Murder Is Easy (1982 TV Movie) User Reviews (27)

Especially, if no one suspects you...

[Doylenf · 6/10 · 14 April 2001]

Agatha Christie's 'Murder Is Easy' gets off to a brisk start with Helen Hayes as a little old lady on her way to Scotland Yard to report a series of murders in her village. She describes the look that made her realize who the murderer is and tells Bill Bixby, "If no one suspects you, murder is easy." Shortly after she leaves the train station, she is killed in an auto accident. Thus, Bixby decides to investigate for himself.

Carmen Culver's teleplay would have been better if it hadn't updated the Christie material and tried to modernize the story with foolish computer nonsense. Furthermore, by devoting entirely too much time to the red herrings and focusing almost all of the remaining time on Lesley-Anne Down and Bill Bixby's growing relationship, it turns the surprise ending into little more than a sham for which there is no preparation. Bill Bixby's character in the novel was a young policeman--here he is an American computer wizard who delves into use of the computer (to no avail) to solve the crime. He's charming and believable enough but too many scenes are throwaways involving him and Lesley-Anne Down.

Suffice it to say that this is not one of the best adaptations of Christie's work. The technical aspects are excellent--the color photography of the English settings is impressive and all of the performances are first-rate. Nice to see Olivia de Havilland and Helen Hayes as "special guest stars". Helen Hayes contributes so much to the opening scenes that she makes up for the fact that there is no Miss Marple in this one.

But the tight suspense of the final scenes in the novel when the murderer is caught and revealed is missing here and the explanations are too swift to carry much weight.

Still, an absorbing who-dun-it for mystery fans although modernizing the story with computer detection work is no help at all.

A solid adaptation of one of Christie's greatest books.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 7/10 · 1 April 2023]

Luke Williams encounters and strikes up a conversation with an elderly lady on a train, she explains that her village is beset by accidental tragedy, and as soon as she departs the station, she is killed in another......accident.

I have to say Murder is Easy is one of my all time favourite Agatha Christie books, I love the characters, I love the witchcraft element, I also love the concept of murder being easy, it is undoubtedly one of Christie's cleverest themes.

I actually like this adaptation, it's one that's grown on me over the years, early on I didn't really care for the modern setting, or the probability theme, but in recent times, I've come to accept them.

I'm surprised by just how much of the book is actually present here, of course there are lots of differences, but the core of the story is very much here, most or the deaths are covered, and they didn't veer too far off the grizzly ends that Christie originally wrote.

The script is a little clunky at times, some of Luke's dialogue doesn't work, but the whole thing is elevated by a wonderful cast, the cast list makes for impressive reading, and fair play the acting is terrific, Bill Bixby, Lesley-Anne Down, Freddie Jones all spot on, and of course there's real Star quality in the form of Olivia del Havilland.

It deserves a remake, it deserves a quality remake, I know one is coming from The BBC/Britbox, I'm intrigued to see what they do with it.

Overall, it's a thumbs up.

7/10.

As Long As No One Suspects You........................Murder Is Easy

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 11 November 2007]

Agatha Christie's 1939 story has been updated to the Eighties and it's hero/protagonist made an American allowing for the casting of Bill Bixby as Luke Williams, mathematical genius and computer programmer. He takes a fateful ride on a British commuter train and meets up with Helen Hayes who has an important errand to run.

Helen's a talkative old biddy who is worried that there have been a number of strange deaths in her small village recently and she fears that village constable Freddie Jones isn't quite up to a homicide investigation. She's confides in Bixby and then gets run down by a hit and run driver as she leaves the train.

Bixby's mathematical mind can't take in the random probabilities of all this coincidence and it intrigues him. He goes back to Hayes's village and turns detective, annoying village constable Jones, but finding romance with Lesley Anne Down and a host of suspects and a couple more deaths before the mystery is solved.

Among other inhabitants at the village is the local librarian Olivia DeHavilland and Timothy West who owns several newspapers. It's a pity that the story called for Helen Hayes to be killed off immediately so there could be no scenes with DeHavilland and Hayes.

