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Murder Most Foul, the fourth and final Rutherford appearance as Miss Marple goes back to basing itself on an actual Christie novel, this time ‘Mrs McGinty’s Dead’, which is oddly enough a Poirot story. It was adapted to a Miss Marple style for this movie
Jane Marple was a kindly old spinster ... Read review
Double CD, running time 2hrs 30mins. CD 1: 'Bluebeard's Bathtub' by Margery Allingham, ... more
read by Derek Jacobi, and 'Who Killed Zebedee' by Wilkie Collins read by Patrick Malahide. CD 2: 'An Alpine Divorce' by Robert Barr, read by Brian Cox, and 'The Speckled Band' by Conan Doyle, read by Edward Hardwicke.
Double CD, running time 2hrs 30mins. CD 1: 'The Perfect Crime' by PC Wren, read by Brian ... more
Cox, and 'Thirteen Lead Soldiers' by Sapper, read by Edward Hardwicke. CD 2: 'First Hate' by Algernon Blackwood, read by Derek Jacobi, and 'Markheim' by Robert L Stevenson, read by Jack Shepherd.
The Ultimate Crimes series tells the true life stories of the world's most infamous ... more
murders. Revealed for the first time on DVD are the crimes, clues and forensic evidence that brought the most violent murderers to justice.Society MurdersLord Lucan is still wanted for the brutal murder of the family's nanny who was bludgeoned to death with a piece of lead piping. What really happened that night?Ann Woodward shot her husband after attending a party for the Duchess of Windsor. Was it murder or mistaken identity?Sir Harry Oaks was a rich society man found murdered in his bed in the Bahamas in 1943. His murder was personally investigated by the Duke of Windsor.Poisoned to Death Herbert Armstrong was a retired Major who poisoned his domineering wife and then a local solicitor lacing scones with arsenic.Graham Young was obsessed with Hitler and black magic. This intelligent misfit went on to poison his family and work colleagues with thallium.Judi Buenuano was executed in the electric chair. She poisoned her husbands and used a car bomb to collect their insurance!The PoisonersDr Crippen murdered his wife in order to be with his mistress Ethel Le Neve, but the pair were caught by the wireless from SS Montrose to Scotland Yard.Carl Coppolino was an experienced anaesthetist who found a way to poison his wife with succinic acid and choline which are found naturally in the body.Arthur Waite was an American dentist. 'The Playboy Murderer' would ultimately face execution in 1917 for a double murder.
PRESCRIPTION MURDERDEADLY DOCTORS: John Bodkin Adams, accused of murdering for profit and ... more
narrowly escaping the gallows. Harold Shipman, the most infamous medical murderer in history. Alive Wynekoop, accused of shooting to death her daughter-in-law in 'The House of Weird Death'.SAVAGE SURGEONS: Marcel Petiot, a doctor in the French resistance, murdered 27 people arguing that they were Germans. Buck Ruxton murdered his wife and nursemaid in this famous 'bodies under the bridge' case. Jeffrey McDonald killed his pregnant wife and their two young daughters.ANGELS OF DEATH: Donald Harvey, a self-styled occultist with severe personality disorders, killed more than 50 people. Orville Lynn Majors drastically increased the death rate in a small Indiana hospital where he worked. Beverly Allitt, a young student murder, tried to kill 23 children to gain attention for herself.IN SEARCH OF JUSTICEFINAL JUSTICE: Robert Harris, the first to be executed in California in 25 years, died in the gas chamber after shooting two teenage boys. Gary Gilmore committed a senseless double murder, asked for the death sentence to be passed and died in front of the firing squad. Steven Judy was electrocuted in Indiana for the brutal rape and murder of a young mother and the drowning of her three infant children.TRAPPED BY FORENSICS: The Raily Killer, John Duffy, terrorised travellers for over 5 years before being caught in the first breakthrough for Psychological Offender Profiling. Timothy Spencer was the first American murderer to be caught by DNA after the rape and murder of 5 women. It took police 13 years to trap David Lashley, a sadistic rapist and murderer.BIZARRE MURDERS: Ronald Defoe butchered his mother, father, two brothers and two sisters in the House of Amityville. 'God's Banker', Robert Calvi, involved in Italy's greatest banking scandal, was hanged from Blackfriar's Bridge in 1982. Dian Fossey, renowned for her work saving gorillas in Rwanda, was found beaten to death in her cabin in 1985. The murders have never been found.MURDER AT THE TOPSOMEBODY KILLED THE PRESIDENT! James Garfield, the last of the 'log cabin' presidents of the USA, was assassinated after restoring prestige to the Presidency after the Reconstruction period. President McKinley's 2nd term was cut short by his murder in 1901. He was the last American president of the 19th century who annexed the Philippines and Puerto Rico and fought the Spanish in Cuba. John F. Kennedy was murdered in 1963 by Lee Harvey Oswald.MURDER AT THE TOP: Ernst Roehm, Hitler;s chief of the Sturmabteilung, aka the 'Brownshirts', was loyal to Hitler but became a victims of the 'night of the long knives' when Hitler eliminated the Brownshirts' commanders, increasing his own power base. Monsignor Juan Gerardi Condera, a coordinator of Guatemalon human rights, was found murdered after reporting kidnappings, tortures and massacres of the Guatemalan army during 1990-1996. Earl Mountbatten of Burma, the great grandson of Queen Victoria, a war hero and the last Viceroy of India, was assassinated by the IRA in Sligo.ROYAL MURDERS: King Faisal of Saudi Arabia was murdered by his nephew in 1975. He started the oil crisis in 1973 by withdrawing Saudi oil from world markets. King Birendra created an infant democracy in Nepal, resulting in his murder by his son the Crown Prince, along with most of the Nepalese Royal family. Captured by the Red Army, the last Russian Tsar Nicolas II and his family were all murdered on Lenin's orders in 1918.
