The Mirror Crack'd (1980)
A Miss Marple mystery with an all-star cast—what could go wrong? A lot, actually, and I’m not just talking about the murder.
The story isn’t the best whodunnit out there, but it’s the acting that’s the real problem. I don’t know what kind of direction Guy Hamilton gave his cast, but he must have been trying for dinner theater performance. I realize that was the point of the movie, for everyone to act over-the-top, but I wasn’t able to get into the spirit of things. If this were the first movie someone saw of Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, Tony Curtis, Kim Novak, Geraldine Chaplin, or Angela Lansbury, they probably wouldn’t understand that everyone is trying to be melodramatic and silly. If you’re not extremely familiar with old movies and whodunnits, you’ll think the entire cast is off their rockers. Remember the old Thin Man movies, where everyone screams at each other and the bad guys fly off the handle at the slightest provocation? In 1934, it worked because you could laugh at them. In 1980, it somehow doesn’t.
The only bonus is if you look at the full cast list on Imdb, you’ll see Pierce Brosnan listed as “Actor playing ‘Jamie’ (uncredited)”. But don’t watch the entire movie hoping to spot him. I’m sure he’d give you the same advice.
More Rock Hudson movies here!
More Elizabeth Taylor movies here!
The story isn’t the best whodunnit out there, but it’s the acting that’s the real problem. I don’t know what kind of direction Guy Hamilton gave his cast, but he must have been trying for dinner theater performance. I realize that was the point of the movie, for everyone to act over-the-top, but I wasn’t able to get into the spirit of things. If this were the first movie someone saw of Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, Tony Curtis, Kim Novak, Geraldine Chaplin, or Angela Lansbury, they probably wouldn’t understand that everyone is trying to be melodramatic and silly. If you’re not extremely familiar with old movies and whodunnits, you’ll think the entire cast is off their rockers. Remember the old Thin Man movies, where everyone screams at each other and the bad guys fly off the handle at the slightest provocation? In 1934, it worked because you could laugh at them. In 1980, it somehow doesn’t.
The only bonus is if you look at the full cast list on Imdb, you’ll see Pierce Brosnan listed as “Actor playing ‘Jamie’ (uncredited)”. But don’t watch the entire movie hoping to spot him. I’m sure he’d give you the same advice.
More Rock Hudson movies here!
More Elizabeth Taylor movies here!