As this story was written in 1939 I suspect that Agatha Christie had Lord Beaverbrook in mind for Timothy West's character. Audiences in 1982, especially American ones couldn't possibly appreciate the satire that Christie was employing with West as the tyrannical ego-maniacal newspaper publisher. Still I suspect citizens of the United Kingdom of the older generations knew quite well who West's character was modeled on.

I don't think the updating especially hurt the story however. The cast does very well by their roles and it's an intriguing film and idea that Helen Hayes voices.

Not a bad effort

[Iain-215 · 7/10 · 12 July 2008]

This is a TV movie from 1981 featuring a starry (for it's day) Anglo-American cast and based on one of Christie's novels from the thirties. It has been updated to the early eighties but that seems to have done little harm as the 'English country village' setting could just as easily be from the thirties anyway (slow but sure policeman on a bike, tweedy middle aged ladies, tennis parties at the big house etc). The eighties only really intrude in some of the more bizarre outfits for heroine Lesley Anne Down and in the fact that Bill Bixby's character is supposedly a computer whizz. The whole 'computer' thing is actually quite poorly thought out and contributes very little and I never believed that Bixby was any kind of whizz at all in that particular field. Some of the music is good (the main theme, love theme for Miss Waynflete) and some of it is dreadful (the comic 'Carry On' moments and especially the 'sexy' sax for the main couple).

There are plenty of positives though. The film is astonishingly faithful to the book and plays out almost to the letter. This actually has a slight downside as there are far too many characters and most of them are barely fleshed out. The whole thing is very well shot and there are some very good performances. I was pleasantly surprised by Lesley Anne Down as Bridget - a very good performance indeed. Olivia de Haviland is appropriately tweedy and sympathetic as Miss Waynflete and Timothy West puts in a good turn as Bridget's childish fiancée. Helen Hayes is lovely in the brief but memorable role of Miss Fullerton. Bill Bixby is OK but not much more as the leading man. The story plays out well but the final confrontation between two possible killers is rather unconvincing but, to be fair, I think it would be a difficult scene to carry off really well.

Overall, this is a very worthy adaptation and worth a look if you can find it.

Decent, helped by the cast

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 8 March 2011]

This is not an outstanding film by all means, but it is a very decent one, that is faithful in story, tone and dialogue to the book. The story is compelling and interesting, hindered only really by the nonsense with the computers which was underdeveloped and added very little to the story.

The pace starts very briskly, and Helen Hayes brings a lot of charm to her brief role, but once more in the story unfolds it gets slower up to the conclusion, which is well-paced and rounds things off nicely as it should do. Bill Bixby starts off rather wooden and dull, but gets better.

That said, the production values are excellent, the photography is pleasing on the eye and the costumes and scenery are beautiful. The music has some nice parts as well, the direction is decent and the dialogue is charming, controlled and witty. The cast do do very well, while some of the characters could have been developed a tad more, the cast do great jobs especially Lesley-Anne Down, Olivia DeHavilland and Timothy West.

All in all, a decent film and adaptation. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Decent Mystery

[witsend64 · 12 January 2002]

Pretty good mystery. Lesley-Anne Down has never looked better and Bill Bixby portrays the hapless American well enough. Plot twists abound and the viewer is left with a very satisfying mystery. Agatha Christie would approve!

Part of the underrated 80s American Christie series

[lfisher0264 · 7/10 · 15 March 2006]

... and worlds apart from the dire new UK TV versions. Bill Bixby is attractive, charming, funny and vulnerable. Lesley-Anne Down is beautiful and her outfits are... interesting, especially her loungewear. But should she really sleep in so much make-up? They're surrounded by a solid cast: Leigh Lawson, Anthony Valentine, Timothy West, Helen Hayes, Olivia de Havilland (but surely that's not her voice?). Shane Briant makes a wonderfully creepy doctor - what happened to him? What makes this film so good, tho, is that it sticks quite closely to Christie's book, and Tells The Story, something that the present gang of Christie pirates seem to think is far less important than appalling overacting by self-congratulatory thesps. One thing missing from this version is the present-day witchcraft theme that's present in the book. (Ellsworthy has sinister visitors who congregate in the woods at night and slaughter small animals in sinister rituals, making him more of a genuine suspect.)

