The Mirror Crack'd From Side To Side (1992)

A famous Hollywood star (Claire Bloom) and her director husband (Barry Newman) have taken residence in a small English village while they make a film about Elisabeth of Austria. But at a reception in the star's home, a gabby resident (Judy Cornwell) dies and later it turns out she has been poisoned. But was she the intended victim? Based on the novel by Agatha Christie (previously filmed in 1980) and directed by Norman Stone. Like the 1980 film, there are a few changes from the novel including the elimination of a major character. On the whole, this is a decent and straightforward adaptation of the source material and closer to Christie's intent in that it eliminates the bitchy humor that infused the 1980 film. I don't think it's one of Christie's best books and I'm queasy about using a real life tragedy (the actress Gene Tierney) and exploiting it for a murder mystery. Joan Hickson remains the definitive Miss Marple, almost stepping out of the pages of Christie's books. Claire Bloom gives a strong performance which gives the material some substance. With John Castle, Norman Rodway and Margaret Courtenay, who was also in the 1980 film version.