The film was released in 1964. It was directed by George Pollock, and David Pursall is credited with the adaptation. The music is by Ron Goodwin.[4]
The title is a quotation 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."
Margaret McGinty, a barmaid and former actress, is found hanged in her home. Her lodger, Harold Taylor, is discovered at the scene, appearing guilty. The evidence seems overwhelming, and Taylor is quickly tried. However, Miss Marple is the lone holdout on the jury, leading to a mistrial.
Despite Inspector Craddock’s disapproval, Miss Marple undertakes her own investigation. Posing as a collector for a church jumble sale, she gains access to Mrs McGinty's home, where she discovers a newspaper with words cut out and several programmes for a murder-mystery play recently performed in the town. These clues suggest that Mrs McGinty had been blackmailing a member of the repertory company, the Cosgood Players.
Miss Marple auditions for the Cosgood Players under their actor-manager, Driffold Cosgood. Although her acting is unimpressive, she mentions having independent means, and Cosgood allows her to join the company unpaid, hoping she might act as a financier. Miss Marple's suspicions are confirmed when one of the actors, George Rowton, is poisoned shortly afterward. She takes lodging in the boarding house where the cast resides, continuing her inquiries. A copy of Cosgood's play, Remember September, is mysteriously left in her room. With the help of Mr Stringer, she researches the play’s staging history and Mrs McGinty’s prior connections to the company.
An attempt on Miss Marple's life claims the life of another actress, heightening the urgency of the investigation. Anticipating another attack during a theatre performance, Miss Marple positions herself strategically in the audience and on stage. She cleverly observes the interactions among the cast and ultimately unmasks the killer, revealing both the motivations behind the murders and the blackmail scheme.
After the case is resolved, Cosgood appeals to Miss Marple to finance a production of Remember September. She politely declines, stating, "Mr Cosgood, whatever else I may or may not be, I am definitely no angel."
The police station to which Miss Marple is taken for questioning by Inspector Craddock and Sergeant Brick, following the death of the actor George Rowton, is on Shady Lane in Watford, Hertfordshire.[6]
The theatre in which the Cosgood Players perform Fly By Night and where much of the action takes place is the Palace Theatre on Clarendon Road in Watford.[6] At the time of filming the theatre was being run by Jimmy Perry (co-creator of Dad's Army) and his wife Gilda.
The YMCA where Mr. Stringer stays 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.[6]
The scene of the murder and associated village scenes were filmed in Sarratt near Rickmansworth in Hertfordshire.[6]
Notes
The title 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 first murder victim's suitcase. According to the playbill, the play was written by Agatha Christie.
An actual Christie play, The Mousetrap, is referenced by the director (Moody) at one point in the film.
1 2 Landazuri, Margarita; Quin, Eleanor (15 December 2006). "Murder Most Foul". Turner Classic Movies Database. Archived from the original on 2 January 2024. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
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