MovieChat Forums > The Mirror Crack'd (1980) Discussion > 'The Vicar!' and other questions

'The Vicar!' and other questions

posted 12 years ago by treeline1
10 replies | jump to latest

Why did Miss Marple suddely bolt up in bed and say, "The vicar!" I guess I missed any connection between him and the ending, but I did wonder why they kept showing him.

Question: If Liz didn't drink the hot chocolate, how did she die (or was she merely pretending to be dead at the end)?

Question: Why did Geraldine Chaplin keep calling people accusing them of murder?

Question: Was this movie given poor reviews when it came out? I thought it was really awful and the big stars (especially Kim Novak) were just in it to pad the story. There was too little Miss Marple.

[–] Daphoenyx 11 years ago

I can only answer two of your questions.

Why did Miss Marple suddely bolt up in bed and say, "The vicar!"

Miss Jane Marple had been trying to figure out exactly what Heather Babcock was saying to Marina Rudd before she gave than frozen look. Precisely the nature of her illness wasn't clear (in the book, several people, including Heather Babcock's husband, if I remember correctly, gave different names for her illness). So in the middle on the night she realized that probably the Vicar could have recorded or have known of her ailment.

Why did Geraldine Chaplin keep calling people accusing them of murder?

From what I understand, she was trying to find the killer, so she made calls to everyone she suspected in the hopes that they would trip at some point and confess. Or maybe she was trying to find the real killer to blackmail him/her.

[–] treeline1 11 years ago

Thank you, Daphoenyx!

[–] sita_chez 10 years ago

Why did Geraldine Chaplin keep calling people accusing them of murder?

From what I understand, she was trying to find the killer, so she made calls to everyone she suspected in the hopes that they would trip at some point and confess. Or maybe she was trying to find the real killer to blackmail him/her.

I'm clear on why Marina poisoned the first woman, as she unwittingly had given her german measles whilst pregnant (my nan got it whilst pregnant and my aunt was born retarded, so dangerous) I'd of poisoned her myself. But did she also kill her assistant?? just to cover up her first murder?? thats why i'm thrown.

*beep* me gently with a chainsaw" Heathers

[–] Daphoenyx 10 years ago

I'm sorry that was a one-year-old reply, I can't remember details of the movie right now :(

[–] Balibari 10 years ago

I think so, it's certainly the implication before the killer is revealed. Marple say's something to the effect that one of the assistant's multiple accusing phonecalls must have been to the actual killer. The killer (who we now know to be Marina) must have believed she'd really been seen poisoning the drink and killed the assistant to protect herself.

[–] John-367 10 years ago

SPOILER

Miss Marple says, when she is explaining the circumstances of the murder, that after waking up thinking of the vicar she phoned him and asked him about the nature of the victim's illness.

[–] oprlvr33 9 years ago

Liz died after sniffing the rose, which was obviously laced with arsenic or what. Same as the inhaler the secretary used before going into cardiac arrest. Both were poisoned. Most likely by Jason.

[–] dancingduade 8 years ago

Question: Why did Geraldine Chaplin keep calling people accusing them of murder?

I think she was calling to blackmail at first. When Marina said her coffee had been poisoned, as she had served the coffee and didn't poison it herself, she knew Marina had poisoned it or was pretending to poison it so knew she was guilty as only she and Marina touched the coffee. She then phoned Marina and ended up dead as a resuly.

[–] Zerose 8 years ago

The stupid thing is that there was a scene earlier that showed how forgetful the vicar was. Like mixing up children's names. If he couldn't keep children's names straight, how on earth could he remember someone's illness that happened ten years ago?

[–] Stratego (29252) 4 years ago

The book addresses this. Apparently the vicar is some kind of idiot who has the amazing ability to remember certain details and totally forget about others.