Agatha Christie's The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side - 1980 & 2010

It’s a fact that if you read one Agatha Christie novel or short story a week, it would take you almost two years to finish. By that time you could start it all over again because you’ve forgotten all you’d read! I’m pretty sure, though, that it would take even more time to watch every movie adaptation of Christie’s works! What’s so good about Agatha Christie that filmmakers can’t stop shooting newer and newer adaptations? And what’re the differences between the novel “The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side” and its two adaptations I’ve watched? That’s what I’m going to search answers for!

It is possible that the success of Christie adaptations lies in the fact that you can watch them with others. When you’re reading a Christie mystery all by yourself, you’re most of the time completely clueless as to who did it – and why is a question that is totally impossible to answer. However, when you’re watching a film with companions it’s great to guess together! We used to do so with my cousins – before Miss Marple’s or Poirot’s revelation at the end we used to pause the film and everybody had to guess who the murderer was. Now I usually read the books before I watch the movies in order to compare the two, but I greatly miss those times! Maybe I should give up with my new habit!

Of course I would never dream to say that adaptations are better than the books themselves. Agatha Christie hated all the adaptations that were released during her life, including the Margaret Rutherford series and she was never satisfied with the size of Poirot’s moustache on film! A year before Christie died a new chapter began in the history of her adaptations – starting with “Murder on the Orient Express” in 1974, a series of Hollywood all-star adaptations kicked off.

However, the two series that pay tribute to Christie the best possible way and try to put everything on film as she would have liked to are both British – one of them is Joan Hickson’s Miss Marple series made by BBC in the 1980s, the other one is the Poirot series with David Suchet in the lead role. After the success of Poirot, ITV started another Marple series with Geraldine McEwan and later on with Julia McKenzie as Miss Marple. In this one the novels were often rewritten to fit the episodes.

“The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side” was written by Agatha Christie in 1962 and is one of her later novels. Miss Marple’s character is older and feebler than she was and it is emphasized how everything has changed in St. Mary Mead – introducing a new housing estate to the village. Despite the passing of time, Agatha Christie is still on top of her creativity – the story might not be as strong as her best ones, but the characters are lovely, the crime is exciting and it has the Christie touch that makes her novels such a great pleasure to read.

The two film adaptations I watched after reading the novel were the all-star “The Mirror Crack’d’"made in 1980 and the 4^th episode of Marple’s 5^th season with Julia McKenzie. I think both adaptations stuck to the story quite faithfully.

Anyone who takes a look at the cast of the 1980 movie wants to watch it then and there. Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, Tony Curtis, Kim Novak, Geraldine Chaplin: even minor characters are played by world famous stars. But the film just didn’t feel right for me. It was somehow made into a parody of itself, without any grace or style. Some really stupid and highly unfunny jokes were repeated over and over. And Angela Lansbury didn’t do well either – her Miss Marple was nothing like the pink and fluffy old lady Agatha Christie wrote about.

The 2010 adaptation for ITV’s series was just as good as the other episodes – nothing too special, but everything that is needed: including a great Miss Marple, the marvelous English village feeling (which was also missing from the other one) and a special atmosphere that the series always creates. I have no idea why the storyline of the brand new housing estate and the funny character of Miss Marple’s annoying nurse wasn’t included in any of the films, but that might be just a reasonable thing not to include everything.

I wouldn’t like to spoil the book or any of the films, as they’re certainly worth a watch, so I decided to evaluate the characters by giving points to those I liked better in the adaptations. As there’s a great number of characters you’re free to guess who the murderer was and why, and then you should check out whether you were right or wrong! Let’s get started! You can see screencaps from the film version in the left and from the series in the right.

I love Julia McKenzie, so I think I’m a bit biased here, but Angela Lansbury was anything but good. Her Miss Marple took an unnecessary slapstick fall right at the beginning, but at least they made it clear what we should expect. Miss Marple’s character is a win for the series. The score is 0-1.

Marina Gregg was played by Elizabeth Taylor and Lindsay Duncan. Except for her awful hairdo, Taylor was amazing, she was much more dominant and temperamental than Duncan (even though she did a fine job, too), but still she was not too much. As it was her last true leading role, I’ll give her this point – the score is 1-1.

The upcoming character is Rock Hudson vs. Nigel Harman as Jason Rudd, Marina’s loving husband. I think there was no reference whatsoever in the book that Marina’s husband was years younger than her, so first I didn’t appreciate that change, but as I come to think of it, it was not so very bad after all. Rock Hudson was a bit frozen, but at least had the right age, so give him the point – the score is 2-1.

