Murder Ahoy

Miss Marple takes a seat on the board of a charitable trust and, during a meeting, a fellow trustee is poisoned. The trail leads to a training ship for young offenders, and Marple installs herself aboard to run the investigation there. Directed by George Pollock, this entry differs from the rest of the series in one respect: it is not based on any Agatha Christie novel, and the screenplay was written directly for the screen. Christie was thoroughly unhappy with the result and cut her ties with the series afterwards. Margaret Rutherford has by now turned the character entirely into herself; the fencing scene is the most cited passage. Ron Goodwin's music is in place again and it runs short. Who it is for: viewers working through Rutherford's Marple films. Who it is not for: anyone expecting a Christie adaptation, since this rests on no book at all.