Plot: What’s it about?
Miss Marple (Angela Lansbury) is thrilled to learn a film company is coming to her small town, but as she soon discovers, not all that comes is good. But before we get into the bad, let’s discuss what happens at the start here, shall we? The small town hosts a wealth of crew members and stars, with the biggest stars being Marina Rudd (Elizabeth Taylor) and Lola Brewster (Kim Novak), the hottest female talent in the business. But it seems the two don’t know they’re working together, as when Marina arrives, she blows her stack in anger over the issue. As you can imagine, the two dislike each other and of course, loathe the idea of having to share the screen with one another. So the production is troubled from the start, but when Marina starts to get death threats, it all takes a turn to the serious side. This is never more true than when a local woman drinks a cocktail meant for Marina, which ends up being poisoned and kills the poor girl. Now Miss Marple must deduce who is behind this murderous plot, before the two vixens go at each other’s throats.
I’ve been wading through some of Anchor Bay’s Agatha Christie releases, so I figured it was time to spin the disc for The Mirror Crack’d. I love a good murder mystery and while Christie writes some the best ones, the films don’t always turn out as well as they should. While this one isn’t one the best examples of filmed Christie, it is a decent one and with such a gifted cast, more than worth a look. These Christie based pictures usually have a nice selection of performers, but this one is better than most, with such names as Rock Hudson, Kim Novak, Tony Curtis, Elizabeth Taylor, and Angela Lansbury involved. The screen always seem loaded, but never too much so, as the actors are given enough space to work within. This is by no means a flawless suspense flick, but The Mirror Crack’d offers some terrific twists and turns, powered by a superb cast of characters. But it moves very slowly and stumbles a few times, so don’t expect perfection from this one. I recommend this as a rental to genre fans and those who love Christie, as this is not a classic, but still worth a spin.
The man behind the wheel of this flick is director Guy Hamilton, who seems to use the brakes a little often with The Mirror Crack’d. I know suspense films can be superb and slow at the same time, but Hamilton never juices this one when it needs it, so the picture trips up often. I am unsure why it turned out this way however, as Hamilton is a talented director and he had a terrific cast to work with here. I suppose he was trying to make this a slow mystery film like other Christie works, but I think he forgot where that gas pedal was in this case.
Video: How does it look?
The Mirror Crack’d has been given a facelift courtesy of Kino and the new 1.85:1 HEVC 4K transfer brings out the best in what the film has to offer. At times, this image is laden with grain and print wear, but at other times, it seems clean and well presented. In the end, the negatives seem to outweigh the positives, but not by too much in the end. Given the film’s age, it looks the best it ever has but considering that other films from the era have looked better – it’s a bit of a jump ball. But if you’re looking to see some golden age stars in 4K then look no further.
Audio: How does it sound?
A simple, but effective DTS HD Master Audio 2.0 track is present, which more than handles the needs of this material. The music and sound effects don’t need much space to open up, but when they need to, this track allows as much as mono can, which isn’t that much. Even so, I was never let down with this audio treatment and in truth, I doubt many others will be either. No problems to report with the dialogue either, which comes across in fine form and with no volume flaws to discuss in the least. A basic effort here, but it proves to be enough in the end.
Supplements: What are the extras?
- Audio Commentary – Noted critics Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell, and Nathaniel Thomson contribute to a nice track that’s ported over from Kino’s Blu-ray and gives us some information about the shoot, the cast and the film as a whole.
- Theatrical Trailer
- Television Spots
The Bottom Line
I’ve never been too taken with Agatha Christie “tales” (for lack of a better term), but to see this again after quite some time was rather nice. It was odd to me that in only a few years after the release of this film, Hudson would be the first major celebrity to succumb to the AIDS virus. Nevertheless, Kino’s 4K offering gives the film it’s best-looking image to date.
