A Caribbean Mystery
GenreCrime
Mystery
Drama
Based onA Caribbean Mystery by Agatha Christie
Written bySue Grafton
Steven Humphrey
Directed byRobert Michael Lewis
StarringHelen Hayes
Music byLee Holdridge
Country of originUnited Kingdom
United States
Original languageEnglish
Production
ProducerStan Margulies
Production locationSanta Barbara, California
CinematographyTed Voigtlander
EditorLes Green
Running time92 minutes
Production companyWarner Bros. Television
Original release
NetworkCBS
ReleaseOctober 22, 1983 (1983-10-22)

A Caribbean Mystery is a 1983 American made-for-television mystery film based on the 1964 Agatha Christie novel A Caribbean Mystery and starring Helen Hayes as Miss Marple.

Cast

Production

Stan Margulies had the rights to eight Christie books. He made a TV movie of Christie's Murder Is Easy. It was a success and the Christie estate liked it, enabling him to get the rights to Caribbean Mystery. He made it around the time of another Christie adaptation, Sparkling Cyanide. Marguiles had to update the stories to the present day because he was unable to do period pieces on a TV movie budget. Because the films were made for American TV, he also insisted on the freedom to cast at least one American actor in the cast.[1]

Marguiles offered Hayes the part of Marple after using her in Murder Is Easy. Hayes said she turned down the role at first because she "adored" the character of Marple "and I didn't want to follow Margaret Rutherford... I can't be that funny."[2]

Filming

The film was shot in Santa Barbara. Hayes said "a lot of things were against us. Like frigid cold and rain every day. We worked indoors while it poured and poured, and when it stopped, we tried to make it look like the tropics. I was wearing light clothes over thermal underwear."[3]

Hayes found the dialogue for Marple difficult. "She has all the summing up, all the exposition. All those lines! I told the producer... 'I can't learn all that stuff.' One of the nice parts about being a star is that the lesser-paid actors have to do the exposition. I haven't done exposition for 50 years."[3]

Reception

The New York Times said the film "has its engaging moments, thanks primarily to an exceptionally good cast."[4]

The film was popular with viewers. Hayes reprised her role as Marple in Murder with Mirrors (1985).

Legacy

The film was seen on TV by writer Richard Levinson who noted its ratings success. He thought of doing a regular mystery show about a Marple-like detective, who was a mystery writer like Agatha Christie. This led to Murder, She Wrote.[5]

References

  1. ↑ English actor to bring Agatha Christie to the contemporary scene of California Buck, Jerry. Chicago Tribune 19 July 1983: b5.
  2. ↑ Helen Hayes talks about theater, aging, and her role as Miss Marple: ON TV HAYES By Arthur Unger. The Christian Science Monitor 21 Oct 1983: 21.
  3. 1 2 At 82, Helen Hayes is still a going concern The Globe and Mail23 July 1983: E.5.
  4. ↑ TV WEEKEND; MARATHONS, AT THE MET AND ON FOOT: [Review] O'Connor, John J. New York Times21 Oct 1983: C.34.
  5. ↑ ANGELA LANSBURY'S UNLIKELY SLEUTH HAS STAYING POWER: [Review] HARMETZ, ALJEAN. New York Times 27 Oct 1985: A.25.
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