Before she was the queen of Cabot Cove, Angela Lansbury was a spinster in St. Mary Mead. It’s a fact that feels like a glitch in the Matrix for some. You probably know her as Jessica Fletcher, the bicycle-riding, typewriter-clacking novelist from Murder, She Wrote. But four years before that show ever aired, she put on the tweed. She became Agatha Christie’s legendary Miss Jane Marple.
The year was 1980. The movie was The Mirror Crack’d.
It wasn't just some small TV movie, either. We’re talking a massive Hollywood production with a cast that would make modern directors weep with envy. Elizabeth Taylor. Rock Hudson. Tony Curtis. Kim Novak. It was a star-studded affair, yet the whole thing has sort of slipped through the cracks of pop culture history. Honestly, if you ask a casual fan who played Miss Marple, they’ll say Joan Hickson or maybe Margaret Rutherford.
Lansbury? She's usually the "Oh, wait, really?" answer.
The Mystery of the Missing Sequel
Most people don't realize that Lansbury was actually signed on for a three-picture deal. The producers wanted a franchise. They saw her as the definitive face of the character for the 1980s. But then the movie came out, and... well, it didn't exactly set the box office on fire. Critics weren't thrilled. Some felt she was too young for the part.
She was only 55 at the time.
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Think about that. Miss Marple is supposed to be this ancient, frail, white-haired Victorian relic. Lansbury was essentially in her prime. They had to pile on the "old lady" makeup, shove her into a wig, and make her wear dowdy clothes just to sell the illusion. It’s kinda ironic because she ended up playing Jessica Fletcher—a character arguably modeled after Marple—at a similar age, but as a much more vibrant, modern woman.
The sequels were scrapped. The three-picture deal died.
Why Her Marple Was Actually... Controversial?
If you're a Christie purist, Lansbury’s performance is a bit of a lightning rod. See, Agatha Christie once described Jane Marple as tall, pale, and "twinkling," but also deeply observant and a bit cynical. Lansbury tried to stick to that. She played it straight. She didn't go for the slapstick comedy of Margaret Rutherford, who Christie famously disliked.
But then there was the cigarette.
Yeah. In the 1980 film, Miss Marple smokes. Fans lost their minds. It felt like watching Batman eat a hot dog with a fork; it just didn't sit right. It was a stylistic choice by director Guy Hamilton—the guy who did Goldfinger—to make the film feel more like a "period" piece of the 1950s. But for many, it was the moment the character felt "off."
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The Real Story Behind the Plot
The film follows a movie crew coming to the quiet village of St. Mary Mead to film a historical epic about Mary, Queen of Scots. Naturally, someone drops dead at a cocktail party. The victim? A local woman named Heather Babcock. The intended target? Presumably the fading movie star Marina Gregg, played by Elizabeth Taylor.
Here’s a bit of trivia for you: the motive in the book and the movie is actually based on a tragic real-life event involving actress Gene Tierney. During World War II, a fan broke quarantine while sick with rubella just to meet Tierney. Tierney, who was pregnant, caught the virus. Her daughter was later born with severe disabilities. It’s one of the darkest, most grounded motives Christie ever used, and Lansbury’s Marple is the one who has to unmask that heartbreaking reality.
The Missing Link to Jessica Fletcher
You can’t talk about Angela Lansbury as Miss Marple without talking about Murder, She Wrote. It’s basically the same DNA.
When the creators of the show were pitching it, they wanted a Miss Marple-esque figure. They saw what Lansbury did in The Mirror Crack’d and realized she had that perfect blend of "kindly grandmother" and "sharpest person in the room." If The Mirror Crack’d had been a massive hit, we might never have gotten Jessica Fletcher. She would have been too busy filming Marple sequels in London.
In a weird way, the "failure" of her Marple run was the best thing that happened to her career.
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What to Watch For
If you decide to track down a copy of the movie today, pay attention to the dialogue. It’s incredibly campy. Elizabeth Taylor and Kim Novak spend half the movie trading insults that feel like they were written by a drag queen on a sugar high.
- The Insults: Taylor and Novak’s rivalry is the highlight.
- The Cameos: Look closely for a very young, uncredited Pierce Brosnan.
- The Pacing: It’s a slow burn. It feels like a 1950s movie made in the 80s.
Is it the best Miss Marple? Probably not. Joan Hickson usually takes that crown because she felt like she stepped right out of the pages of the novels. But Lansbury’s version is fascinating. It’s a bridge between the Golden Age of Hollywood and the Golden Age of TV procedurals.
Actionable Next Steps
If you're a mystery fan looking to dive deeper into this specific era of Lansbury's career, here’s how to do it right:
- Watch "The Mirror Crack'd" (1980): It's currently available on several streaming platforms like Amazon Prime or BritBox. Watch it not as a Christie adaptation, but as a Hollywood star-vehicle.
- Compare it to "Death on the Nile" (1978): Lansbury is in this one too, but as a totally different character—the eccentric, gin-soaked novelist Salome Otterbourne. It shows her incredible range before she settled into the "sleuth" archetype.
- Read the Original Novel: Pick up The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side. You'll see exactly where the movie stayed faithful and where it went rogue (spoiler: Marple doesn't smoke in the book).
Basically, don't sleep on this performance just because it wasn't a franchise-starter. It’s a piece of history that shows a legend finding her footing in the genre that would eventually make her a household name for eternity.