Feb 21, 2025
The Mirror Crack'd (1980)
"Lola, dear, you know, there are really only two things I dislike about you."
"Really? What are they?"
"Your face."
#the mirror crack'd#agatha christie#agatha christie's the mirror crack'd#1980#guy hamilton#jonathan hales#barry sandler#angela lansbury#rock hudson#elizabeth taylor#geraldine chaplin#tony curtis#kim novak#edward fox#wendy morgan#charles gray#maureen bennett#richard pearson#eric dodson#margaret courtenay#opens with a fake film within the film‚ a supposed creaky old bw Brit mystery thriller with an old dark house and a thunderous storm#outside and character actors par excellence assembled; it probably says a lot that this slightly wry pastiche is the most fun i had with#this film and I'd genuinely rather watch a full length version of that potboiler than this. the rest of the film is *fine* but almost#aggressively so‚ and a Christie adaptation with a cast this starry should be more than fine. stays true to the book in keeping Marple on#the periphery of the plot (faithful maybe‚ but questionable movie making practice) and gets a little muddled in the later stages#but Hudson is giving a great late stage performance and the witty‚ bitchy dialogue between Taylor and Novak frequently dazzles#Novak in particular is so clearly having an enormous amount of fun playing up the vain‚ backstabbing actor role that it almost overcomes#the flat direction and rather stodgy overall shape of the film. and i have to add i think it was pretty brave of Taylor to take a part#(boozy difficult superstar past her prime and slipping into insignificance) that could easily have been branded autobiographical#by the crueller among the press. this is a bit of a mess all told‚ and certainly underwhelming‚ but there's small joys to be found
