Murder Ahoy

source: Murder Ahoy

Ever since I was 11 I've loved Agatha Christie and Miss Marple. And while they are not perhaps films that die-hard traditionalists of Christie's work the four George Pollock-Margaret Rutherford Miss Marple films are entertaining enough still. Murder Ahoy is the fourth and last of the series, and for me it is also the weakest. The main problem is the story, which is rather contrived and confusing at points(Christie's lack of involvement and that it wasn't based on any of her work- even with a couple of moments where there are echoes of it- was all too evident here. While the sword-fighting scene is tacky and just felt silly compared to everything else going in the film and while there are some witty and funny moments the script does sketch over the characters too much so we never get to know anybody. However, the setting, locations and period detail are great, and the black and white photography is crisp. Pollock's direction is smooth, the film goes by at a good- if not as zippy as the other three- pace and there are some decent clues and solving of them. But the strongest points are the music and the cast. The music is deliciously catchy, just love the opening theme. Margaret Rutherford steals the film and is simply terrific(if somewhat unconventional) as Miss Marple, her in the naval uniform alone is guaranteed the viewing, while Lionel Jeffries seems to be having great fun as the Captain. Overall, not great but definitely worth watching. 7/10 Bethany Cox

The good: well it has a jaunty theme song. At least it honors the original form in that the order we see things in is roughly the order of discovery by the detective. By this entry in the series, they had seriously lost their way. What genuinely started out as detective stories had morphed into humor-driven light entertainment. Characters are just silly. Slapstick appears for the first time. There is no deduction, only snooping. This Marple has no hard won village-centric wisdom. What she accidentally discovers, comes from the book she is reading that just so happens to be the pattern the murderer used. Once again, we have this old woman putting herself at risk, presuming that the murderer will confess to the hidden police before killing her. You should avoid this one.

I can't praise the opening theme by Ron Goodwin enough . If it doesn't get your feet tapping it's only because you've had your legs amputated or your ears cut off . It's amazing that Goodwin's theme to the MGM Ms Marple movies weren't nominated at any of the more prestigious film awards . In fact it's somewhat criminal that the only major award nomination Goodwin ever received was for FRENZY where he was nominated for a Golden Globe The rest of Goodwin's score might be criticised for being intrusive but like Sergei Prokofiev's Peter And The Wolf it need not apologise for telling the audience how they should feel . I'm afraid however that Goodwin probably deserved a better film because MURDER AHOY is camp nonsense mainly down to David Pursall and Jack Seddon's original screenplay , a screenplay that Agatha Christie herself didn't like hence didn't allow MGM to produce anymore original movies featuring Ms Marple and you can see her point , I mean the sword fight is just laughable . I also guess that in 1964 audiences in Britain were getting fed up with these quaint very English murder mysteries and were far more interested in an anti-hero like James Bond

Miss Marple (Margaret Rutherford) is summoned to join a meeting of trustees of a fund of rehabilitation of criminals. One of the trustees has just visited the training ship "Battledore" and wants to report his findings; however, when he inhales snuff, he has a heart attack and dies. Miss Marple notes that the snuff box is empty, but she collects a spilled sample and after a chemical analysis, she finds that the trustee was poisoned. Miss Marple goes to the Battledore to investigate and has a cold reception of Captain Sydney De Courcy Rhumstone (Lionel Jeffries). Soon she discovers that there are many thieves on board and a great embezzlement of the rehabilitation fund, in the middle of a series of murders. "Murder Ahoy" is the last movie in the Warner box of DVDs and maybe it is the weakest adventure of the snoopy Miss Marple. However, the old lady fencing against the criminal makes the movie worth. The board of trustees telling that it is important the renewal with a younger member is hilarious. My vote is seven. Title (Brazil): "Assassinato a Bordo" ("Murder on Board")

Did people really attend these films? In what numbers? Who thought Margaret Rutherford was funny, instead of embarrassing? This is a film whose director cannot decide whether he is making a straight whodunnit or a comedy romp. If the latter, then it is definitely not funny enough, if the former, the plot just won't do. Lionel Jeffries is auditioning for a Carry On part. The scenery in St Mawes could profitably have played a much larger role. I've never seen Derek Nimmo so badly thrown away as in this film. I don't know why he bothered to show up for work. The vicarage-type murder film is still going strong (Inspector Wexford, etc.) but they have purged the over-actors and decidedly peculiar characters (Rutherford), to the genre's benefit, from my point of view.