Mostly dull, but with one inspired bit near the end

[gridoon2024 · 5/10 · 25 May 2008]

"Murder is Easy" begins promisingly enough, with the charming Helen Hayes boarding a train to London, where she plans to reveal to the Scotland Yard the identity of a serial killer above suspicion in her quiet little village. Unfortunately, she gets killed about 10 minutes in, and we're stuck with the bland Bill Bixby as our lead for the rest of the movie. Bixby's character acts like an amateur sleuth, but he barely figures out one thing right in the entire movie! With the exception of the lovely Lesley-Anne Down and the dependable veteran Olivia de Havilland, the rest of the cast is forgettable and their characters underdeveloped. The direction is flat. However, there is one very well-done bit towards the end: a confrontation between 2 characters who keep talking to each other suggestively, and the viewer knows that one of them is the killer but NOT which one, and only after the whole thing is over do we find out the truth. Those 5 minutes, and the 10 featuring Helen Hayes, cannot fully compensate for the dullness of the other 80, though. (**)

A Wonderful Adaptation of a Christie Who-Dun-It.

[BaileySEA · 9/10 · 10 April 2005]

Murder is Easy (based on the novel Murder is Easy aka Easy to Kill) differs from the Agatha Christie novel in that the amateur sleuth Luke Fitzwilliams is changed to American Luke Williams for American TV-Movie reasons. Aptly so, that an American actor (Bill Bixby) could assume the role. Having said that, it is fitting to say that Murder is Easy is a wonderful adaptation for television. Old-time greats Olivia De Havilland and Helen Hayes have some nice spots as British spinsters Honorea Waynflete and Lavinia Fullerton. Other Brit stalwarts Timothy West, Shane Briant, Lee Lawson, and the stunningly beautiful Lesley-Anne Down round out the great cast. Also in an early role was Jonathan Pryce (Pirates of the Caribbean) as Mr. Ellsworthy. Bill Bixby is adequate, but Olivia De Havilland is very engaging in one of her latter day roles as Miss Waynflete, as is the great Helen Hayes as Miss Fullerton.

Wonderful English countryside scenery, a great cast and an engaging story are more than enough reasons to view this movie over and over again.

Fun, but too easy

[HotToastyRag · 6/10 · 1 August 2020]

If you're watching this tv movie for Helen Hayes, to see her in her cute little old lady phase, rent a Miss Marple instead. She may be a cute little old lady, but she's the first body to drop dead! Bill Bixby meets her on a train, and she confesses she's on her way to Scotland Yard to identify a murderer who's been wrecking havoc in her small town. "As long as you're the last person they'd suspect, murder is easy," she says with a twinkle in her eye.

When she's killed, Bill isn't content to go on his way. He travels to her town and plays detective, sure that she was murdered to protect the murderer's identity. He meets wealthy and grumpy Timothy West, his beautiful fiancé, Leslie-Anne Down, an adorable museum curator, Olivia de Havilland, the strange loner Jonathan Pryce, and a shady doctor, Shane Briant. Suspicions are around every corner, as are the bodies that accumulate. If you like to play detective, you might enjoy Bill's journey as he explores different theories. I found this one a little too easy to solve, but it was harmless enough.

Murder Might Be Easy but is it Boring! **

[edwagreen · 4/10 · 18 June 2008]

Bill Bixby shed his image of "My Favorite Martian" to portray an American on holiday in England who naturally stumbles into the typical Ms. Christie mystery of who-did-it.

Even with a great cast, the film suffers from being way too talky. The dialogue is often quite boring and the characters are exactly this way as well. You reach the point where you don't really care who has been committing all these dastardly murders.

Each character appears to be quite stilted. The bodies tend to pile up quite rapidly and yet there is little to no action.

The guessing game intensifies during the last 10-15 minutes but by then, you just couldn't care less.

Olivia De Havilland brings us another seemingly Melanie Hamilton like performance, but much older of course. However, she can be as devious as she was in "Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte," (1964)

Leslie Ann Down is interesting as the woman that everyone wants to suspect.

Surprisingly Not Bad

[mmcloughlin · 8/10 · 17 November 2016]

American adaptations of Agatha Christie (especially for television) tend to be on the low end of the scale. It's principally the writing, secondarily the directing – i.e. the writers and directors mold the Christie work into something they *think* American audiences want instead of giving us what we actually *do* want – which, when it comes to English murder mysteries, is the same thing the English want.

