Murder Most Foul

Plot synopsis:
The film opens with a droll series of silent bits as a constable at night on his bicycle discovers a man with his hands on a rope with a strangled woman -- Margaret McGinty -- attached. As it happens Miss Marple (Margaret Rutherford) is on the jury in the succeeding murder trial. She forces a mistrial as the only one to hold out in a seemingly open and shut case because she views the evidence as circumstantial. She then enlists the aid of her friend Mr. Stringer (Stringer Davis, Rutherford's actual husband) to follow the evidence in support of her theory to find the real murderer. She is harassed by Detective Inspector Craddock (Charles "Bud" Tingwell) who wants her to get out of the way of the Police. She traces the evidence to a low-rent theatre troupe run by H. Driffold Cosgood (Ron Moody), and manages to infiltrate the acting company with a whirling rendition of The Shooting of Dan McGrew, and intimating that she may be willing to financially subsidize the company.No sooner does she secure a place as an actress, than one of the actors, George, drops dead from poisoning and Detective Inspector Craddock shows up again to try to get her to give up her hunt, but does also work with her to discover the killer. She suggests that Craddock investigate bank accounts of all the actors to see who, if any, recently withdrew 100 pounds -- the amount of cash found surrounding the body of Mrs. McGinty and now believed to be a pay off for black mail. Back at the boarding house where all the actors are staying, Miss Marple continues to ferret out clues and finds a note outside her door telling her to meet someone at 1AM in the kitchen if she wants to find out more. As she is sneaking down the stairs, she sees middle-aged actress Dorothy sneaking down just ahead of her and follows. When she opens the closed kitchen door, Dorothy is dead on the floor and Mrs. Marple, smelling bitter almonds indicating cyanide, throws open the outside door and windows. When the inspector arrives, she explains that the murder was done in a complicated way involving an on/off stove timer, a pot containing candle wax and a cyanide capsule but says this was the murder method of the play that they are opening with the following week ("Out of the Stewpot"), so all the actors would know how to do this. Meanwhile, Mr. Stringer arrives and tells her that the police have learned that one of the actors DID withdraw 100 pounds recently, but it was the recently-murdered George. Inspector Craddock theorizes that George had been blackmailing Margaret McGinty, which is why he withdrew the 100 pounds from his account, and then, in a fit of remorse, killed himself, but Mrs. Marple thinks otherwise.Mrs. Marple visits a theatrical agent who tells her that Margaret McGinty was in a 1951 play, "Forever September", written by Mr. Cosgood, along with a Rose Kane, who had a child about eleven. The agent says that Rose Kane was hanged for poisoning her husband, and Margaret McGinty, took the child in for awhile but that eventually it was sent on to an orphanage. He can't remember the sex of the child, but does recall the name, "Evelyn" pronounced "EEvelyn". This child would now be about the age of the four younger members of the acting troupe, Eva, Bill, Sheila, and Arthur.As the play opens the next week, the police are on hand to protect Mrs. Marple, but Eva comes into her dressing room with a knife and together they go below stage where Mrs. Marple learns that Eva thinks that Mrs. Marple was involved in killing George, who, it turns out, was her lover. Just as Mrs. Marple talks Eva out of her ill-conceived murder plan, the real murderer comes out of the shadows causing Eva to drop her knife and run away in fear. The shadowy figure is revealed to be Bill Hanson. Bill explains that in the play he is in a closet and he has used the stage trap door to come down and will be able to murder Mrs. Marple, and return to his closet before his scene takes place in 3 minutes. Bill, is actually Evelyn Kane, and he murdered Margaret McGinty because she was going to reveal to his soon-to-be father-in-law Bill's mother's sordid past. He picks up Eva's knife (he had intended to strangle Mrs. Marple) but Mrs. Marple draws the revolver that is to be used in the play (she had replaced it with a banana), and points it at Bill explaining she has replaced the blanks with real ammunition. She announces she was a former pistol champion at Bisley but he still advances on her so she shoots in two a prop rope causing a heavy wooden wheel to fall and knock out Bill, but also Inspector Craddock who had rushed downstairs. At the same time, Mr. Cosgood steps into the open stage door and comes crashing down. As she looks around at the three unconscious men, she says "Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear". The movie ends with her visiting Cosgood and Inspector Craddock in hospital, where he announced he has been promoted to Chief Inspector. Cosgood tries to get her to fund his play, but she says that she is "no angel". Mr. Stringer picks her up in a horse-drawn cart and they ride away.

