Rating: 
Summary: Humourous and Likeable
Review: It's not big, it's not terribly clever, and it won't change the way anyone thinks about anything at all, but this 1980 version of one of Agatha Christie's less-loved novels of the same name is still an enjoyable tale of murder and gentle rebuke.Set in a highly stereotypical American vision of the 1950's English countryside, the whole town is abuzz when Lola Brewster (Kim Novak) and Marina Rudd (Elizabeth Taylor) take up residence to film a production of 'Mary, Queen of Scots'. When one of Ms. Rudd's long-time fans is murdered at a reception given for the Star, Miss Marple (Angela Lansbury) and her nephew Inspector Delbert Craddock (Edward Fox) investigate the crime. Script and direction are nothing more than diverting, with a nod here and there to the likes of Joan Crawford and Bette Davis - the two movie Queens feud continually - and some extremely clever one-liners - Ms. Taylor's line about Doris Day takes on a whole new level of meaning, as her director husband Jason is played by Rock Hudson. As Christie's well-loved sleuth, Angela Lansbury as Miss Marple is amusingly self-depracatory in her role, claiming that not everyone who comes into contact with her winds up dead. She'll never be Joan Hickson, but in a film such as this, Lansbury's lighthearted and somewhat campy performance is perfectly pitched. Tony Curtis and Rock Hudson do passable jobs in their respective roles as Producer and Director, and the supporting cast is nothing more than perfunctory (including a rare nonspeaking cameo from a VERY young Pierce Brosnan), but for all that, they hang together well enough as an ensemble. The plot and subsequent climax are forgettable, but, as with the rest of the film, come with a gentle likeable atmosphere that saves them from being mundane. If you can pick it up cheaply, then go for it, it's perfect Sunday afternoon viewing. In total, 'The Mirror Crack'd' is a sweet, campy film that unfortunately stays too close to 'Average' to be a definite recommendation.
Rating:
Summary: A Mild Meow
Review: Like many screen adaptations of Christie novels, THE MIRROR CRACK'D features an all-star cast--and in this case the casting would seem inspired: Angela Lansbury as Miss Marple, Rock Hudson as a film producer, Elizabeth Taylor as his movie-star wife, Kim Novack as a rival screen queen, and Tony Curtis as Novak's lover and the producer of the film they are all making. But director Guy Hamilton is more interested in having his cast offer star turns than in actually serving the story, and the result is a strangely uneven, extremely plodding film that only comes to life when Taylor and Novak square off in the series of hilariously written and performed cat-fights that run throughout the movie. Part of the problem lies in the source material. THE MIRROR CRACK'D is one of Christie's lesser novels, written in a very sparse style and lacking Christie's usual knock-out solution in its story of a fan who drops dead of poisoning at a film star's reception. In order to flesh out the tale, the script piles extraneous scene upon extraneous scene--with the Taylor-Novak scenes a case in point: enjoyable as they are, they actually have little to do with the story and so tend to slow the film down. To make matters worse, the performances are extremely casual at best. Taylor and Novak are extremely enjoyable in their scenes together--but elsewhere they are merely adequate. Hudson and Curtis are flat. And Angela Lansbury, a normally brilliant actress, has one of her rare failures with the role of Jane Marple. At most, this film is for viewers who want to be in on the last major cinematic gasps of Taylor, Novak, Hudson, and Curtis--and those who derrive a certain joy from evaluating the level of decay seen here in the aging cast. And most will enjoy seeing Taylor and Novak flog each other with nasty one-liners delivered with considerable flair. But cat-fight scenes aside, THE MIRROR CRACK'D is just one very mild meow.
Rating: 
Summary: Angela's take on Miss Marple
Review: Of course I haven't seen the DVD yet as it hasn't been published, but I cannot wait to! What we have here is one of Dame Elizabeth Taylor's (and Rock Hudson's also) last big-screen starrings. And they are both perfect for the roles. So too Kim Novak as the ... competition for Elizabeth. Sure, the lines they say are not as Agatha Christie wrote them but they sure are entertaining! The mystery is intriguing, and somewhat mirrors Gene Tierney's life. Enough said about that - don't want to give too much away! The direction is very effective - just look at the scene at the party and compare it with the flat direction in the Joan Hickson remake. Stunning. Also compare the ending - much more poignant and emotional in this version. And Angela Lansbury? I think she does a very good turn as Miss Marple - I'm even inclined to forgive her the scene in which she portrays Miss Marple smoking! In all, a very good film, and the story underneath is one that will keep you watching it again and again, well after the mystery has been solved.
