January 7, 1962
MURDER, SHE SAID, a low-budget import from the UK based on the Agatha Christie mystery story, opens this week in 1962 in the United States. Septuagenarian British character actress Margaret Rutherford stars as distaff detective Miss Jane Marple, and the lightweight entry becomes an art-house hit. It spawns a popular series that lasts a total of four films through the mid-60s: Murder at the Gallop, Murder Most Foul, and Murder Ahoy. In 1963 Rutherford steals scenes from an all-star cast in the glossy melodrama THE VIPS and wins an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actress before returning to her Miss Marple role.
The box office success of the modest Miss Marple movies inspires more lavish, star-studded Agatha Christie adaptations in the 70s and 80s. These include MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS and DEATH ON THE NILE, the latter featuring Bette Davis and Angela Lansbury. The two legendary actresses shine in two of the most significant movies of 1962, WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? and THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE, respectively. Lansbury later finds enduring stardom in a Christie-inspired, hugely successful American television series in the 80s and 90s, Murder She Wrote. In 2019 a new take on the comedy-mystery-thriller genre, KNIVES OUT, becomes a sleeper smash in cinemas.