Tags: mystery, murder

Review:
George Pollock, the director deserves credit for the immensely satisfying film version of Agatha Christie's "Mrs. McGinty's Death".
The excellent copy we saw recently on TCM appears as good now, as it probably did when it first made its theatrical debut.Miss Jane Marple was Agatha Christie's best creation.
Ms. Marple knows the man is not guilty, even when she gets the other jury members to give her dirty looks when she votes against the others to acquit the man on trial.Miss Marple starts digging around the dead woman's room and discovers the programs for "Murder, She Said", a play by the theatrical production company that is performing at a theater near her.
We are not prepared to see Miss Marple become part of a second rate theatrical troupe touring the country."Murder Most Foul" is a must to be seen by all Agatha Christie's fans and mystery fans because of the charisma Margaret Rutherford exuded playing the title character.
Ron Moody, Charles Tingwell, Stringer Davis, Francesca Annis, Terry Scott, Dennis Price, and the rest, do what they do best and in the process enhance the film.This is a tribute to the genius of the Jane Marple of Margaret Rutherford!.
Some lovely bits here, based again on an Agatha Christie novel, not featuring Jane Marple however, but a Hercule Poirot mystery adapted and extremely loosely plotted to enhance the idiosyncratic manner of actress Miss Margaret Rutherford.Margaret, trying out for a local theatre group in order to expose the real murderer, reciting a Robert Service poem to the disinterest of cast members, director and stagehands has to be seen to be believed.
In this, the third of a series of four films of Margaret Rutherford depicting Miss Marple, we are lavishly entertained by a witty whodunnit which is set, most appropriately, within and around a travelling theatre troupe.
To do so, she must join a theatre group which is riddled with a relevant variety of seemingly good suspects - but which is led by an over-the-top character, Driffold Cosgood (played to perfection by the brilliant Ron Moody).
This is the third entry in MGM's quintet of Miss Marple whodunits starring Rutherford as the eccentric yet highly intelligent spinster detective who time and time again has proved herself more competent than the investigating police even though she is only armed with her knowledge of crime detective novels.In this feature, Miss Marple is on jury service at the trial of a young man called Howard Taylor whom is accused of killing his landlady Mrs McGinty for her savings.
As usual the hapless Chief Inspector Craddock (CHARLES TINGWELL) resents her interference but as usual she comes out on top even though Craddock is promoted to Chief Inspector for his work on the case but it was Miss Marple who solved it for him!All in all, MURDER MOST FOUL (adapted loosely from Agatha Christie's 1952 publication Mrs McGinty's Dead in which Hercule Poirot solved the case), has all the comedy delight and charm of its two predecessors, which made the series so popular.
But Ron Moody as Cosgood, Tingwell as Craddock and Stringer Davies (Rutherford's real life husband) as her trusty sidekick Mr Stringer all deserve good notices as does composer Ron Goodwin, director Pollock and cinematographer Desmond Dickinson whose black and white camera-work lends the production a considerable atmosphere of the mysterious..
Yet four of his Miss Marple films as best remembered for Ron Goodwin's music and the wonderful Dame Margaret Rutherford and real life husband Stringer Davis.The four films of Pollock combined mystery with comedy in a way that it entertains even after 40 years after the films were made.
Jane Marple joins a rather interesting acting troupe in order to find out the real killer of Mrs. McGinty, a woman hanged in her apartment.
Stringer Davis, as her librarian friend(and real-life husband) and Charles Tingwell, as Inspector Craddock, are back once again to aid Miss Marple(not that she really needs their help).
Margaret Rutherford makes an amusing Miss Marple in this all-English version of Agatha Christie's "Mrs. McGinty's Dead".
