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	{{Infobox film		{{Infobox film
	\| name = Murder She Said		\| name = Murder She Said
	\| image = Murder ~~she said322~~.jpg		\| image = Murder She Said.jpg
	\| director = [[George Pollock (director)\|George Pollock]]		\| director = [[George Pollock (director)\|George Pollock]]
	\| screenplay = David Pursall<br />Jack Seddon		\| screenplay = David Pursall<br />Jack Seddon

Kurt at 00:12, 27 August 2024

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	~~{{Use dmy dates\|date=April 2016}}~~
	~~{{Use British English\|date=April 2016}}~~
	{{Infobox film		{{Infobox film
	\| name = Murder She Said		\| name = Murder She Said
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	\| language = English		\| language = English
	}}		}}
	~~{{sources\|date=July 2024}}~~
	'''''Murder She said''''' is a 1961 comedy/murder [[mystery film]] directed by [[George Pollock (director)\|George Pollock]], based on the 1957 novel ''[[4.50 from Paddington]]'' by [[Agatha Christie]]. The production stars [[Margaret Rutherford]] as [[Miss Marple]], along with [[Arthur Kennedy]], [[Muriel Pavlow]], [[James Robertson Justice]], and [[Stringer Davis]] (Rutherford's husband).		'''''Murder She said''''' is a 1961 comedy/murder [[mystery film]] directed by [[George Pollock (director)\|George Pollock]], based on the 1957 novel ''[[4.50 from Paddington]]'' by [[Agatha Christie]]. The production stars [[Margaret Rutherford]] as [[Miss Marple]], along with [[Arthur Kennedy]], [[Muriel Pavlow]], [[James Robertson Justice]], and [[Stringer Davis]] (Rutherford's husband).

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	* {{tcmdb title\|84205}}		* {{tcmdb title\|84205}}
	* {{amg title\|33808}}		* {{amg title\|33808}}
	* [https://web.archive.org/web/20171228060009/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6b0f1eca ''Murder, She Said''] at the [[British Film Institute]]{{better source needed\|reason=Help request: a live link can be searched for at https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/search/expert - if available, replace the archive URL with the live link. Or if none found, remove this 'better source needed' template. \| date=October 2023}}		* [https://web.archive.org/web/20171228060009/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6b0f1eca ''Murder, She Said''] at the [[British Film Institute]]
	* {{rotten-tomatoes\|murder_she_said\|Murder, She Said}}		* {{rotten-tomatoes\|murder_she_said\|Murder, She Said}}

	~~{{Miss Marple}}{{George Pollock}}~~

	[[Category:1961 films]]		[[Category:1961 films]]

Kurt: 1 revision imported

2024-08-26T23:51:35Z

1 revision imported

← Older revision	Revision as of 18:51, 26 August 2024
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en>Cmr08: /* Box Office */ headers in sentence case per MOS:Head

2024-08-16T05:48:27Z

Box Office: headers in sentence case per MOS:Head

New page

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2016}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Murder She Said
| image = Murder she said322.jpg
| director = [[George Pollock (director)|George Pollock]]
| screenplay = David Pursall Jack Seddon
| producer = George H. Brown
| story = David D. Osborn (adaptation)
| based_on = {{based on|''[[4.50 from Paddington]]'' 1957 novel|[[Agatha Christie]]}}
| starring = [[Margaret Rutherford]] [[Arthur Kennedy]] [[Muriel Pavlow]] [[James Robertson Justice]]
| music = [[Ron Goodwin]]
| cinematography = [[Geoffrey Faithfull]]
| editing = Ernest Walter
| distributor = [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]]
| released = {{Film date|df=yes|1961|09|26|UK|=|1962|01|07|US|}}
| runtime = 87 minutes
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
}}
{{sources|date=July 2024}}
'''''Murder She said''''' is a 1961 comedy/murder [[mystery film]] directed by [[George Pollock (director)|George Pollock]], based on the 1957 novel ''[[4.50 from Paddington]]'' by [[Agatha Christie]]. The production stars [[Margaret Rutherford]] as [[Miss Marple]], along with [[Arthur Kennedy]], [[Muriel Pavlow]], [[James Robertson Justice]], and [[Stringer Davis]] (Rutherford's husband).

MGM made three sequels, ''[[Murder at the Gallop]]'', ''[[Murder Most Foul (film)|Murder Most Foul]]'' and ''[[Murder Ahoy!]]'', all with Rutherford starring as Miss Marple. She also cameoed as Marple in MGM's ''[[The Alphabet Murders]]'', which starred [[Tony Randall]] as [[Hercule Poirot]].

== Plot==
While travelling by train, Miss Marple witnesses the strangling of a young woman in another train on a parallel track. The police find nothing to support her story, so she conducts her own investigation, and with the aid of her close friend Jim Stringer, comes to the conclusion that the body must have been thrown off the train near the grounds of Ackenthorpe Hall.

Wheedling her way into a job as housekeeper, Miss Marple copes with her difficult employer, Luther Ackenthorpe, and searches for the missing corpse. She eventually finds it concealed in a stable, much to the chagrin of Police Inspector Craddock.

Stringer uncovers the details of Ackenthorpe's will: the family fortune is to go to his long-suffering, attentive daughter Emma; his sons Cedric, Harold and Albert; and Alexander, his intelligent and insightful grandson (A fourth son, Edmund, was killed in the war and a second daughter, Edith, Alexander's mother, died of illness). Also, Dr Quimper, Ackenthorpe's physician, and Emma are secretly in love. The gardener, Hillman, and the part-time servant Mrs Kidder round out the establishment and the list of suspects.

