Murder Ahoy

Director: George Pollock George Pollock

Overview

The last of Margaret Rutherford's "Miss Marple" films, Murder Ahoy is the only one of the series not based on an Agatha Christie original. The setting this time is a boat that has been purchased by a trusteeship to serve as a home for wayward kids. One of the trustees, Cecil Ffolly-Hardwicke (Henry Longhurst), dies while attending a meeting held aboard the boat. The police write the death off as "natural causes," but another trustee, our Miss Marple (Rutherford), suspects otherwise. Doing a little sleuthing on her own, she discovers that outwardly respectable Lionel Jeffries is using the boat as a "training school" for aspiring criminals, a la Fagin. This would seem to explain why Hardwicke was murdered, but Jeffries is much too obvious a suspect--as Miss Marple discovers nearly too late. Margaret Rutherford's husband Stringer Davis is back again as Miss Marple's platonic middle-aged friend Mr. Stringer.

Product Details

Release Date:	03/27/2018
UPC:	0888574642358
Original Release:	1964
Rating:	NR
Source:	Warner Archives
Presentation:	[B&W, Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono, Dolby Digital Stereo]
Language:	English
Time:	1:32:00
Sales rank:	20,139

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Margaret Rutherford	Miss Jane Marple
Lionel Jeffries	Captain Sydney De Courcy Rhumstone
Charles Tingwell	Chief Inspector Craddock,Chief Insp. Craddock
Stringer Davis	Mr. Jim Stringer
William Mervyn	Cmdr. Breeze-Connington
Francis Matthews	Lt. Compton
Terence Edmond	Sgt. Bacon
Tony Quinn	Kelly, Tramp
Joan Benham	Matron Alice Fanbraid
Gerald Cross	Lt. Cmdr. L.W. Brewer Dimchurch
Roy Holder	Petty Officer Lamb
Bernard Adams	Dusty Miller
Derek Nimmo	Sub-Lt. Humbert
Miles Malleson	Bishop Faulkner
Norma Foster	Assistant Matron Shirley Boston
Henry Longhurst	Cecil Ffolly-Hardwicke
Henry Oscar	Lord Rudkin
Nicholas Parsons	Dr. Crump,Dr. Crump
Windsor Davies	Actor
Lucy Griffiths	Millie
Maurice Good	George Rowton
Edna Petrie	Miss Pringle
Pauline Jameson	Maureen Summers
Stella Tanner	Actor
Ron Goodwin	Composer
Bill R. Dean	Police Constable
Ivor Salter	Police Sergeant
Paddy Smith	Steward

Technical Credits

David Pursall

Jack Seddon

George Pollock	Director
David Pursall	Screenwriter
Jack Seddon	Screenwriter
Lawrence P. Bachmann	Producer

Editorial Reviews

The last in Margaret Rutherford's Miss Marple series, Murder Ahoy finds the always amiable amateur sleuth in an original screenplay, not one based upon an Agatha Christie novel. Aficionados will notice the Christie absence, most obviously in the finale, which gives Marple a much more physically active role than usual (including a swordfight), but Ahoy is still a top notch piece of escapism. The humor is a bit broader in David Pursall and Jack Seddon's screenplay, and the conflict between Marple and Inspector Craddock seems somewhat contrived, but the plotting is still self-assured and the mystery interesting. The writers have also given the character of Mr. Stringer (played by Rutherford's husband, Stringer Davis) rather more to do, which is all to the good. There's a chemistry between the husband-wife team, although it's one of mutual affection rather than sexuality, and Davis is endearingly befuddled -- "cute" in the better sense of the word. Of the rest of the supporting cast, Lionel Jeffries goes a bit too far as the Captain but is otherwise solid. Director George Pollock unobtrusively keeps things moving at a lively clip. Calling the series off after Ahoy may have disappointed its fans, but it did allow the series to go out while still shipshape.