Like an intrepid war ship that patrols the high seas, wonderful Margaret Rutherford patrols a theatrical troupe of actors and actresses known as the Cosgood Players, searching for a killer-most-foul amongst them.
But that's normal, more or less, for films in this genre.En route to the solution of the puzzle, Miss Marple (Rutherford) auditions to be part of the theater troupe, in a solo recital of the Robert Service poem "The Shooting Of Dan McGrew".
But what really makes the film enjoyable is Rutherford in the role of Miss Marple.
Murder Most Fun. When Agatha Christie created the spinster detective Jane Marple, she could never have pictured Rutherford playing the role on film.Leaving aside Rutherfords distance from the written charecter, she does bring a wonderful quality to this film and the others in the series.Playing opposite her real life husband, Stringer Davies, and with great support from Charles Tingwell, she sets out to prove that a miscarriage of justice is being perpetrated.This brings her into contact with the Cosgood Players, run by Driffield Cosgood (Ron Moody).Typically with Christie, the plot is not always fathomable, but the denouement is entertaining.This film is good fun and Rutherford is hilarious as she gurns her way through the story..
Enjoyed this Agatha Christie murder mystery and especially with the great acting by Margaret Rutherford, (Miss Jane Marple).
This Miss Marple film is based on the Agatha Christie novel "Mrs McGinty's Dead" in which a lodger is arrested for hanging his landlady, only because he was there when the police came.Miss Marple is the only jury member to think that he is not guilty and annoys everyone because she holds back the verdict on the criminal.
She discovers the dead woman was a stage actress and decides to enroll in the performing arts to find the real killer.Miss Marple is played by Margaret Rutherford as great as ever and she is supported by Ron Moody as a theatrical organiser..
During the trial of the prime suspect of the murder of Mrs. McGinty, Miss Jane Marple (Margaret Rutherford) is the only member of the jury that believes that the accused is innocent.
But soon people around her dies and Inspector Craddock (Charles Tingwell) and Mr. Stringer are worried about her safety."Murder Most Foul" is another entertaining story by Agatha Christie with her sweet and snoopy Miss Marple.
To me Rutherford simply IS Miss Marple even though she seems light years away from the placid, if insightful knitting couch potato from Agatha Christie's novels.
In this adaptation of Mrs. McGinty's Dead, Rutherford's Jane Marple is part of a jury that refuses to find a man guilty of murder and then goes on to investigate and follow a trail of clues to a troop of actors, led by the delightfully hammy impresario Ron Moody.
Despite my later comments below I very much like this film and indeed all the Margaret Rutherford/Miss Marple canon.
Indeed, and if one forgets such inconveniences as Agatha Christie's 'real' Miss Marple, on their own merits all four films, while hardly classics of the cinema, are most enjoyable and an excellent way of passing the famous wet Sunday afternoon.However, although none include the words 'Miss Marple' in their titles, they are all marketed as featuring her, presumably for fairly obvious commercial reasons, and thus I think there is a case for invoking the Trades Descriptions Act as they bear precious little resemblance to the Marple world of the books, viz:- 1.
Margaret Rutherford was a brilliant actress and good in this role but she was physically so unlike Agatha Christie's description of Miss Marple that it is difficult to take her characterisation seriously.
Of course the reason for this was to provide a role for Miss Rutherford's husband, Stringer Davis, who, she insisted, must be cast in any film she was in.
Agatha Christie, the most popular mystery novelist in history, wasn't particularly served well by the movies; this film version of her book "Mrs. McGinty's Dead" bears scant resemblance to Christie's original text, yet it does have Margaret Rutherford once again as Miss Marple (following "Murder She Said" in 1961 and "Murder at the Gallop" in 1963), and her bluster is amusing.
Serving on the jury for a man accused of murder, Miss Marple's vote of not guilty causes a mistrial; she proceeds to investigate the case from there, in which members of an acting troupe in England are turning up dead.
Miss Marple auditions and joins the Cosgood players in a bid to unmask the killer.Very loosely based on Agatha Christie's novel 'Mrs McGinty's dead,' some elements are picked out of it, but only very loosely.
