It is 1953 and American film star Marina Rudd (Elizabeth Taylor) has come to England to star as Mary, Queen of Scots, in her comeback movie. During a reception at the manor where she and her husband, Jason Rudd (Rock Hudson) are staying, a village local, Heather Babcock, dies from poison. As chance would have it, Cherry was working as a server that day; Cherry is the housekeeper for Miss Jane Marple (Angela Lansbury). Miss Marple quizzes Cherry in detail about the events prior to Heather's death and concludes that Marina was the intended target. As luck would have it, Inspector Craddock (Edward Fox) of Scotland Yard is dispatched to investigate; he happens to be Miss Marple's favorite nephew and also something of a film buff. He interviews all the principals and then discusses it with his aunt, serving as an Archie Goodwin to Miss Marple's Nero Wolfe. Among the suspects are Rudd's personal secretary Ella Ziellinsky (Geraldine Chaplin), movie producer Martin N. Fenn (Tony Curtis), and Marina's arch rival, actress Lola Brewster (Kim Novak).
The most interesting aspect of the movie is trivial. Pierce Brosnan had a non-speaking role where he played Jamie, husband to Mary Queen of Scots. The director, Guy Hamilton, rose to fame as director of Goldfinger (1964). As such, Hamilton directed 3 Bond actors: Connery (Goldfinger & Diamonds are Forever), Moore (Live and Let Die, The Man with the Golden Gun), and Brosnan.
By the movie's conclusion, the solution is irrelevant. Marple's deductions explain the plot but at no point change the events. That she was always one link away from the action made the movie slow and a little boring. Strangely enough, where Marina Rudd was trying to stage a comeback from a several year hiatus from movies, Elizabeth Taylor hadn't had a leading role in several years prior to this movie; good casting.
Only for the diehard Agatha Christie fan.
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