10 All-Star Cast Whodunnits To Watch Before Knives Out
4. The Mirror Crack'd (1980)
It is easy to pick Evil Under the Sun here (another one of Agatha Christie movie adaptations, her books have always been perfect for all-star whodunnits). But the prospect of watching screen legends Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson (sportingly playing second fiddle to Taylor) as a couple makes it a movie not to be missed. Add to that Angela Lansbury, another legend and star of the long-running Murder, She Wrote, playing Ms. Marple, who plays the part to perfection.
Unlike the Poirot adaptations, many movie versions of Ms. Marple has been played up for laughs. Yes, it is pretty funny, but apart from Elizabeth Taylor pulling a Gloria Swanson from Sunset Boulevard, this is a pretty tight adaptation of the novel.
Like with Murder on the Orient Express, Agatha Christie manages to use a true story as a starting point for her novel. The tragic back story becomes the basis for a significant plot point of the film (not to be spoiled) that adds to the sense of tragedy when the final reveal comes about.