What Mystery?
Can someone please tell me if this movie is based on one of Agatha's published novels? If so, which one? Thank you.
shareNo, this was an entirely original screenplay. Apparently it borrows some plot details from other Christie books but I have never found them obvious. Until very recently I always knew of this as the last of the 4 Miss Marple films with Margaret Rutherford's wonderful, if inaccurate, portrayal of Miss Marple. There appears to be some confusion about this - the UK DVD release states it as being third and the IMDB listed release dates seem to verify this. However, books on Agatha Christie refute this and say it IS the fourth film.
Third or fourth, I think "Murder Ahoy" is the weakest of them all. It showed that having the solidity of an actual Christie story to help structure the film was a good idea. The producers obviously agreed and went on to make "The Alphabet Murders" with Tony Randall instead of another Miss Marple. Pity. Isn't Ron Goodwin's music just wonderful?
It makes me think of the "Mousetrap", which I saw some years ago.
I liked Murder Ahoy. It has an outstanding cast.
"Murder Most Foul" was filmed third, and released third in the UK (in early 1964). "Murder Ahoy" was filmed fourth (and last) and released fourth (and last) in the UK (in mid 1964).
The confusion rests merely on the fact that MGM decided to release "Murder Ahoy" third in the US (in September of 1964) and "Murder Most Foul" last (in May of 1965).
MGM originally planned to release "Murder Most Foul" third, and it was tradescreened in September 1964 (thus the incorrect US release date of September 1964 which is given here on the IMDB.) It actually premiered in NYC on May 23, 1965 (the other date given here on the IMDB, which is the correct one.)
I read they wanted to make another Marple based on "Murder on the Orient Express," and Agatha Christie finally drew the line. She said something like, "I suppose they'll make Miss Marple the engineer of the train. Great fun, no doubt, but not what I had in mind."
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