Rating:
Summary: Fluffy Fiction Based on a Terrible Tragedy
Review: On the surface, this is a fun (albeit minor) murder mystery made special by the performances of an all-star cast. When a local resident is poisoned at a reception for a film crew on location in a small English village, Agatha Christie's resourceful Miss Marple character begins to piece together the story of whodunit. In her only film appearance (to date) as Marple, Angela Lansbury is marvelously warm, wise, and witty. Her earnest performance is complimented beautifully by those of Elizabeth Taylor and Kim Novak, who seem to relish their roles as feuding movie queens with tongues of acid. Geraldine Chaplin also scores as a long-suffering agent who is secretly in love with Taylor's husband (Rock Hudson). As the men in the mystery, Hudson, Tony Curtis as a film producer, and (especially) Edward Fox as Lansbury's nephew all do fine work, but the spotlight remains fittingly focused on the distaff characters throughout. The movie would be a harmlessly fun little romp if it weren't for one underlying conceit which taints the screenplay (as well as the novel on which it is based). Unfortunately --- and unforgivably --- the essential plot is nothing more than a cynical and tasteless exploitation of an actual tragedy that had a devastating and life-long effect on the lives of Hollywood beauty Gene Tierney ("Laura") and her first husband, Oleg Cassini. What was Dame Christie thinking when she so callously and obviously mined Tierney's heartbreak as fodder for a piece of fiction during the actress' lifetime? If you're unfamiliar with the details, you may choose to go ahead and enjoy the movie ... and then look for a copy of Gene Tierney's best-selling autobiography, "Self-Portrait" (1979) to learn the real story. Remember ... movie first! Otherwise, you may find the on-screen version vaguely objectionable and even downright vulgar.
Rating:
Summary: Campy
Review: Quite an exercise in scenery-chewing, I believe this was Rock Hudson's last feature film. The catty rivalry between Kim Novak and Elizabeth Taylor is especially entertaining. Watch for young Pierce Brosnan as an actor in the film they are making, with very poufy hair.
Rating: 
Summary: good Movie
Review: The DVD of "The Mirror Crack'd" is the usual Christie as we have all come to expect. It is an entertaining who-done-it taking place in the English countryside; fete and all. I have seen Angela Lansbury panned as Miss Marple, but I beg to disagree with those reviews. I found Ms. Lansbury a very convincing Marple and I enjoyed her performance very much. I did, however, find Elizabeth Taylor predictable in her performance as well as Rock Hudson playing her husband.
Rating:
Summary: Right on the Mark
Review: The DVD of "The Mirror Crack'd" is the usual Christie as we have all come to expect. It is an entertaining who-done-it taking place in the English countryside; fete and all. I have seen Angela Lansbury panned as Miss Marple, but I beg to disagree with those reviews. I found Ms. Lansbury a very convincing Marple and I enjoyed her performance very much. I did, however, find Elizabeth Taylor predictable in her performance as well as Rock Hudson playing her husband.
Rating:
Summary: Angela Lansbury is not Joan Hickson
Review: The later version of this movie, based on a novel, Christie, "Agatha Mirror Crack'd, The", the film Miss Marple: The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side (1992) (TV) (UK: series title). Stays true to form. Joan Hickson is Miss Marple. Agatha Christie always considered her as the ideal Miss Marple; she shows this through her reserve savvy. Jane takes an interactive interest in the mystery and yet each character as part of the discovery, stands on their own. The ending of the story is as is in life, it is appropriate for the situation and not black and white judgmental.
This version of this movie "The Mirror Crack'd (1980)" was made with a lot of glitzy characters. Some of them were quite good such as Rock Hudson (Jason Rudd). Others were distracting as they let their real personalities overwhelm the characters. One of the worst was Angela Lansbury's portrayal of Miss Jane Marple; she was much too cutesy. Jane has this way of looking at you like she knows something.
This film was to Americanize (black and white, judgmental.) and half the characters were combined for brevity.
Rating:
Summary: Though not a masterpiece, a movie worth watching!
Review: The Mirror Crack'd was a bit of a disappointment, considering the makeup of the cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, Tony Curtis, and Geraldine Chaplin among others; though by no means is it a bad movie.
The acting is good (but surprisingly nothing great!!!), the humor is very good, and there's the Agatha Christie element, which really saves the day.
This is a Miss Marple mystery trying to uncover who is behind the assassination attempt (by poison) of a Hollywood actress and subsequent murder of an innocent in a mansion in England.
So it's an interesting plot, a great setting and a wonderful cast, and yet it fails to take off, even though the potential for a great movie was definitely there.
One thing, which is noteworthy and has also been pointed out by other reviewers, is Pierce Brosnan's silent appearance for a few seconds (serving as an extra!!!) beside Elizabeth Taylor.
In a nutshell, it's a good movie, but it lacks that extra something to put it over the top as in the case of Evil Under the Sun, Murder on the Nile, and Murder on the Orient Express. Nevertheless, The Mirror Crack'd will surely provide for an evening's entertainment.
Rating: 
Summary: A disappointed Agatha Christie fan.
Review: The original murder mystery by Agatha Christie was a very clever whodunnit. This film really loses all of the flavor of Christie's work, and turns the characters and plot into a campy cartoon of caricatures -- even Miss Marple isn't as sharp as she should have been. A lot of scenes are wasted and filled with pointless dialogue that really detracts from the story. I don't believe anyone watching this film could figure out the murderer from the 'clues' given. The director really missed the boat on this one. A far superior version of this appeared on British television.
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