Marple isn’t like in the books but it’s a winning performance – it should be treated as a “cover version”, and anyway if you hire Margaret Rutherford you want the Margaret Rutherford thing.
Decent support casting including James Robertson Justice (grumpy invalid), American Arthur Kennedy, Muriel Pavolv, Joan Hickson (who later played Miss Marple on television) and Australian Bug Tingwell (who apparently put on weight to play a middle aged detective then was unable to shake it off for the rest of his life). Rutherford has two men panting over her – Justice (whose duels with Rutherford are a highlight of the film) and Stringer Davis (Rutherford’s real life husband). That little kid gets annoying after a while.
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