Murder Most Foul
Here
it is. The final film where Margaret Rutherford stars as Miss Marple. By the
time I watched Murder Most Foul, I have to admit, I had gone a little
batty with the theme song of these four movies. The same happens with Agatha Christie’s Poirot. Still, I am sad to be done with Margaret Rutherford as
Miss Marple.
Miss Marple disrupts a jury
Margaret
McGinty is dead. She was found hanging, and the police are certain they know
exactly who killed her.
The
police found a man at the scene, Harold Taylor. He was caught with his hands on
the rope. So, he has to be guilty, right?
Not
everyone thinks Taylor is a guilty man. What seems to be an open and shut case
ends with a hung jury (that is not meant to be a play on words, I promise).
While eleven vote guilty, there is one who will not be swayed to do so. That
person is Miss Marple (Margaret Rutherford).
No
one is happy about the hung jury which leads to a mistrial. This displeasure does
not bother Miss Marple one bit. She knows declaring Taylor guilty is wrong.
With the trial over, Miss Marple sets out to prove herself right.
Miss Marple starts her own investigation
The
first thing Miss Marple does is visit Mrs. McGinty’s sister, Gladys Thomas
(Megs Jenkins). Miss Marple pretends to be collecting for a jumble sale, which
gives her the chance to snoop around while her friend Mr. Stringer (Stringer
Davis) distracts Gladys. This charade is successful, but it is also noticed by
the police.
Figuring
out what Miss Marple is up to, Inspector Craddock (Charles Tingwell) tries to
stop Miss Marple from continuing her investigation. By now he should really
know better. If there is something Miss Marple wants to do, nothing is going to
stop her.
Miss Marple becomes an actor
The
clues Miss Marple found at Mrs. McGinty’s house lead her to a theater troupe.
She tries out for the troupe, but the head of the troupe, H. Driffold Cosgood
(Ron Moody), is unimpressed. Or at least he is until Miss Marple says she will
work for free. Then there is no problem accepting Miss Marple into the troupe.
At
the end of the audition, another actor, George Rowton (Maurice Good), stumbles
onto the stage and dies. It is clear this is anything but a natural death. The
police must be called in.
Another investigation begins
Craddock
is not thrilled to discover Miss Marple is at the scene of the crime. While
everyone else is able to give their statements at the theater, he forces Miss
Marple to go to the station. I don’t know if he thought removing Miss Marple
from the scene would get her to change her mind about investigating, or what,
but it didn’t work. Miss Marple goes to the boarding house to stay with the rest
of the troupe.
While
Miss Marple pretends to be simply an aspiring actor, someone catches on that
there is more to Miss Marple than what she presents. They decide to put a stop
to her. A note is left on the floor to entice Miss Marple to a specific
location at a specific time. The plan is for Miss Marple to be killed at this
location. Someone else is killed instead.
Knowing
full well someone is out to get her, Miss Marple decides to set a trap. She
makes sure everyone sees a picture of a deceased female actor that she is sure
is the key to everything. After she does this, she waits.
The
gamble pays off. The murderer is caught, but only after Miss Marple is able to
reveal what a champion shot she is. By now, I’m not sure there is any
competition Miss Marple has not been champion in.
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| Murder Most Foul Charles Tingwell, Margaret Rutherford |
The men of Miss Marple’s world
Mr.
Stringer is so cute in this movie. He’s cute in every movie, but he was extra
cute in this one. There is just something about this little old man working out
to be sure he is strong and fit enough to come to Miss Marple’s aid if she
needs it. Mr. Stringer is so sweet and will do absolutely anything for Miss
Marple. The two actors portraying these characters were married in real life.
Knowing that might be what makes the relationship between Miss Marple and Mr.
Stringer even more adorable.
Then
there is poor Inspector Craddock. At the end of the movie, he announces he is
being promoted. I don’t know if this promotion includes a relocation, but
Craddock is probably hoping it does. Anything that gives him less exposure to
Miss Marple would probably be preferable. She is always telling him off about
something, and he has a tendency to get injured on the cases she is involved
in. However, Craddock’s rate for closing cases would be much lower without Miss
Marple.
Never underestimate a woman
One
of the things Miss Marple told Craddock off about was the intelligence of
women. Craddock tried to imply Miss Marple had no idea what she was talking
about with the murders because she was a woman. That was a big mistake. Miss
Marple made it very clear that a woman can easily be the smartest person in the
room. She then informed Craddock it would be best he not forget that fact. If
he is smart, he won’t. Nor should anyone else.
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