So, I was greatly taken by surprise so see that *this* adaptation of *Murder is Easy* was NOT bad. It is not grade 'A' quality by a long shot; but it is definitely a high 'B' grade. And it is certainly more faithful to the original than the 2008 adaptation (which has a lot of *very* bizarre flights of fancy that do NOT make for a better story; just a bizarre one).

In this version, Luke is not a retired policeman from India but a computer expert from America; but the age difference is the same (or at least Bixby was 20 years older than Down, which is the age difference in the novel). Lavinia Pinkerton has become Lavinia Fullerton for some reason, but she's killed the same way under either surname. Gordon Ragg, Lord Whitfield (no known relation to June) has become Lord Easterfield (in full credit, Lord Gordon Easterfield; but Easterfield would be his lordship, not his surname - so he might still be a Ragg, at least by birth). Honoria Waynflete, Rose Humbleby, and the rest (so far as I can tell) are all the same.

The plot develops steadily and cleanly, as the suspense slowly builds. As in the novel, Luke believes the killer is a certain individual – which, of course, is a classic signal to reader and viewer that it must be someone else; but who? Ah, therein lies the mystery – and when the identity of the killer is finally revealed, it *is* a surprise (unless, of course, you have already read the book) because it is somebody whom nobody would suspect.

And as long as nobody suspects you ... Murder is Easy.

Side Note for Radio Fans: The best adaptation of this novel to date (November 2016) is one that was done a few years ago for BBC Radio 4 by Joy Wilkinson. It stars Patrick Baladi (New Tricks, Poirot), Lydia Leonard (The 39 Steps - 2008 version), Michael Cochrane (Downton Abbey), Marcia Warren (Agatha Raisin, Dangerfield), and a lot of other very good British actors that most Americans will not have heard of.

Big screen or small screen, Agatha Christie is always worth watching.

[mark.waltz · 6/10 · 1 April 2022]

The same year that Agatha Christie's "Evil Under the Sun" graced the big screen with a lavish all-star production, a lavish TV movie of another one of her stories came to the small screen. There have been some changes from the original plotline and setting, transferring this to modern times and eliminating Miss Marple, replacing her character with a visiting American played by Bill Bixby. Perhaps Miss Marple was removed so the character played by Helen Hayes (who would go on to play Miss Marple on TV later on) would have a young man to sweetly flirt with and give information to in regards to a series of murders in her village before she too became a victim. Hayes is adorable as always in her brief screen time, so that makes her fate rather sad.

It's also sad that she doesn't share screen time with another legend, Olivia de Havilland, who has a larger role as an eccentric patroness of the arts who claims to have become a target of the killer, ironically nearly struck by a planter falling off a window ledge a la "Hush...Hush Sweet Charlotte". De Havilland is a dotty delight who is more clever than she lets on. Lesley Anne Downe is a gorgeous free spirited young woman living life on the edge. Patrick Allen, Shane Briant, Jonathan Pryce, Leigh Lawson and Freddie Jones are other major players, all suspicious and interesting. The film has a very quick opening, a rather slow and cumbersome middle at times, and of course unending with lots of twists and turns where's the results turn out to be least expected. Far from the best of the Agatha Christie adaptions, but well worth seeing because of the super cast.

A bit dull, a bit dumb.

[planktonrules · 3/10 · 4 September 2012]

My reason for watching this Agatha Christie film is probably pretty unusual. I am NOT a huge fan of her stories but instead watched it simply because Olivia de Havilland was in the movie. Considering what a fan I am of this wonderful actress, it's not surprising I'd see "Murder is Easy".

