Margaret Rutherford is a delight as an inquisitive, defiant, dogged, analytical, and impressively able to think on her feet as an elderly "murder mystery enthusiast" that can be both a source of misery and information for her local police. 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. With money and a rose near the scene, Marple starts to deduce that there's more to this than meets the eye. The victim might have been blackmailing someone associated with a theatrical company (run by an autocratic, eyes-on-the-prize grandiose thespian played to the hilt by Ron Moody). When a second person tied to the company is murdered on the very day Marple is rehearsing for a part with the company's potentially latest play, she's sure the man currently jailed is innocent and that one of the current actors/actresses is truly responsible. When an attempt on her own life is narrowly diverted (another actress happened to be in the kitchen at the wrong time to turn off an iron as toxic cyanide poison fumes were smoking from a pot on a stove meant for Marple (with a letter purposely planted outside her room to get her into the kitchen) is also killed), Marple seems to be closing in on the identity of the killer. When she learns from an agent (Dennis Price; Kind Hearts and Coronets & Venus in Furs) about the first murdered woman, and that a supposed new play by Moody's Cosgood was actually performed eleven years ago with her in it, the learned development regarding a child naked Evelyn is the catalyst in an amusing conclusion where Marple proves to the killer that her prop gun has more bang than blanks would provide. Accidental mishaps in the back stage as all that carries out leads to hospital stays in slapstick fashion. Coming to Marple's rescue or a trap door that shouldn't have been open on the stage floor prove to be quite a raucous followup to the killer's confession and downfall.
Marple's getting to the truth is what makes this a must-see for whodunit fans that love their murder mysteries gradually shedding of light events that, as a collective, bring us through all the dirt and secrets that unveils a murderer. A character named Eva (Alison Seebohm) is one of the more intriguing characters in the cast; she is almost like a harbinger of doom, speaking of dreams involving Marple and Death, also admitting to being in love with the second victim. She sleepwalks and eventually believes, for whatever reason, that Marple was responsible for her love's murder. The company has its share of divas and dilettantes, mostly catering to whatever butts will sit in their theater's lowly seats. That is what truly amused me about Moody's Cosgood. He really thinks his work is important, and that the building will be packed with admirers applauding every nuance and uttered word. Rutherford has a showstopping rendition of The Shooting of Dan McGrew which leaves the three in the building slack-jawed. The partnership with Stringer Davis (her husband in life) as the two work in concert to solve the case (he pretty much assists and does as told, haha) and the anxious but respectable alliance with Inspector Craddock (Charles Tingwell) offer plenty of charm and appeal. I particularly enjoyed how Marple "respectfully" corrects Craddock and leads him away from the usual mindset of a cop who follows clues no matter how deliberate they might be in a way which has him reconsidering generalities in favor of key particulars. Without Marple, Craddock's chances of solving the crimes committed in Murder Most Foul would have been slim to none. But it is Rutherford's unwillingness to step aside and let an innocent man pay for a crime he didn't commit that is the heart and soul of this series of Marple films. Stunning black and white lensing from Desmond Dickinson, especially at the beginning of the film which shows the silhouette of the strangling victim from a window while the cop outside is taking a swig of whiskey near a pub! How Marple is presented as a monkey wrench that halts the criminal justice system from operating in a status quo fashion makes her quite a heroine to root for. No one can pleasantly call a cop naive and gullible quite like Miss Marple and not make him feel like a total fool.
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. With money and a rose near the scene, Marple starts to deduce that there's more to this than meets the eye. The victim might have been blackmailing someone associated with a theatrical company (run by an autocratic, eyes-on-the-prize grandiose thespian played to the hilt by Ron Moody). When a second person tied to the company is murdered on the very day Marple is rehearsing for a part with the company's potentially latest play, she's sure the man currently jailed is innocent and that one of the current actors/actresses is truly responsible. When an attempt on her own life is narrowly diverted (another actress happened to be in the kitchen at the wrong time to turn off an iron as toxic cyanide poison fumes were smoking from a pot on a stove meant for Marple (with a letter purposely planted outside her room to get her into the kitchen) is also killed), Marple seems to be closing in on the identity of the killer. When she learns from an agent (Dennis Price; Kind Hearts and Coronets & Venus in Furs) about the first murdered woman, and that a supposed new play by Moody's Cosgood was actually performed eleven years ago with her in it, the learned development regarding a child naked Evelyn is the catalyst in an amusing conclusion where Marple proves to the killer that her prop gun has more bang than blanks would provide. Accidental mishaps in the back stage as all that carries out leads to hospital stays in slapstick fashion. Coming to Marple's rescue or a trap door that shouldn't have been open on the stage floor prove to be quite a raucous followup to the killer's confession and downfall.
Marple's getting to the truth is what makes this a must-see for whodunit fans that love their murder mysteries gradually shedding of light events that, as a collective, bring us through all the dirt and secrets that unveils a murderer. A character named Eva (Alison Seebohm) is one of the more intriguing characters in the cast; she is almost like a harbinger of doom, speaking of dreams involving Marple and Death, also admitting to being in love with the second victim. She sleepwalks and eventually believes, for whatever reason, that Marple was responsible for her love's murder. The company has its share of divas and dilettantes, mostly catering to whatever butts will sit in their theater's lowly seats. That is what truly amused me about Moody's Cosgood. He really thinks his work is important, and that the building will be packed with admirers applauding every nuance and uttered word. Rutherford has a showstopping rendition of The Shooting of Dan McGrew which leaves the three in the building slack-jawed. The partnership with Stringer Davis (her husband in life) as the two work in concert to solve the case (he pretty much assists and does as told, haha) and the anxious but respectable alliance with Inspector Craddock (Charles Tingwell) offer plenty of charm and appeal. I particularly enjoyed how Marple "respectfully" corrects Craddock and leads him away from the usual mindset of a cop who follows clues no matter how deliberate they might be in a way which has him reconsidering generalities in favor of key particulars. Without Marple, Craddock's chances of solving the crimes committed in Murder Most Foul would have been slim to none. But it is Rutherford's unwillingness to step aside and let an innocent man pay for a crime he didn't commit that is the heart and soul of this series of Marple films. Stunning black and white lensing from Desmond Dickinson, especially at the beginning of the film which shows the silhouette of the strangling victim from a window while the cop outside is taking a swig of whiskey near a pub! How Marple is presented as a monkey wrench that halts the criminal justice system from operating in a status quo fashion makes her quite a heroine to root for. No one can pleasantly call a cop naive and gullible quite like Miss Marple and not make him feel like a total fool.