In this last film in which Margaret Rutherford plays Ms. Jane Marple, the redoubtable old sleuth finds herself elected trustee of a restored sailing ship of the line which is now used as a training vessel for young criminal offenders. Kind of a British version of an American boot camp for the wayward youth. When one of the trustees dies of a heart attack while at a board meeting while trying to tell in a most dramatic fashion that something is afoul at the ship, Rutherford finds the cause of his death. His snuff box had been laced with strychnine. Does she go to the police with such information, she does not. In this case given the forensic science lab that Scotland Yard has which I daresay is superior even to her own, Inspector Charles Tingwell might have solved the crime on his own. No wonder this man wants to strangle her, she is withholding evidence in point of fact. That bit of business puts Murder Ahoy a bit over the line. It's a maxim in detective fiction that the private eye no matter how much the amateur always shows up the professional. But there are limits as to how far you can take it and I think Agatha Christie stepped over the line in this Marple story. But if she hadn't we wouldn't have had the pleasure of seeing Margaret Rutherford in full Navy regalia taking over the HMS Battledore and giving Captain Lionel Jeffries and his crew fits. Two murders later of ship's officers and we do find the real culprit. What was interesting about Murder Ahoy is that there are two separate criminal enterprises going on at the same time on the good ship Battledore. The first murder sets off a chain of events among the villains in which the group involved in one enterprise comes across the second conspiracy and the motives do get tangled up for the police. But of course not for Margaret Rutherford. Fittingly the whole thing is resolved on Trafalgar Day. It was quite a scheme that the murderer's fear of discovery caused the individual to become so homicidal. Margaret Rutherford is of course wonderful as Ms. Marple and she and Lionel Jeffries have some great scenes. Years ago I could have seen the master of the slow burn, Edgar Kennedy playing the part as Jeffries plays it. I don't think it's as good as some Christie stories, but her fans shouldn't mind at all.

Whilst visiting the monthly meeting of a naval trust set up long ago one of her relatives, Miss Marple is surprised by the rudeness of Follie Hardwick who demands to speak outside of the agenda. Hardwick insists that his news will drop the rest of the agenda as irrelevant and, taking a pinch of snuff, he stands to speak. Seconds later he is dead from a heart attack and the police are called. Marple notices later that someone has stolen the dead man's snuff, but left the snuffbox. Believing the death was murder by way of poisoned snuff, Miss Marple insists on investigating, much to the chagrin of Detective Inspector Craddock. For many viewers, myself included, this is not really a Miss Marple film as we think of it. For most of us this should be a film with Joan Hickson that is very slow and very English, however this is not to say that the Rutherford versions are not any good because they are actually pretty enjoyable. Less of a Miss Marple film, this is more a Margaret Rutherford film because she does her usual performance of huff, puff and sheer bloody-minded persistence. The plot is written around this well and is lively and fun with a surprise amount of comedy for a mystery film. The actual development of the case is not that strong but the whole thing is entertaining enough to avoid having to rely too heavily on just this aspect. The cast make it work as well as it does. Rutherford could be accused of doing what comes naturally but so what if it works? Real life partner Stringer Davis is good value as always in his small role as is Tingwell in the typically cynical Detective Inspector. The crew of the ship are great fun; Jeffries is nearly always funny and he is well supported by Nimmo, Parsons, Mervyn and Benham. Nobody is brilliant and the film belongs to Rutherford, but the presence of some great comedians helps matters. Overall this is an entertaining and enjoyable film that is driven by the force of Rutherford's presence. She may not be a great Miss Marple but she does what she does well. The rest of the cast are fun as well and they manage to cover the fact that the mystery side of things could have been stronger and more interesting. Light fun though.

The story begins with a murder onshore, and then shifts to a harbor bound ship where the real answers to the puzzle can be found. The story isn't really that interesting. But what makes the film worthwhile is Margaret Rutherford. She is wonderful as the overpowering amateur detective, always two steps ahead of the bumbling police. The main problem with the film is the screenplay, with a contrived plot and some rather obvious plot holes. Further, there's a conspicuous lack of character development. We never really get to know the suspects. In some cases, they are interchangeable. It's as if the screenwriters devised the plot first, and then created stick figure characters, to advance the plot. Aside from the script, the production design is weak. And I found the hammy performance of Lionel Jeffries to be mildly annoying. It's like he was trying too hard to be funny. This problem might have originated with the director. Absent the elaborate costumes, the gorgeous scenery, the flashy cinematography, and the star power of blockbuster films like "Death On The Nile" and "Evil Under The Sun", "Murder Ahoy!" is rather humdrum. But what this film does have is Rutherford's Miss Marple, a battleship of integrity, energy, humor, and intelligence. In this film she dabbles in chemistry with gusto, engages in a fencing duel, and in general converts a lackluster script into an enjoyable whodunit.

Seems old Follie Hardwick gets snuffed out after a visit to the HMS Battledorn, a old wreck used to rehibilitate wayward boys. That leaves another old wreck, Jane Marple to personally investigate the shennanigans aboard ship, and so she does much to the shagrin of all aboard including the eventual murder. This is great fun and Dame Rutherford is at her peak. I think its the best of the four Christie films in this series, altho they are all great.