The film focuses on events that happen to an American professor and computer expert (Bill Bixby) on his visit to the UK. Soon after seeing an old friend, the friend is killed in a suspicious accident--and you know it COULDN'T have been an accident since it IS a mystery film! And, given the title of the film, you know they won't stop at just one! So, Bixby decides to investigate the crimes--after all, he IS a professor (now THAT's movie logic for you)! What follows is an amazingly ordinary film--with mostly second-rate actors (though Lesley Anne-Down was gorgeous), some serious logical errors and a mystery that never was all that involving. Helen Hayes (who played in some excellent Christie films) only makes a token appearance--so don't look for her to reprise her Miss Marple or have an active role in the movie despite her appearing at the beginning. Worth seeing if you are a die-hard Agatha Christie fan but otherwise very easy to skip--even if you adore Miss de Havilland.

Here are a few stupid portions of the movie that made me laugh. A doctor tasted the white powder found next to body of dead woman to find out what it was!! What if it were laced with strychnine or arsenic?! What doctor would do this?! What a dumb scene! Also, the film was obviously written by someone with a very limited understanding of computers. You can't rely on a computer to solve a crime, as the computer is only as good as its programming. If you could program in all the possibilities and variables (which isn't possible), then you'd know the killer already--and such a program would take an eternity to create. Unless, of course, it was a very, very simple murder and the evidence was obvious. And finally, when one person is pretty sure they know who the murderer is, do they go to the police? Nope--instead they go to the killer's house to confront them...alone!! What follows is a hilarious cat-fight between a 28 year-old and a 68 year-old that is too dumb to be believed! And, when help arrives, the scene gets even funnier! You have to see this to believe it!

Finally, while you won't believe it, Bixby and Timothy West (who play romantic rivals) are just about the same exact age in the movie--though they appear at least 10 years apart.

entertaining fluff

[Movie_Man 500 · 11 January 2002]

Bill Bixby, not actually turning into the Incredible Hulk, tries to solve the deaths of citizens in one of those quaint English villages where murderers seem to thrive. A nice fair adaption of a fun Christie book with pretty Leslie Anne and a hefty Olivia huffing and puffing thru the scenery. She's a wicked gas here.

Watchable mystery

[coltras35 · 6/10 · 28 June 2021]

Bill Bixby doesn't have his green alter-ego to help him this time, only his sleuthing abilities. You wouldn't like him when he's snooping around. In this TV movie Adapted from Dame Agatha Christie book, Bixby stars as a MIT stats professor who befriends an old lady on a train who confides in him that she's off to Scotland yard to report on a murderer. She is later killed in a hit and run accident. The MIT professor decides to investigate...

Fairly enjoyable mystery with good performances from Lesley Anne down and Bill Bixby, though it can focus a little too much on the romance between them, however it passes the time adequately with a good ending.

No Poirot and Miss Mable but fill out the absence by the clever Const. Reed!!!

[elo-equipamentos · 6/10 · 28 February 2020]

Adapted as TV movie on small budge Murder is Easy stays minor, worst lost so early Mrs. Lavinia Fullerton (Helen Hayes former Miss Maple) leaving the story orphan of Hercule Poirot and Miss Maple, then enter a American investigator Professor Luke Williams (Bill Bixby) a man who wrote a book about possibilities on computer, he has developed a sort of software where he put all allowed information on it and left the computer finds a solution, many murders have been happened on a countryside of the England, he goes there to find out the criminal, there Luke meets the gorgeous eye candy Bridge Conway (Lesley Ann Down) which he falling in love, after some inquiries he put in a computer many clues collected over the murders, the machine establish a most probable killer, his lover Bridge Conway, also he suspicious of theodd and ill-tempered Lord Gordon Easterfield (Timothy West) whom all yours enemies end up died after had some kind of quarrels, who stolen the show is marvelous soft spoken Const. Reed (Freddie Jones) an old fashionable policeman who used to walk by bicycle, proficient and skillful policeman, which fill out the absence of Poirot and Maple, minor but not devoid of interest!!

Resume:

First watch: 1992 / How many: 3 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 6.5

Started off well but...

[jonbanjo · 2/10 · 1 July 2012]

When Luke Williams meets an eccentric old English woman on the train and she tells him she knows of three murders and she is subsequently murdered, I felt that the film had started well and was likely to develop into a good whodunit. Unfortunately, it was down hill from there on.

With one exception, the suspects are wooden, providing little other than simply having a list of suspects to consider. The exception is Bridget Conway, the object of the Luke Williams' desire. Attractive as she (Lesley-Anne Down) is though, there is a limit to how often I want to see close ups of her facial expressions.

