Margaret Rutherford's Miss Marple

A small warning beforehand - I have a complicated relationship with Agatha Christie which I talked about before.
I'm not a fan of her style and despite having read quite a few of her books over my lifetime, I have given up for good now.
I also said, however, that I like (most of) her plots and therefore prefer adaptations of her books. Not all of them and not all of them for the same reasons, though - and that brings me to the four Miss Marple movies with the wonderful Dame Margaret Rutherford.

They were my introduction to Agatha Christie as a child and it's always hard to beat cozy memories like a robust old lady fighting crime and still making you laugh.
In fact, the movies are still on TV on holidays here, sometimes two at a time, but last Easter it was all four of them ... and although I have the DVD box set, I will watch them if I catch them on TV. Always.
I love Rutherford's Miss Marple.
Christie purists will no doubt be shocked - it seems to be an endless discussion which Miss Marple is the best - and of course they are right if they say that Rutherford is not at all like the Jane from the books and that the movies don't follow the books! Even Christie disapproved! Shame!
I get it. Rutherford herself hesitated to take the role because of the topic. I can be a downright annoying purist myself about books and adaptations, but in this case I couldn't care less (and let's not forget Christie's dedication in "The Mirror Crack'd" - "To Margaret Rutherford, in admiration" - after the two women met).
Just hearing the theme makes me happy.



As mentioned, there are four movies.

"Murder She Said" from 1961 is based on the book "4.50 from Paddington".
In the book, Miss Marple's friend Mrs McGillicuddy witnesses a murder on a passing train. The police can't find a body, so she turns to Miss Marple for help who sends Lucy Eyelesbarrow, a freelance housekeeper to Rutherford Hall where they suspect the body to be.
Miss Marple is described as "an elderly, frail old lady" (elderly and old?).
The movie ignores Mrs McGillicuddy and Lucy. Miss Marple witnesses the murder, searches the tracks together with the village librarian Mr Stringer (played by Rutherford's husband Stringer Davis) and takes a post as housekeeper at Ackenthorpe Hall to handle the matter in person.

"Murder at the Gallop" from 1963 is based on "After the Funeral".
This happens in the book - after the funeral of Richard Abernethie, his sister Cora comments about him having been murdered. The next day, Cora is found dead and the family lawyer asks Hercule Poirot to investigate.
That's right, it's a Poirot novel.
In the movie, it's Miss Marple and Mr Stringer who witness the death of the old Mr Enderby and it's Miss Marple who finds Cora's body and then investigates at the "Gallop Hotel" where all the heirs are gathered.

Yes, I did complain about Angela Lansbury's Miss Marple smoking,
but give me Rutherford's dancing Miss Marple anytime! 😍

"Murder Most Foul" from 1964 is based on the book "Mrs McGinty's Dead".
After the conviction of James Bentley for killing his landlady Mrs McGinty, Superintendent Spence has  doubts about his guilt and asks Poirot to look into it in the village where it happened. Mystery writer Ariadne Oliver is there as well.
Oh, another Poirot novel.
Don't worry, in the movie Miss Marple can solve the case just as well as he could. Here she's the one jury member who has doubts and therefore prevents a verdict. After finding information at Mrs McGinty's house that links to a theater ensemble, she decides to infiltrate it ...

Miss Marple auditioning with "The Shooting of Dan McGrew",
a poem Rutherford also liked to recite in real life.
I love her capes - they were hers, no costumes - 
and would love to have one. I'm not the only one!

"Murder Ahoy" from 1964 isn't based on any Christie book but is an original story.
Miss Marple is on a board of trustees for the training ship "Battledore". One of the trustees has dropped dead in the middle of a meeting, and after discovering he has been poisoned, Miss Marple doesn't hesitate to check out the ship herself, in full naval outfit of course!

Mr Stringer had a little shock, but of course Miss Marple is prepared

A typical Christie Miss Marple? For me, that's undoubtedly Joan Hickson (who makes an appearance as the day help at Ackenthorpe Hall, by the way).
The most fun Miss Marple? That's Margaret Rutherford by far.
If you expect a Christie mystery and nothing else, the movies are not for you. Ignore the name Marple and you are in for a treat.

Although Rutherford was 72 when the last film came out, - one reason there are not more of them - she's not "an elderly, frail old lady". She has huge presence and she fills the screen.
She's a stubborn and eccentric Miss Marple, not afraid to speak her mind and not easily intimidated by police, suspects or murderers.
(Chief) Inspector Craddock - also an invention of the movies - doubting her over and over again only makes her more determined to solve the puzzles that he doesn't even recognize. After all she has read hundreds of mystery novels and is more than prepared. Her success confirms that. Why the police hasn't snapped her up as a counselor, I don't understand.

Mr Stringer who, despite not having as much courage as his fearless leader, never deserts her. Just as Rutherford didn't desert her husband insisting on having him play along her. No Mr Stringer in the books, the role was created specifically for Stringer Davis.

Throughout the movies we also get glimpses into Miss Marple's past life. She can do so much more than knit (which you only see her do once in all of the movies although the inspector almost sits on her knitting project once).
Playing golf in the grounds of Ackenthorpe Hall: "I'll have you know that I won the Ladies' Open Handicap in 1921."
Showing off her mother's vintage saddle at the Gallop Hotel: "Well, I've done some riding in my time. Junior Silver Spurs Brockbrook 1910."
Analyzing the remnants of the dead trustee's snuff with the "Slogums Advanced Chemistry Set for Girls": "Strychnine."
In a fencing fight with the killer on the "Battledore": "I was Ladies' National Fencing Champion in 1931."

Is it a wonder that men are falling for her left and right?
I'm not joking, no spoilers this time, though.

Most people seem to agree that "Murder She Said" is the best of the movies and after that "Murder at the Gallop". Opinions vary about the other two.
I too agree on the first two, but unlike others I prefer "Murder Ahoy" to "Murder Most Foul" which isn't bad, but not as charming in my opinion.

Margaret Rutherford, however, is wonderful in all of them.
As she says in "Murder Ahoy": "I am always myself. Hmpf." Who wouldn't believe that?
Why don't you grab a hot beverage, a blanket, snuggle up on your couch and have a look for yourself?


Sources/further reading:

1. Diana and Connie Metzinger: The Miss Marple Mysteries with Margaret Rutherford. On: Silver Scenes, March 17, 2014
2. Ginny Kaczmarek: A Margaret Rutherford moment. On: Ginny Kaczmarek, December 7, 2021
3. Jack Buckley: Remembering Margaret Rutherford: murder on and off screen. On: Seen and Heard International, April 18, 2020