Alexander finds the first clue, a musical compact that plays "[[Frère Jacques]]", near where the body must have landed. When Emma reveals that she recently received a letter from a French woman named Martine, who claims that she married Edmund shortly before he died and is therefore an heir, the identity of the dead woman and the motive for the crime seem clear.

Arsenic in the curried duck prepared by Miss Marple sickens all who eat it, but only Albert dies. Then Harold is killed by his own shotgun. The police are unsure if it was suicide by a remorseful murderer or the third victim. Miss Marple, however, is not deceived, and sets a trap, using the compact as bait. Dr Quimper is revealed as the villain. The dead woman was not Martine at all, but his own wife. Quimper feared that the compact, a gift to his wife, could be traced to him. He intended to dispose of the other heirs and marry Emma. He administered a second, fatal dose of arsenic while supposedly attending to Albert.

===Differences from the novel===
As with most of her portrayals of Miss Marple, Margaret Rutherford's interpretation was quite different from Agatha Christie's. In addition, Agatha Christie's suspense and underlying darkness are largely replaced by light, even whimsical touches typical of a [[comedy of manners]].

In the novel, an elderly woman named Elspeth McGillicuddy witnesses the murder, not her friend, Miss Marple, who is introduced later. Also in the novel, a young acquaintance of Miss Marple's, not Miss Marple herself, is sent to pose as a housekeeper at the suspect location. The manor house where Miss Marple conducts her inquiries is called Rutherford Hall in the novel, but this was changed to Ackenthorpe Hall in the film to avoid using the leading actress's surname. Crackenthorpe, the family name in the novel, was shortened to Ackenthorpe.

==Cast==
{{div col}}
* [[Margaret Rutherford]] as Miss Jane Marple
* [[Arthur Kennedy]] as Dr. Paul Quimper
* [[Muriel Pavlow]] as Emma Ackenthorpe
* [[James Robertson Justice]] as Luther Ackenthorpe
* [[Thorley Walters]] as Cedric Ackenthorpe
* [[Charles Tingwell]] as Inspector Craddock
* [[Conrad Phillips]] as Harold Ackenthorpe
* [[Ronald Howard (British actor)|Ronald Howard]] as Brian Eastley, father of Alexander
* [[Joan Hickson]] as Mrs. Kidder (Hickson later starred in the lead role of the [[Miss Marple (TV series)|BBC TV series ''Miss Marple'']])
* [[Stringer Davis]] (Rutherford's husband) as Jim Stringer
* Ronnie Raymond as Alexander Eastley
* [[Gerald Cross]] as Albert Ackenthorpe
* [[Michael Golden (actor)|Michael Golden]] as Hillman
* Barbara Leake as Mrs. Hilda Stainton
* [[Gordon Harris (actor)|Gordon Harris]] as Sergeant Bacon
* [[Peter Butterworth]] as Ticket collector
* [[Richard Briers]] as "Mrs. Binster" of Mrs. Binster's Employment Agency
* [[Lucy Griffiths (actress, born 1919)|Lucy Griffiths]] as Lucy
{{div col end}}

==Reception==
===Critical===
''Murder, She Said'' maintains an 83% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/m/murder_she_said/ |title=Murder, She Said Movie Reviews, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes |access-date=2008-12-26 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081013043130/http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/m/murder_she_said/ |archive-date=13 October 2008 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> Almar Halfidason, a critic for the BBC film website, awarded the picture four stars out of a possible five, calling it "delightfully dotty" and "fun".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2000/09/28/murder_she_said_review.shtml|title=BBC - Films - review - Murder, She Said (1961)|access-date=4 May 2016}}</ref>

Agatha Christie disliked this adaptation.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/bendzialdowski/film-adaptations-disliked-by-authors/ |title="It's Shockingly Bad, And Should Never Have Been Made" – 12 Author's Who Can't Stand The Film Adaptations Of Their Work |access-date=2024-07-22}}</ref>
===Box office===
The film made a profit of $342,000 (U.S.).<ref name="Mannix">{{Citation | title = The Eddie Mannix Ledger | publisher = Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study | place = Los Angeles}}.</ref>

MGM's head of British production, [[Lawrence Bachmann]] said it was an "exceptionally satisfactory money spinner" and commissioned sequels.<ref name="law">{{cite magazine|magazine=Variety|url=https://archive.org/details/variety-1962-05/page/n88/mode/1up?|access-date=9 August 2024|title=Metro's Prod Chief in London Sees Britain as Future Film Centre|date=2 May 1962|page=89}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{IMDb title|0055205}}
* {{tcmdb title|84205}}
* {{amg title|33808}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20171228060009/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6b0f1eca ''Murder, She Said''] at the [[British Film Institute]]{{better source needed|reason=Help request: a live link can be searched for at https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/search/expert - if available, replace the archive URL with the live link. Or if none found, remove this 'better source needed' template. | date=October 2023}}
* {{rotten-tomatoes|murder_she_said|Murder, She Said}}

{{Miss Marple}}{{George Pollock}}

[[Category:1961 films]]
[[Category:1960s mystery films]]
[[Category:British mystery films]]
[[Category:British black-and-white films]]
[[Category:Films based on crime novels]]
[[Category:Films based on Miss Marple books]]
[[Category:Films based on works by Agatha Christie]]
[[Category:Films set in country houses]]
[[Category:Rail transport films]]
[[Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films]]
[[Category:Murder mystery films]]
[[Category:Films directed by George Pollock]]
[[Category:Films scored by Ron Goodwin]]
[[Category:Films shot at MGM-British Studios]]
[[Category:1960s English-language films]]
[[Category:1960s British films]]

Murder She Said - Revision history

Kurt at 17:28, 2 September 2024

Kurt at 00:12, 27 August 2024

Kurt: 1 revision imported

en>Cmr08: /* Box Office */ headers in sentence case per MOS:Head