The plot - will Bridget Conway prove to be the murderer damming Luke Williams hopes or will it be someone else? - first stumbles along and then grinds its way to an inevitable slushy conclusion.

Watch For Leslie-Anne Down

[davidjanuzbrown · 9/10 · 30 July 2012]

Basically Agatha Christie is not my cup of tea (Exceptions: "And Then There Were None" & "Murder On The Orient Express"), but this film is different. The reason is Leslie-Anne Down (Bridget Conway), beautiful as always (And perhaps never more so than in this film). Spoilers: The basis for the film is interesting where Luke Williams (Bill Bixby) meets Lavinia Fullerton (Helen Hayes) on a train heading for London because of the mysterious deaths happening in her small Village. When he sees her get run over by a car, and get killed, he realized it is statistically impossible for so many deaths in one small town to occur, so he decides to play amateur detective and prove his theory correct. There he meets and falls in love with Bridget( Who is engaged to a much older man (Major Horton (Patrick Allen). Now although his computer said Bridget was the killer, he refused to believe it, and of course, she is not. Who is the killer? It was pretty obvious, but I will not say. Needless to say, at the end, Maj. Horton who also is NOT the killer, realizes that marriage is not for him, and Luke has a very quick marriage proposal for Bridget, which of course, she accepts and they leave the village and live Happily Ever After. I give it 9/10 stars, mostly for Leslie-Anne but also for Constable Reed (Freddy Jones) who is a fun chap always loving to ride his bike, and is very happy when the small town returns to normal.

total rubbish

[steveclark-3 · 1/10 · 5 August 2007]

Wooden performances, the usual dire changes to make it fit better with the main target audience- how on earth did so may good actors find their way into something as awful as this?

I suppose being paid is the answer as it cannot have been challenging in any way shape or form as far as a performance was concerned, they could do this stuff in their sleep.

The final scene ( and this isn't a spoiler!) is monumental in its awfulness-I actually sat open mouthed at ineptitude of both the dialogue and performances.

I have to write ten lines but there is nothing more to say! I can only thank heaven that I will never have to see this again!

Fun and well made, with a great cast

[I_Ailurophile · 8/10 · 26 February 2022]

'Murder is easy' very quickly impresses with a certain charm, almost folksy and kitschy, that seems characteristic of British murder mystery films or TV shows. That goes double for the classic works of Arthur Conan Doyle or, as in this instance, Agatha Christie. Even as the image only slowly and deliberately comes into focus, the puzzle pieces are laid out with an ease and finesse that's at once peculiarly particular and dearly disarming. That sense is only amplified with Gerald Fried's score - variably imparting country comfort, upper class splendor, dire drama, or meditative curiosity - and with delightful dialogue and scene writing brimming with wit, repartee, passing levity, and otherwise enchanting magnetism. (For good measure throw in amusingly outdated values including judgmental lines about "rock concerts," "man-chasers," and notions of the United States as a haven for substance abuse, and inflated bluster about the personal computer as a fantastic new consumer good.) From the very start and through to the end, this TV movie ably entertains and keeps our attention. Even 40 years later, this is well worth watching.

Just as this 1982 feature adapts Christie's tale with some modern touches, the cast is filled with names spanning generations of star power. Bill Bixby, fresh off his stint as David Banner in 'The incredible Hulk,' is a solid lead as Professor Luke Williams. Freddie Jones, in a smaller supporting role, is cheekily brilliant in portraying Constable Reed - giving possibly the best performance of the lot - and I've never seen Jonathan Pryce so young as he is here, playing sketchy Ellsworthy. They and all others present - Lesley Anne-Down, Shane Briant, Olivia de Havilland, Leigh Lawson, and so on - demonstrate gratifying nuance and spirit in realizing these characters of such smart personality. Though some of the dialogue and scene writing is a tad too exaggerated and overt for its own good, the interplay between all the assembled actors is rightly absorbing.

I can't say I'm especially familiar with the novel, but Carmen Culver's screenplay offers up a wonderfully intelligent narrative with able twists that holds its secrets close until just the right moment. We get definite minor thrills, tastes of humor, and solid suspense all the way through, building into a small but satisfying tale of murder most foul that keeps us engaged. This is really just so much fun - good writing, direction, and acting is deserving no matter the time or place, and this is a fine example of that constancy.