Lola Brewster was played by Kim Novak and also by Hanna Waddingham. I’m sorry to say that but Kim Novak was way too much for me – I know it was her role, but her eternal fight with Marina was not funny at all and soon became tiring. She was also too stupid and it didn’t come off well – the other Lola was just fine, a bit silly but good-looking, so she’s the winner here. The score is 2-2.

Called Ardwyck Fenn in the book, Martin Fenn in the 1980 film and Vincent Hogg in the series, this character didn’t do much originally. Tony Curtis’s role as a producer was not something I would have agreed to do in his place – he had nothing to do except for telling some sharp jokes on filmmaking. Martin Jarvis’s cynical journalist was much better, and the character came to life in a better way than in the book. My point goes there! The score is 2-3.

Ella Zielinsky (for some reason called Ella Blunt in both films) was a great character both times – played by Geraldine Chaplin and Victoria Smurfit just as well. This is a hard choice, as both actresses caught the plain personality of the secretary, but I’ll choose Geraldine, so the score is 3-3.

Inspector Craddock is a recurring character in the Marple novels and a very dear friend to Miss Marple. Edward Fox’s character became her nephew in the film and was a bit stupid, while Hugh Bonneville played Inspector Hewitt instead of Craddock and he was quite a strange man, something of a war veteran, but I couldn’t figure out why this aspect was included… Well, it was still better than the bad cliché of a stupid policeman, so I’ll give him my point – making the score 3-4.

Dolly Bantry is another friend of Miss Marple, who also appears in more novels, and she’s a very kind woman, but Joanna Lumley’s character in the series annoyed me so much that she won’t get my point, that’s for sure! So the winner is Margaret Courtenay, even though she didn't do much. The score becomes 4-4.

Heather Badcock is the victim of the story, as Miss Marple says in the film: "She was a bit of a bore, but you don’t kill someone for that – if you did, there’d be no one left in the village" This time I was horribly annoyed by Maureen Bennett, as you can see it in the left, just the way she spoke would have made anybody kill her! Besides, she was way too young, and Caroline Quentin was a hundred times better, so she gets my point here. The score is 4-5.

Margot Bence was played by Marella Oppenheim and Charlotte Riley, but here it’s impossible to access the film version, as this quite important character was basically neglected, so the score is 4-6, which makes the final score.

All in all, both adaptations had some good and bad points, but I think the series had fewer bad ones than the film. Still, I think the wonderful cast makes it worth giving the movie a try and without having read the book it might be more enjoyable! But if you’re a true Agatha Christie fan, I wouldn’t recommend it – you’ll be disappointed!

This is my contribution to "Beyond the Cover" blogathon, hosted by Speakseasy and NowVoyaging. Check out the entries of the first day here!

The fat lady and the banana

According to an often retold anecdote, once in the 1930s Charlie Chaplin had a short conversation with renown screenwriter Charles MacArthur:

“How could I make a fat lady, walking down Fifth Avenue, slip on a banana peel and still get a laugh?” said MacArthur. “Do I show first the banana peel, then the fat lady approaching; then she slips? Or do I show the fat lady first, then the banana peel, and then she slips?”

“Neither,” said Charlie. “You show the fat lady approaching; then you show the banana peel; then you show the banana peel and the fat lady together; then she steps over the banana peel and disappears down a manhole.”

This conversation might or might not have taken place between them, but it seems to have got very popular among anecdote tellers. David Niven includes it in his autobiography (x) and the snippet I cited here was written by American author Clifton Fadiman (x).

The following version, by Chuck Jones (x), is so extended and dramatized that it’s quite impossible to believe that these were Charlie’s own words. Anyway, it’s highly entertaining.

Two stage writers decided to test Chaplin: “Let’s nail him with something very difficult in the way of comic business. Let’s take about the biggest chestnut we can find,” So they cornered Chaplin one day and said, “How would you make comic business out of a fat lady and a banana peel?” 

