Murder at the Gallop

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Murder at the Gallop
Murder at the Gallop FilmPoster.jpeg
Theatrical release poster by Tom Jung
Directed by George Pollock
Screenplay by James P. Cavanagh
Based on After the Funeral
1953 novel
by Agatha Christie
Produced byGeorge H. Brown
Lawrence P. Bachmann
Starring Margaret Rutherford
Robert Morley
Flora Robson
Cinematography Arthur Ibbetson
Edited byBert Rule
Music by Ron Goodwin
Production
company
George H. Brown Productions
Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date
  • 24 June 1963 (1963-06-24)(NYC)
Running time
81 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Murder at the Gallop (1963) is the second of four Miss Marple films made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. [1] It was based on the 1953 novel After the Funeral by Agatha Christie, with Margaret Rutherford as Miss Jane Marple, Charles "Bud" Tingwell as Inspector Craddock and Stringer Davis (Rutherford's husband) as Jane Marple's friend Mr Stringer [2] returning from the previous film.

Contents

It also stars Robert Morley and Flora Robson and was directed by George Pollock, with James P. Cavanagh credited with the adaptation. The music was by Ron Goodwin. [3] The film's location shots included Amersham, Little Marlow and Hilfield Castle. [4] It is a sequel to Murder, She Said and was followed by Murder Most Foul and Murder Ahoy! , all with Rutherford as Marple.

The film changes both the action and the characters. The original novel featured Hercule Poirot rather than Miss Marple, and Christie's trademark suspense is seasoned with light comedy. Miss Gilchrist from the original novel has also morphed into Miss Milchrest.

Plot

While Miss Marple and Mr Stringer are soliciting donations for a charity ("The Reformed Criminals Assistance League"), they call on Mr Enderby, a rich recluse. He tumbles down the long entrance staircase, apparently the victim of a fatal heart attack. Knowing that Enderby had a pathological fear of cats, Miss Marple becomes suspicious when she finds one in the house. She also finds a piece of mud bearing the print of a riding boot, but when she goes to Inspector Craddock, he is sceptical, believing that Enderby died of natural causes.

Undeterred, Miss Marple eavesdrops when Enderby's family gather for the reading of the will. There are four beneficiaries: fourth cousin George Crossfield, niece Rosamund Shane, nephew Hector Enderby and sister Cora Lansquenet. Each receives an equal share of the estate. Cora claims that Enderby was murdered. The next day, when Miss Marple goes to see her, she finds Cora dead, stabbed in the back with a hatpin. Cora's companion of many years, timid Miss Milchrest, can provide little information.

Miss Marple begins her investigations as a guest at the Gallop Hotel run by Hector Enderby, where the other two surviving heirs and Miss Milchrest are staying. When Inspector Craddock questions them and Rosamund Shane's spendthrift husband Michael, none of them can produce a satisfactory alibi for the time of Cora Lansquenet's death.

An attempt is made to do away with Miss Marple but is foiled by the intended victim (without her even realising it). Miss Marple then discovers that the piece of mud found in Enderby's house came from shady art dealer George Crossfield's riding boot, but her case against him is dashed when she learns that each of the heirs visited Enderby on the day he died, to ask for money. Crossfield has meanwhile found out who the murderer is, but he is locked in a stall with an excitable horse and is trampled to death.

By this point, Miss Marple knows the identity and motive of the killer but has no definite proof. She, therefore, lays a trap, pretending to have a heart attack at a dance at the hotel while doing the twist with Mr Stringer. The police doctor places her in a room by herself, declaring it to be too dangerous to move her until morning. During the night, the murderer, Miss Milchrest, makes one last attempt to silence her, but Miss Marple is ready. Milchrest's motive is revealed to be a seemingly worthless painting owned by Cora, which actually was very valuable.

Hector Enderby later proposes marriage to Miss Marple but she turns him down. When she declares her distaste for blood sports, Hector, an enthusiastic fox hunter, mutters to himself "That was a narrow escape!"

Cast

Notes

Christie is mentioned by name early in the film when Miss Marple speaks to the police inspector after the first death. Later in the film, Marple also uses the phrase, "murder most foul," a line from Hamlet which also became the title of the next movie in the series.

Related Research Articles

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Miss Christie would no doubt approve of Joan Hickson, the veteran British character actress who plays Miss Marple... This BBC/Arts & Entertainment co-production offers an especially good example of Agatha Christie in adaptation. The characters are nicely realized and the suspense holds. Miss Hickson is lovely, neither as awesome as Miss Rutherford nor as overly cute as Helen Hayes. And the supporting cast is admirable, particularly Gwen Watford as Dolly and David Horovitch as Inspector Slack. As someone notes about the case, "you'll have to admit it has all the bizarre elements of a cheap thriller." Once hooked, you won't be able to turn it off.

Sir Henry Clithering is a fictional character who appears in a series of short stories by Agatha Christie, featuring Jane Marple. The stories were first published in monthly magazines starting in 1927, and then collected into a hard-bound collection, The Thirteen Problems in 1932. Clithering also appeared in several novels featuring Miss Marple.

References

  1. ↑ Hunter, I. Q.; Porter, Laraine (2012). British comedy cinema. Routledge. p. 96. ISBN   978-0-415-66667-1 . Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  2. ↑ Blood on the Stage, 1925–1950: Milestone Plays of Crime, Mystery, and Detection: an Annotated Repertoire. Scarecrow Press. 2010. p. 762. ISBN   978-0-8108-6963-9 . Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  3. ↑ Reid, John (30 August 2006). Great Cinema Detectives: Best Movies of Mystery, Suspense & Film Noir. Lulu.com. p. 142. ISBN   978-1-84728-685-7 . Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  4. ↑ Reel Streets Archived 12 May 2016 at the Wayback Machine
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