There's really just not much more to say, except perhaps that the mixture of "crime thriller" ill deeds with the expected mirthful gaiety of British programming may not be for all viewers. Yet if that air is not off-putting, and not least of all if one enjoys any such stories, then 'Murder is easy' is a fun, well-made TV movie that's worth checking out if one has the opportunity.

Atmospheric but bland

[nickgodfrey · 4/10 · 7 April 2023]

Nice scenery in this uneven adaption with the quaint English village backdrop nicely captured.

Unfortunately that's about the only thing the film has going for it with some terrible performances (worst is Bill Bixby, very wooden and playing a somewhat unlikely romantic lead) bad scripting in parts and too much emphasis on a soppy developing romantic love story between Bixby and Leslie Anne Down.

This is a modern update with Bixby taking on the role of lead sleuth as an American computer programmer on holiday in England who gets mixed up in a serious of mysterious deaths in a small village.

Could have been an enjoyable murder mystery with more focus on the murders and village life but this one falls a long way short.

Malick's Evil Ghost

[tedg · 30 August 2009]

My heavens.

One thing I like, absolutely find hypnotizing, is how the classic detective stories get munged around. Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie are the ones that I want to follow. Now that there is new twist — probably a whole rope walk — on Sherlock coming, I wanted to check this out.

It had a comparatively big budget, and some named actors, but not in their finer phases. It is roughly based on Christie in terms of the setup and mystery. But there is no real mystery. How it messes up in this department is uninteresting.

But it has a detective that is roughly placed between Poirot and Marple. This is the truly bizarre part. This detective is an MIT professor, presumably a genius, right? He follows the TeeVee version of mathematical logic, which is based on a simple notion of "calculating the probabilities." Its a bit of a hoot, because it takes the detecting, the narrative richness of projecting in the future, into other folks' minds, into a mechanical exercise.

It is precisely the opposite of what advanced mathematical logic is all about. In fact, I've been thinking about Terrence Malick recently. I encountered him as an MIT professor, wondering about what the relationship of future is to past. It is, in a way an extension of the concerns of a detective. It has nothing to do with probability, instead about understanding causality instead of measurement.

It means that for me this is a particularly disturbing version of the genre, a genre that has a particularly intelligent origin. I feel like I'm in bigfoot territory.

Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.

Really awful adaptation...

[cotennfl-1 · 2/10 · 17 December 2023]

Agatha Christie must have been turning over in her grave when this horrible version of Murder is Easy was released. I'm surprised her estate put the go-ahead on it. They must not have known how awful it was going to be. Bill Bixby is totally out of his element as an American in the British countryside trying to solve a murder especially when it comes to courting Leslie Anne Warren. Trying to update the time period as well is awkward as social customs will have changed and it's especially cringe seeing the old school computer being used to try and solve a crime. There's no warmth, nothing at all endearing about this movie and it's just embarrassing for most of the main actors who must have all been in need of money when they agreed to sign on for this go-round.

Not a bad Christie updating

[aramis-112-804880 · 8/10 · 25 April 2023]

I_Ailurophile nailed this movie in that review. A few points to emphasize:

Freddie Jones (the local conatable) is one of my favorite actors and he always comes up with deliciously unexpected line readings. But the prime scene stealer is Timothy West (father of Samuel), who knows how to use every inch of his body to good effect. A simple readjustment of his jaw always has me smiling. Patrick Allen is good, too. The whole thing is a veritable acting clinic.

Unusually for me, I don't mind the updating (I despised it with Ustinov's Poirot). Dragging in computers and probability sounded like a good idea at the time. I'm sure. Watching this in college when it was first broadcast I thought one scene was great, when so few people (myself included) didn't have home computers. I did college papers on a typewriter! Watching it after a number of years (and a number of computers) the moment where Bixby feeds all known data into a computer to find a suspect by probability before going to commercial looks kind of silly.

Leslie-Anne Down is to die for. I thought she was scumptious then and that hasn't changed with the years the movie and I have accumulated since.