On the night of 29 June, 1860 three-year-old Francis Kent was kidnapped from his room, ... more
murdered and his body dumped in an outside lavatory. The ensuing investigation became legendary for its mismanagement, incompetence, infighting and corruption. This book investigates this famous case, and demonstrates conclusively who the murderer really was.
On the night of 29 June 1860 at Road Hill House four-year-old Francis Kent had his throat ... more
cut and his body dumped in an outdoor privy. There were three main suspects: Samuel Kent; Elizabeth Gough; and, Constance Kent. Eventually Constance Kent confessed, was found guilty. This book investigates what happened in the style of Inspector Poirot.
Production Year: 2002 - Thriller - Director: Bharat Nalluri, Rob Bailey, Andy Wilson - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Matthew MacFadyen, Keeley Hawes, David Oyelowo, Peter Firth, Jenny Agutter, Lisa Faulkner
Thriller - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Timothy West, Neil Morrissey, Tara Fitzgerald, Annette Crosbie, Pauline Quirke, Rob Brydon, Denise Van Outen, John Thomson, Kevin Whately, David Suchet
Advantages: Rutherford and Moody, two great actors Disadvantages: None
...Margaret Rutherford. Murder Most Foul, the fourth and final Rutherford appearance as Miss Marple goes back to basing itself on an actual Christie novel, this time ‘Mrs McGinty’s Dead’, which is oddly enough a Poirot story. It was adapted to a Miss Marple style for this movie Jane Marple was a kindly old spinster who always seemed to get involved in mysteries and murder wherever she went. She also managed to always be one step ahead of ... ...of the jury for a murder case. As far as the judge, our favourite Detective Craddock and, in fact, most of the jury are concerned it is an open and shut case. One thinks differently though and because of her the case goes to retrial. With the Police uninterested in her theories Miss Marple, with aid from the ever-reliable Mr Stringer, decides to investigate herself. Soon she finds herself joining up with a travelling theatrical convinced that ... more
In the moving pictures world there is only one Miss Marple. Forget the TV versions, no matter how good you may think they are, the quintessential Miss Marple was, without any doubt, the wonderful Margaret Rutherford. Murder Most Foul, the fourth and final Rutherford appearance as Miss Marple goes back to basing itself on an actual Christie novel, this time ‘Mrs McGinty’s Dead’, which is oddly enough a Poirot story. It was adapted to a Miss Marple style for this movie Jane Marple was a kindly old spinster who always seemed to get involved in mysteries and murder wherever she went. She also managed to always be one step ahead of the police in deducing what was going on. Jessice Fletcher from the perennial mid-afternoon TV show ‘Murder She Wrote’ was very much based on Marple.
As the movie opens we see Miss Marple as part of the jury for a murder case. As far as the judge, our favourite Detective Craddock and, in fact, most of the jury are concerned it is an open and shut case. One thinks differently though and because of her the case goes to retrial. With the Police uninterested in her theories Miss Marple, with aid from the ever-reliable Mr Stringer, decides to investigate herself. Soon she finds herself joining up with a travelling theatrical convinced that one of the actors is the real murderer.
After the move from the quaint village life of 50’s England for Murder Ahoy, the Marple movie before this one, we move back there for Murder Most Foul. The normality of tended gardens, picket fences and chatting to all your neighbours is once again shattered by a brutal murder. With a company of actors involved the film manages to expand its locations away from cottages and manor houses, although cottages do make a few appearances, to a theatre and a boarding house where all the company stay. Murder Most Foul is, as you would expect from Christie, a clever little mystery where you have no clue as to who the killer is until nearly the last scene. It keeps you engaged not only with the story but also with some great claustrophobic scenes where all the actors are cramped in one room together, especially when you know one of them is a killer!
Following the tradition of casting quality actors in the main roles opposite Miss Marple Murder Most Foul gives us Ron Moody as the head of the acting troupe. A true actor who is reminiscent of the quality dramatic leads of the 30’s and 40’s Moody is perfectly cast and brings the role to life. His scenes with Rutherford are worth the price of the DVD alone. In the minor roles we find another collection of future TV greats, again carrying on a series tradition. This time around we have a Likely Lad (James Bolam), A Sgt Major (Windsor Davies) and June’s husband Terry (Terry Scott). This quartet of movies is a TV fans Where’s Wally. You keep spotting a familiar face and then try working out who they are. Some like Terry Scott don’t look any different, just younger. Others you know you know but just cannot quite put your finger on from where. Murder Most Foul isn’t the greatest of mysteries, in some ways it is just a little too complicated for the short running time of the movie to fully go into with making the plot wholly dominate everything, which you certainly don’t want with such an array of talent on screen. Part of the enjoyment in watching these is seeing Rutherford in character interacting with these people something that would be lost if the makers tried to push the mystery story too much. This isn’t to say you can’t work out the plot once it is explained, just that it all seems a bit to rushed. A nice little in-joke to take the series full circle involves one of the theatre company’s programmes that Miss Marple discovers. She finds a programme for a performance of ‘Murder She Said’, the original movie in the series. This is a nice touch to finish off Rutherford’s Marple career.
