A Caribbean Mystery

1983
6.3| 1h28m| en
Details

Aging Major Palgrave, an idiosyncratic but charming mystery writer, reveals to Miss Jane Marple that one of the guests at a luxurious Caribbean resort they're staying at is a Bluebeard-type wife murderer. Unfortunately, the Major succumbs to an apparently accidental overdose of alcohol and blood pressure medication before revealing the killer's identity. When it's discovered that the medicine belonged to another guest and the revealing photograph the Major was carrying is missing, Miss Marple realizes that the serial killer has struck again and more murders will follow.

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Reviews

Borserie it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.
StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.
Usamah Harvey The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.
Mandeep Tyson The acting in this movie is really good.
Paul Evans A Carribbean Mystery isn't classed by many Christie fans as one of her greatest novels, I on the other hand love it, and can virtually say it word for word. The problem I have with this adaptation is that the central character in the book is not Helen Hayes, as much as I truly love her as an actress, a great Miss Marple she did not make, her accent is the problem, she's referencing At Mary Mead, but they must have moved it....to the deep south, she is not saved by that attempted phrase 'I dropped me yarn.' The way the camera scans around the suspects after the major's speech is shocking, a very unnatural looking scene. The pacing isn't great, it starts off as a slow amble and rushes into the ending. In fairness the plot is quite faithful, so I applaud them for not tinkering with it hugely. The scenery works pretty well, the music is really nice and there are some nice performances, Maurice Evans is excellent as the Major, he makes him likable. Season Hubley is the standout as Molly, she delivered a particularly strong performance, making some of her fellow actors appear a little bland. Bernard Hughes is a little to brash, he would have been first on the list for most killers.Its not a bad film overall, the problem is, this is supposed to be a quaint village lady arriving in the Carribbean, I don't buy it here. Do yourself a favour, watch the Joan Hickson version, it is superior in every possible way. 6/10
Neil Doyle Those are the two glaring complaints I have about A CARIBBEAN MYSTERY, a made for TV movie which dawdles on for a long time before getting to the point of a series of murders committed at a vacation resort.Helen Hayes, her American accent intact, still makes a passable Miss Marple even when she utters the name of a quaint village in England as her home, St. Mary Mead. Barnard Hughes is the mean-spirited man whose rudeness becomes a bit overdone after the first few scenes, making you wish he's going to be one of the victims. Not so. He and Miss Marple join forces to solve the crime.The conclusion is rushed through with brief explanations and not much dramatic conflict, so it's a bit of a letdown--although the murderer's identity is never hard to guess. The acting ranges from competent to barely competent, but the script is rather mediocre.Recommended for rabid Christie fans only. Nicely photographed with Santa Barbara, California filling in for the Caribbean, but this is very tepid stuff, to say the least, nowhere as good as other Christie outings.
Charles Herold (cherold) This is a pretty poorly made TV movie typical of the early 80s, with an overly syrupy score and bland cinematography and awful acting by everyone under the age of 60. So it can be taken as proof of Agatha Christie's genius that a straightforward telling of one of her stories is pretty enjoyable even when done by hacks. The best part is watching the way Miss Marple manipulates the situation, pulling the strings of those around her while managing to seem harmless and perhaps dotty. In spite of her floating accent, Hayes makes an excellent Miss Marple, and Hughes and Evans are also quite good. The rest of the acting varies from mediocre to truly incompetent, but the story is strong enough to survive. The ending is unfortunately weak and feels as though it was rushed through, so the feeling of satisfaction one gets in a Christie book is sadly lacking, but overall it's pretty watchable, and I give it 6/10, which is about as much as you can give something filmed with the care of an episode of MacMillan and Wife.
simon70 Helen Hayes just doesn't cut it.Rather than going the whole hog and playing Miss Marple as an American, she plays her as an Englishwoman. This is a mistake,since her accent veers from deep south of USA to England via Ireland. In short, her accent is all over the place.Her lines are also peppered with Americanisms which no British person would ever say. Two examples:1) She refers to "tourist class" when British people call it "economy class".2) She says she's going to "mail" some postcards, when a genuinely British person say "post", not "mail".Two minor examples, I know, but they add to a general feeling that this Miss Marple is as British as a fudge brownie. All the references to her hometown of St. Mary Mead in England can't change that.Another point is that Santa Barbara is not in the slightest bit convincing as a stand-in for the Caribbean. The one shot of a caribbean town, Havana perhaps, is obviously grainy archive footage.Steer clear of this poorly made rubbish, and watch the BBC productions starring Joan Hickson instead.