The Mirror Crack'd (1980) (2017 Restoration)   Starring: Angela Lansbury, Elizabeth Taylor, Kim Novak, Rock Hudson, Edward Fox, Geraldine Chaplin and Tony Curtis Distributor: StudioCanal RRP: £TBC OPTD4072 Certificate: PG Release Date: 23 October 2017

The scene is set in the Coronation year of 1953 and the archetypal English village of St. Mary Mead. All is as it should be until Hollywood arrives in the form of an internationally famous film cast, leading to much local excitement and an epidemic of sudden death...

The Mirror Crack'd has an excellent cast from the cream of feature film actors including Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor, Tony Curtis, Kim Novak, Geraldine Chaplin and Edward Fox.

This is the first Christie film to feature the legendary Lady super-sleuth Miss Marple, played by Angela Lansbury, and follows on from the successful Poirot pictures. The introductory scene, a black and white murder mystery movie, is a little disorienting and gets the movie off to a great start. Excellent acting by all especially Elizabeth Taylor who looks stunning.

A good plot with cunning detective work by Miss Marple, but I felt the film didn't flow as well as it should.

Extras include brand new Interviews with Screenwriter Barry Sandler (14 min, 12 sec); Dame Angela Lansbury (5 min, 23 sec); and Producer Richard Goodwin (9 min, 28 sec - the highlight of which is Goodwin's admiration for Taylor and his amusing anecdotes about how she liked freebies. She hinted that she wanted a certain coat and on another occasion she let it be known she really fancied an expensive clock. She communicated this to Goodwin by stating that she could save him money and time by shooting a scheduled 2-day scene shoot in a single morning. That way he could fly home for way cheaper than the intended day of the finished shooting time. She managed to do it as well, saving Goodwin a lot of money).

We also get two Stills Galleries: Behind the Scenes (55 sec); and Storyboard (55 sec).

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Heather Simpson