cult film freak: ELIZABETH TAYLOR AND ROCK HUDSON IN 'THE MIRROR CRACK'D'

Title: THE MIRROR CRACK'D Year: 1980 Director: Guy Hamilton Rating: ***1/2

The most breezily enjoyable of the John Brabourne/Richard Goodwin adaptations of Agatha Christie whodunits, THE MIRROR CRACK'D resembles an upper scale TV-movie more than a lower budgeted big screener, so it looks terrific but without having to prove too much...

And, filmed in England, it's the most British of all the British productions including MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS and DEATH ON THE NILE before and EVIL UNDER THE SUN after, cases solved by Hercules Poirot while this belongs to Christie's other famous snoop, Miss Marple, here played by Angela Lansbury...

Edward Fox in THE MIRROR CRACK'D

Who actually has very little screen-time and overall purpose, breaking her leg early on, stuck in her quiet house while the real investigation is done by her nephew Edward Fox, a Scotland Yard Inspector who, taking place in 1953 during the Cinematic Golden Era, is a movie geek before the term...

As most of MIRROR is actually a quirky "Hollywood" satire taking place in an English mansion owned by the long-time married couple director/starlet team of Rock Hudson and Elizabeth Taylor...

Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson in THE MIRROR CRACK'D

Although the legendary GIANT couple has very little time together since he's busy with his lover/assistant Geraldine Chaplin, and she has to deal with another aging movie queen, stuck together acting in a 19th Century melodrama...

Providing Kim Novak scenes to not only steal but, flirting with Fox's starstruck Inspector or throwing barbs at Taylor, causes a diversion for the otherwise trivial murder of a common local woman, played by a no-name British character-actress with more energy than Taylor and Novak put together...

Maureen Bennett in THE MIRROR CRACK'D with Elizabeth Taylor

Enter (then exit) Maureen Bennett, an innocent yet loud and obnoxious fan of Taylor, whose fancy party poisoning death is solved by Miss Marple not only with her nephew but adorable party-witness Wendy Morgan, making CRACK'D seem like two movies running concurrently...

The primary one, also featuring egotistical producer Tony Curtis and a non-speaking cameo by Pierce Brosnan, seems meant to entertain both the audience and the passively investigating trio... basically a movie-loving mystery for all classic-movie movie-lovers.