They thought he’d say he wouldn’t bother with anything like that, but he said, “You can make comic business out of anything. Let’s analyze it. First of all, decide about how much time you’re going to spend. Let’s say, half a minute on it. Second of all, you have to make everybody dislike her if she’s going to get in trouble. So you pick her up, say, on Fifth Avenue, walking along, and she has an umbrella or a nasty little dog or something that immediately says she’s not socially acceptable. She pokes people with umbrellas or her dog snaps at people. But she has the right of way, by God. You get that feeling from her. Now that can be done very quickly. Once you have established that you’ll get a minor laugh then because the audience WANTS her to come to some sort of a problem. You zoom your camera ahead and pick up a banana peel lying on the sidewalk. Then you cut to her being mean again, intercutting shots. Get an angle shot from the banana peel down onto the pavement, looking across the banana peel, seeing her approach the banana peel (this is a good dramatic shot.) You do a series of fast intercuts, increasing your pace as you go.” “We’re approaching this peel closer and closer. You cut to the banana peel, she walks in, steps OVER the banana peel,and falls into a manhole.”

(First posted on my blog in January 2016)

Lita Grey appearing in her only scene from 'The Gold Rush'

Lita Grey appearing in her only scene shot in the Chaplin Studios for The Gold Rush before her sudden pregnancy and marriage to Chaplin. The daily continuity report for Saturday, 22nd March 1924 describes the scene the following way:

Scene 14: Close-up. Dissolve. C. asleep in kitchen on couch. Lita standing over him with cake–awakens him–he sits up–she sits down beside him–smiles–takes berry–gives it to him–he turns forward–eats it–smiles–she takes another berry–starts to give it to him. She says: Close you eyes and open your mouth. He does so and she throws whole cake in his face and laughs. C. takes cake off–face all smeared with cream–Fade out and fade into close-up of cabin with C. asleep in cot–blanket over body but not on head–snow on neck and face–snow drops down from roof five times–he wakes up then sits up–and looks around room–brushes snow off–gets up–comes forward left of camera. O. K.

(First posted on my blog in January 2016)

The Premieres of 'A Countess from Hong Kong' - Part 2

With my next film I won’t open in London. I’ll open in Kalamazoo or somewhere and leave London later. I don’t understand what’s happening there now. (The Sunday Times)

When Chaplin first heard about the English reviews, he was shocked and offended at the same time. He was trying to defend himself by saying his films always addressed the public. (Which was not quite true in this case, because ‘A Countess’ turned out to be one of the biggest commercial failures of 1967.)

What shocked me about the English reviews of the ‘Countess’ was the fact that they were unanimous. And they seemed so personal, an attack on me. All they were interested in was ‘Chaplin has a flop’.

So Chaplin realized the critics were missing the depth of his film. He regained his self-confidence and went on to visit the French premier with great expectations. He arrived at Paris on the 12th of January, and held a press conference that night on Champs-Élysées. When he was asked if he would do another film after A Countess from Hong Kong he said: “Yes, I am preparing one but it is only in an embryonic state. There are roles for Geraldine and two of my daughters, Josephine and Victoria.”

Next day’s premiere in L’Opera Garnier was attended by his wife Oona, son Sydney and his wife Noelle Adam, and daughters Geraldine and Josephine. Famous French people also attended, including Guy de Rothschild (banker), Henri Chapier (journalist), Claude Pompidou (wife of the president) and even British actor Michael Cain. Chaplin and his family were greeted by a division of the French Army standing on the Great Staircase of the Opera House. (You can have a look at the mentioned staircase here.)

After a long night Chaplin danced a bit during the afterwards party with Geraldine.

(Have a look at another picture here!) 

In the end Charlie triumphed over the critics. Beginning with France, countries all over Europe started to praise the film and blame the London critics. The headlines of Paris Jours heralded “Paris Gives Chaplin his Revenge on London” and Paris-Match stated: “A Countess from Hong Kong is a charming comedy which did not deserve the severity of the British Press.”

(First posted on my blog in January 2016)

The Premieres of 'A Countess from Hong Kong' - Part 1

Ten years have past since Chaplin’s last film opened in 1957. Chaplin’s brand new film, titled ‘A Countess from Hong Kong’ was starring Sophia Loren and Marlon Brando.

The Countess has been quite an adventure for me because I have never directed start before. … I found that I had a great desire to please Marlon and Sophia. I wanted their respect more than anything else. I also found that these star actors have a fear about their ability. It is very easy to destroy their confidence. You have to treat them very carefully. (LIFE Magazine, March 1967)

The new picture, though it is the 81st of Chaplin’s 52-year movie career, is a first in a couple of significant categories: it is Chaplin’s first film in color; it is the first time he hasher directed established stars, let alone a pair of Oscar winners and staggering personalities like Loren and Brando; and it is the first time in years that he has worked for a company not his own.  …. Hardly a day passes that Charlie doesn’t mutter ‘We’re using too much film.’ Actually, Charlie’s first feature-length film, the six-reeler Tillie’s Punctured Romance in 1914, had almost exactly the same shooting time as this present film, 14 weeks. (LIFE Magazine, April 1966)

