Home | Movies By Year | Movies from 1983


A Caribbean Mystery (film)

Buy A Caribbean Mystery (film) now from Amazon

First, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the movie. And once you've experienced the movie, tell everyone what you thought about it.

Wikipedia article




'A Caribbean Mystery' is a 1983 American made-for-television mystery film based on the 1964 Agatha Christie novel 'A Caribbean Mystery' and starring Helen Hayes as Miss Marple.

Cast



*Helen Hayes as Miss Jane Marple

*Barnard Hughes as Mr Rafiel

*Jameson Parker as Tim Kendall

*Season Hubley as Molly Kendall

*Swoosie Kurtz as Ruth Walter

*Cassie Yates as Lucky Dyson

*Stephen Macht as Greg Dyson

*Zakes Mokae as Captain Daventry

*Beth Howland as Evelyn Hillingdon

*Maurice Evans as Major Geoffrey Palgrave

*Lynne Moody as Victoria Johnson

*George Innes as Edward Hillingdon

*Brock Peters as Dr Graham

Production



Stan Margulies had the rights to eight Christie books. He made a TV movie of Christie's 'Murder Is Easy'. It was a success and the Christie estate liked it, enabling him to get the rights to 'Caribbean Mystery'. He made it around the time of another Christie adaptation, 'Sparkling Cyanide'. Marguiles had to update the stories to the present day because he was unable to do period pieces on a TV movie budget. Because the films were made for American TV, he also insisted on the freedom to cast at least one American actor in the cast.English actor to bring Agatha Christie to the contemporary scene of California

Buck, Jerry. Chicago Tribune 19 July 1983: b5.


Marguiles offered Hayes the part of Marple after using her in 'Murder Is Easy'. Hayes said she turned down the role at first because she "adored" the character of Marple "and I didn't want to follow Margaret Rutherford... I can't be that funny."Helen Hayes talks about theater, aging, and her role as Miss Marple: ON TV HAYES

By Arthur Unger. The Christian Science Monitor 21 Oct 1983: 21.


Filming

The film was shot in Santa Barbara. Hayes said "a lot of things were against us. Like frigid cold and rain every day. We worked indoors while it poured and poured, and when it stopped, we tried to make it look like the tropics. I was wearing light clothes over thermal underwear."

Hayes found the dialogue for Marple difficult. "She has all the summing up, all the exposition. All those lines! I told the producer... 'I can't learn all that stuff.' One of the nice parts about being a star is that the lesser-paid actors have to do the exposition. I haven't done exposition for 50 years."At 82, Helen Hayes is still a going concern

The Globe and Mail23 July 1983: E.5.


Reception



The 'New York Times' said the film "has its engaging moments, thanks primarily to an exceptionally good cast."TV WEEKEND; MARATHONS, AT THE MET AND ON FOOT: [Review]

O'Connor, John J. New York Times21 Oct 1983: C.34.


The film was popular with viewers. Hayes reprised her role as Marple in 'Murder with Mirrors' (1985).

Legacy



The film was seen on TV by writer Richard Levinson who noted its ratings success. He thought of doing a regular mystery show about a Marple-like detective, who was a mystery writer like Agatha Christie. This led to 'Murder, She Wrote'.ANGELA LANSBURY'S UNLIKELY SLEUTH HAS STAYING POWER: [Review]

HARMETZ, ALJEAN. New York Times 27 Oct 1985: A.25.


References




Buy A Caribbean Mystery (film) now from Amazon

<-- Return to movies from 1983



This work is released under CC-BY-SA. Some or all of this content attributed to http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1107013632.