I like the sequence of Dorothy's death too, it's really well produced, it's all there, dark corridors, shadows, tense music, lightning, what more could you wish for?Rutherford as always is a joy to watch, wonderfully supported by the excellent cast, Ron Moody is wonderful, so theatrical, James Bolam is great too.
Charles Tingwell had been so good as the Inspector too, he was a very likable actor, he never seemed to mind being foiled by Miss Marple.It's a truly likable film, ideal for a wet Sunday afternoon.
You pretty much know that with the indomitable Margaret Rutherford playing Miss Marple that this will be an enjoyable ride.
A classic murder mystery, based on the Agatha Christie novel "Mrs McGinty's dead".Good set up, intriguing plot development, thrilling finale.
Margaret Rutherford is great, as always, in her role as Miss Marple.
Murder Most Foul begins with Margaret Rutherford as Jane Marple serving jury duty where she proceeds to deadlock the jury in what everyone, including her exasperated friend Charles Tingwell as Inspector Craddock thinks is an open and shut case.
Besides Tingwell as the arm of the law and Stringer Davis as Mr. Stringer and Margaret Rutherford's husband in real life, the cast of Murder Most Foul also includes Dennis Price and Ron Moody as a pair of fourth rate hams.
This one has a theatrical setting and the tawdry milieu of the touring company is nicely captured while that old ham, Ron Moody, is excellent playing, naturally, an old ham and there is a decent supporting cast of British character actors to round things off..
All four of the Rutherford/Pollock Miss Marple film collaborations are very entertaining.
Based on the Poirot mystery Mrs McGinty's Dead(the David Suchet version also being one of the better newer adaptations of the wonderful Poirot TV series), Murder Most Foul has its slow spots but is great fun and the second best of the four films(Murder Ahoy being my least favourite, but I still liked it).
Based upon Agatha Christie's novel MRS McGINTY'S DEAD, MURDER MOST FOUL offers a display of the most absorbing features developed within the genre in its initial, fresh form.
Yet, a real surprise evokes when a seemingly ordinary woman, who sits in her jury box and knits in order to concentrate, catches the attention of us all - the lovable Miss Jane Marple (Margaret Rutherford) - a nuisance for simplified mediocrity but delight for eagerness and creativity.
As the murders tend to go in pairs or even threes, she makes us realize that they are all 'one and the same'...In MURDER MOST FOUL, like in each other part, a true delight to watch is Dame Margaret Rutherford in the role of her life, a truly captivating character Agatha Christie created.
But she truly leaves us stunned by the way she handles the recitation of the poem "The Killing of Dan McGrew." - a must see in the original!SUPPORTING CAST: Apart from the mainstays in all "Murder" parts, including Charles Tingwell as Inspector Craddock and Stringer Davis as Mr Stringer, MURDER MOST FOUL can boast of some brilliant British cast of the time who prove a high caliber of acting skills.
But it is, above all, the charismatic Dame Margaret Rutherford who makes us remember Miss Marple.Much having been ventured, much is gained...injuries are not too serious, joyful promotion and thoughts make the treatment time more pleasant and the 'Milchester Players' as true sleuths may introduce yet another plot, may open yet another investigation.
This is the third of four Miss Marple films starring Margaret Rutherford.
I'm having a love/hate (mostly "love", though) relationship with these four Agatha Christie adaptations that George Pollock directed during the first half of the 1960s and starred Margaret Rutherford as the unsurpassable spinster-detective Miss Marple.
Although Mrs. Rutherford was a great actress who put a lot of devotion into her role of Miss Marple, the character never should have been a headstrong, boisterous and intrusive woman.
Miss Marple infiltrates into the stage actors' association of the eccentric Driffold Cosgood, as the murdered woman played with them during the early fifties.
The comical chemistry between Rutherford and her real-life husband Stringer Davis has worn out since the first film, but luckily there's always a sublime supportive cast, this time including Ron Moody and Meg Jenkins..
Another Marple story for Rutherford based on "Mrs. McGinty's Dead"....
