Story of movie Murder Most Foul :
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Murder Most Foul is the third of four Miss Marple films made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Loosely based on the novel Mrs McGinty's Dead by Agatha Christie, it stars Margaret Rutherford as Miss Jane Marple, Bud Tingwell as Inspector Craddock, and Stringer Davis (Rutherford's real-life husband) as Mr. Stringer. The story is ostensibly based on the original Christie story, but notably changes the action and characters. Hercule Poirot is replaced by Miss Marple and most other characters are not in the original story.
| Murder Most Foul | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster by Tom Jung | |
| Directed by | George Pollock |
| Written by | Agatha Christie (novel) |
| Screenplay by | David Pursall (screenplay) Jack Seddon |
| Based on | Mrs. McGinty's Dead |
| Starring | Margaret Rutherford Stringer Davis Ron Moody Bud Tingwell |
| Music by | Ron Goodwin |
| Cinematography | Desmond Dickinson |
| Edited by | Ernest Walter |
Production company | Lawrence P. Bachman Production |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release date | September 1964 (USA) |
Running time | 90 min/ |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
The film was released in 1964 and directed by George Pollock, with David Pursall credited with the adaptation. The music was by Ron Goodwin.
The title is a quote from Hamlet (I.v.27-28), where the Ghost comments about his own death, "Murder most foul as in the best it is/But this most foul, strange and unnatural."
The third film in the MGM series, this was preceded by Murder, She Said and Murder at the Gallop, and followed by Murder Ahoy!, all with Rutherford starring as Christie's famed amateur sleuth.
Screenplay
Margaret McGinty, a barmaid and former actress, is found hanged, and her lodger, Harold Taylor, caught at the scene, seems plainly guilty. Everyone believes it to be an open-and-shut case ... except for Miss Marple. She is the lone holdout in the jury that tries him, leading to a mistrial.
Despite the disapproval of Inspector Craddock (Bud Tingwell), Miss Marple decides to delve into the case. She poses as a gatherer for a church jumble sale to enter and search Mrs. McGinty's home. She finds a newspaper with words cut out and several programs for a murder mystery play, Murder She Said, recently performed in the town. These clues lead her to suspect Mrs. McGinty of having blackmailed a member of the repertory company.
She auditions for the repertory theatre players, the Cosgood Players, under their actor/manager Driffold Cosgood (Ron Moody). Cosgood is unimpressed by her acting ability, but as she is willing to work for free and mentions she is independently wealthy, takes her on. Miss Marple knows she is on the right track when actor George Rowton (Maurice Good) is poisoned moments later. She secures accommodation in the boarding house in which the cast is staying to further her investigation and Cosgood leaves a copy of his play Remember September in her bedroom to read. Narrowly avoiding an attempt to silence her (one which claims the life of another actress by mistake), Miss Marple unmasks the killer. Cosgood appeals to her to finance Remember September, but she says "Mr Cosgood, whatever else I am, I am definitely no angel."
- Margaret Rutherford — Miss Jane Marple
- Ron Moody — H. Driffold Cosgood
- Bud Tingwell — Inspector Craddock
- Andrew Cruickshank (credited as "Andrew Cruikshank") — Justice Crosby
- Megs Jenkins — Gladys Thomas, Mrs McGinty's sister
- Dennis Price — Harris Tumbrill, a theatrical agent
- Ralph Michael — Ralph Summers, a philandering former matinee idol
- James Bolam — Bill Hanson, an actor
- Stringer Davis — Jim Stringer
- Francesca Annis — Sheila Upward, an actress and heiress engaged to Bill Hanson
- Alison Seebohm — Eva McGonigall, a premonition-prone actress, recently broken up with George Rowton
- Terry Scott — Police Constable Wells
- Pauline Jameson — Maureen Summers, Ralph's wife
- Maurice Good — George Rowton
- Annette Kerr — Dorothy, an actress and murder victim
- Windsor Davies — Sergeant Brick
- Neil Stacy (as "Neil Stacey") — Arthur
- Stella Tanner — Flory, the landlady
The courthouse seen behind the 'Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Presents' opening credits is Aylesbury Crown Court in the Buckinghamshire town's Market Square.
The Police station to which Miss Marple is taken for questioning by Inspector Craddock and Sergeant Brick, following the death of Cosgood Players actor George Rowton, is Watford Police Station on Shady Lane in the Hertfordshire town.
The theatre in which the Cosgood Players perform Fly By Nightand where much of the action takes place is The Palace Theatre on Clarendon Road in Watford, Hertfordshire. At the time of filming, the theatre was being run by Jimmy Perry (creator of Dad's Army, It Ain't Half Hot Mum and Hi-de-Hi!) and his wife Gilda.
The YMCA where Mr Stringer is staying and where Miss Marple meets him in the grounds to discuss her progress in the investigation – supposedly near the Palace Theatre where the Cosgood Players are performing, and their lodging house nearby – is actually Memorial Park in Pinner, in what is now the London Borough of Harrow.
The scene of the murder and associated village scenes were filmed in the village of Sarratt near Rickmansworth in Hertfordshire.
The name of the first film in the series, Murder She Said, is also the title of the Cosgood Players production that appears on the playbills in the murder victims suitcase.
Marple performs a section of the poem "The Shooting of Dan McGrew" by Robert W. Service in the film.
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