The press and the audience had great expectations. Before its release Chaplin said: “I think ist’s the best thing I’ve done. I can be more objective about it than the pictures I’ve acted in. … I’ve never done anything as funny as the valet Hudson. We took three weeks working out the fight scene in ‘City Lights’ and it was techincally good - but it wasn’t so funny as Hudson.” (The Milwaukee Journal, April 1967)

However, things went wrong. In the afternoon of January 5th 1967 Chaplin held a press screening in the Empire Theatre but the whole film looked faded. Jerry Epstein, family friend of the Chaplins’ remembered it this way:

During the projection I noticed that the color seemed different. Charlie and I looked at each other askance. The print had a faded, washed-out look. The sound suddenly started crackling. The film then flickered, sputtered and stopped. Charlie and I were frantic. It was a living nightmare. I rushed into the projection booth. I noticed it was a new projectionist. “What the hell’s happening???” I shouted. It didn’t seem to matter him. He was simply paid to run the film; whatever the fault, it had nothing to do with him. (The Charlie Chaplin Archives)

The actual problem was that for the film being shown before (Dr Zhivago) they had been using a special spherical lens. The projectionist had forgotten to take it off for the 35mm print.

The reviews had already been published by the time the evening ceremony started, saying things like “Oh dear, Charlie in these modern times you’re so out of date”. Chaplin was hoping the public was going to like his film more. The premiere was held at Carlton Theatre and was attended by Oona and six of Chaplin’s children, Brando, Sophia’s husband, Carlo Ponti (Sophia was heavily pregnant at the time) and even Princess Alexandra (cousin of the Queen). You can catch a glimpse of many of them in this footage and even more!

(Present with actor and film director Charlie Chaplin are his children Josephine Hannah Chaplin, Victoria Chaplin, Sydney Chaplin and his wife, Michael Chaplin and his wife Patricia, Eugene Chaplin, Geraldine Chaplin and Oona.) 

After the film was being shown the company went on to the Savoy Hotel and had an afterwards party. (This photograph was taken there for instance.)

Chaplin was having a great time and was up until 5 a.m., dancing to the music of “Knees Up Mother Brown”. Brando’s dancing partner was Princess Alexandra and he caused indignation when he left her alone on the dancing floor for a couple of minutes.

(First posted on my blog in Decemeber 2015)

The Premieres of 'A King in New York' - Part 3

Though the Chaplin family spent their holiday in France that year (have a look at a photo), Chaplin decided to visit the Parisian premiere as well.

The film opened on the 24th of October and Chaplin held a press conference that afternoon.

The premiere took place at the Gaumont Palace and was attended by Chaplin, his wife and Dawn Addams. The trio was invited to the projection room where Charlie accepted the film and shook hands with his leading lady.

The film was shown thereafter and Charlie and Dawn Addams greeted the crowds.

For the film’s sake the theatre even created a huge wall paint of the Little Tramp which Chaplin took a photo with.

The first half of this video shows some of the happenings of the French premiere.

The French was the last European premiere Chaplin attended. The film didn’t open neither in the USA, nor in Germany until 1973 and so it couldn’t gross such a great amount of money as Chaplin’s previous films did. Upon its first American release the New York Times wrote:

Yet, it’s important to see “A King in New York”: it brings back the bad old days. And the fact that even Chaplin couldn’t make guilt by association funny is crucial to our past and present history.  

Here Charlie’s being photographed during the London press conference of his movie.

The Premieres of 'A King in New York' - Part 2

After the London premiere of his latest film, Charlie decided to set off and visit foreign premieres as well. His first destination was Ischia, Italy, where the film premiered on the 27th of September. He arrived at the airport on the 25th with his wife, Oona and leading lady Dawn Addams.

During the ship voyage from the airport to the island, Charlie met Italian script writer Vittorio Vighi and signed an autograph for him.

During his short sightseeing tour on the island on the 27th, Charlie and his wife tried out what it was like to have a ride on the famous three-wheeled taxi of Ischia. Charlie was very popular among the kids, he was followed by them all the way long

The premiere took place later that day at the cinema Reginella. Charlie arrived by the side of his wife and shook hands with his leading lady.

Have a look at a short footage of the premiere and his visit in Ischia here!

(First posted on my blog in November 2015)