MovieChat Forums > The Mirror Crack'd (1980) Discussion > Help on very ending (SPOILER)

Help on very ending (SPOILER)


I need some help on the very ending of the movie. I know who committed the murders and why, but all Wikipedia says for the endings is "By the time she has collected all the evidence to indicate who committed the crime, however, another death occurs at Gossington Hall, which sadly closes the case on who the murderer in St. Mary Mead actually is." I might have a slight idea but I don't know for sure.

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At the very end of the movie Elizabeth Taylor's character kills herself Rock Hudson thought he did it because he poisoned her hot chocolate, but she actually did it herself. Elizabeth Taylor was the killer throughout the movie.

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I knew it! But I didn't even think about the hot chocolate and who poisoned it (I knew Marina poisoned her own, but I didn't think about Jason thinking he had something to do with it). Wonder how she found out about Jason cheating with Ella. Thanks for the reply.

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Jason having an affair with Ella? I haven't read the book, but I didn't think that THAT was going on. I thought it was just Marina being a little over-dramatic. The only real clue to any relationship between Ella and Jason was a couple of drawn-out puppy dog-eyes stares between the two, and Marina commenting that she and Ella "share so much these days". I'm almost certain that they weren't having it off, but as I said I could be wrong; I haven't read the book.

Isn't it just the sweetest movie, though? It's in my top five favourite movies of all time. Angela Lansbury is one of my favourite actors too.

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Near the movie's beginning, Ella and Marina engage in a little coversation in which Ella tells Marina to "try a little restraint". Marina replies "Perhaps I could borrow some of yours. We seem to be sharing so much these days." A good clue for the audience there. I haven't read the book either, I read the Wikipedia summary (call me a geek if you will), which said that one of the suspects was Ella, the production assistant who was secretly having an affair with Jason who might've wanted Marina out of the way. So there you have it.

By the way, Marina's line "My new, dear, wonderful, sweet friends" was given to Luba Goy's Liz Taylor impersonation on Royal Canadian Air Farce which was said as "Hello to all my dear, sweet, wonderful fans." Goy's Taylor (pretty much my favorite celebrity impersonation on the show) is almost never seen without a piece of chocolate cake in her hand. Hilarious!

"Orca the Whale is dead! Maggie the Cat is alive!"
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While that is a good clue for the audience that there's an affair going on between Jason and Ella, it's never xplicitly stated in the film that this is the case.

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It's hilarious how off-topic these threads can get.

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I'll drink to that! Who here likes jellyfish?

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Rock Hudson and Ella kiss at point in the movie.

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If that happened, I'm surprised nobody noticed that before you.

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I just watched the film on DVD last week, and Jason (Rock Hudson) does kiss Ella.

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Thanks, Jack. Seriously, Miss Green - my screen name is Ms. Marple, are you really gonna doubt me on an Agatha Christie question?! ;-)

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[deleted]

[deleted]

No, they don't. Rock Hudson kisses Ella on the cheek, but she doesn't kiss him.

It does seem as if there might have been something going on between Jason and Ella, but there is nothing specific to indicate that in the movie.

"...nothing is left of me, each time I see her..." - Catullus

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The secretary being in love with her boss is discussed (by Marple and the detective) more than once in the book, but merely as a reason/motive why she may be involved - but there is nothing in it. It is a red herring.

The book falls apart in the end in to a web co-incidences and a death (of the butler) which seems to be of no interest to anybody - certainly not the police!

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None of those things happened in the book.

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OP, you wrote. .."At the very end of the movie Elizabeth Taylor's character kills herself Rock Hudson thought he did it because he poisoned her hot chocolate, but she actually did it herself. Elizabeth Taylor was the killer throughout the movie."

I don't get it. . . .He said he poisoned her, but she did "it" herself. Did what herself? Did she pour her own cup of chocolate and pour the poison? or?

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Marina overdosed on her barbiturate pills.
She intended too, hence it was suicide.

Jason knew she was the killer, and wanted to kill her before she was arrested, as he believed she would not survive being in jail.

But she took the pills before she drank the hot chokolate.

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