Still another entry in the Jane Marple films that MARGARET RUTHERFORD starred in, this time replacing Hercule Poirot who was featured in the original story, "Mrs. McGinty's Dead".This one again has Miss Marple deciding to join a theatrical touring group in order to track down the man she believes is the real murderer in a jury case she was sitting on.
Inspector Craddock is again a disbeliever, as played by CHARLES TINGWELL, who of course is baffled and opposed to Miss Marple's way of sleuthing--which does, in the end, get results.Amusing Agatha Christie thriller features the familiar Ron Goodwin harpsichord theme for Miss Marple, and all the other ingredients are firmly planted.
During a murder trial, of the jury only Miss Jane Marple believes in the accused.
George Pollock returned again to direct Margaret Rutherford as Miss Jane Marple, Stringer Davis as her friend Mr. Stringer, and Charles Tingwell as police inspector Craddock.
It's the kind of memorable performance which elevates a droll movie into a fine one.In fact, everyone was plainly having fun on set, from Charles Tingwell as the Inspector torn between annoyance and reverence for Miss Marple to Ron Moody as a hilariously smarmy, hammy thespian.As much as I enjoy Christie and respect her seminal influence on the genre, not all her plots have aged well - some of the mysteries, like this one, could be solved by a modern investigator with a Google search.
A little surprisingly this has turned out to be my personal favourite of the Margaret Rutherford Miss Marple films.
I love the mixing up of names from the novel (eg Sheila Rendell and Mrs Upward combine into young Sheila Upward) and the deliberate pacing as details are revealed (we only come to know about the important character of Rose (Eva) Kane towards the end).Margaret Rutherford continues to delight as a Miss M who is nothing like Christie's creation.
Through a series of investigations she discovers, ably assisted by Mr Stringer, her real life husband Stringer Davies, that a play is behind the crime, and she joins a second-rate theatrical company led by Ron Moody who excels as a ham actor.
When "Murder Most Foul" begins, she is on a jury that gets hung because she doesn't believe the person on trial is guilty.George Pollock, the director of this film, really sets up a hysterical opening where a cobblestone cop interrupts (he believes, but Rutherford's Miss Marple later proves wrong) a man as he seems to be rope-hanging his wife in a diabolical means to make her death appear to be a suicide after a manual strangulation.
(This is based on Agatha Christie's "Mrs. McGinty's Dead.")Rutherford is great and this cast is peppered with even more kooky and interesting characters than usual, even if Americans don't know the actors involved.
But, the director of the group is Ron Moody, from the musical "Oliver." This makes me want to see other Christie stories made into film, particularly those with Peter Ustinov and Helen Hayes as the sleuths, but while Hayes has always been a favorite actress of mine, I fear those other mysteries, because they don't have Rutherford in them, they just won't be the same.So, sit back and bask in Dame Margaret Rutherford in her element as Christie's famed sleuth Miss Marple, and enjoy her over and over again..
COMMENT: Third of the four Miss Marple-Margaret Rutherford movies, this entry was allegedly based on "Mrs. McGinty's Dead".
However, it is nonetheless entertaining for all that, being attractively photographed and staged and having a script that provides some wonderful opportunities for Miss Rutherford and her sterling supporting cast, led by the wonderful Ron Moody as a delightfully Dickensian, small-time actor/manager.
This is probably the most densely plotted of the three Margaret Rutherford Marple films I've seen so far - it is based on a Hercule Poirot story ("Mrs. McGinty's Dead") which has already been adapted for the screen as part of the David Suchet series, but although I have seen that film, I did not remember much of it beyond the initial setup, so I was caught up in the various murders and red herrings that follow.
MURDER MOST FOUL is a fun and comic murder mystery featuring the inimitable Margaret Rutherford in her most famous role, that of Agatha Christie's sleuth Miss Marple.
This time around, Marple investigates a murder with an apparently obvious suspect - he was caught red-handed, so to speak, at the scene - but follows a clue trail that takes her to a local amateur theatrics group.This is a well-paced and eventful little mystery with a decent cast and lots of character comedy to see it through.
And the third reason is that this Miss Marple is played by Margaret Rutherford who is a real pleasure on the screen or the stage, in fact I should say was of course since the film is from 1964 and she was already canonically old then.