User reviews

Helen Hayes played Miss Marple, Agatha Christie's second most famous sleuth (after Hercule Poirot, of course), only two times. Although the actress is American and the character is English, Hayes is quite delightful in the role - witty, humane and still youthful in spirit. The supporting cast of "A Caribbean Mystery" doesn't contain any big names, but they all play their parts adequately; if anyone stands out, it's Season Hubley as Molly. The locations are pleasant (if Daphne's place in "Evil Under The Sun" was completely booked, I wouldn't mind spending my holidays in this hotel instead), and the story fulfills the basic demands of the mystery genre: it offers plenty of suspects and red herrings, and you won't know who the killer is until the moments he or she is revealed (unless you've read the book, of course). The revelation part is a bit rushed (as it gets squeezed into the last 5 minutes), and the film is at times a bit too leisurely paced. Within its limitations, though, this is good entertainment for fans of genre. (***)

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.

Solid faithful adaption of one of Miss Marple's vacation mysteries, this has a decent cast (for a tv movie) and an okay storyline. Warning: Barnard Hughes as a grouchy old millionaire will soon start to irritate the more he nags and grumbles. The killer should have offed him in the first 5 minutes. Helen Hayes makes a nice Jane however so she saves the movie from veering too far into the goofy, even when her snooping gets out of hand. This may her best starring performance in a Christie adaption. Another version of this story was made for British television.

I did like this adaptation on the whole, but if I were to be honest, I prefer the Joan Hickson version, which I found more somewhat better paced and more stylish. But I will say it is a marginal improvement on the Helen Hayes version of They Do It With Mirrors. Overall, this is a pleasant enough time filler, however there are things wrong with it; the pacing has a tendency to become too sluggish, the events leading up to the final solution were rushed, the direction was too leisurely and one or two scenes and parts of the script came across as rather goofy. That said though, it sticks reasonably to the original story, updating it along the way. Helen Hayes makes for a rather cute Miss Marple, the soundtrack was good, the locations were very nice. Out of the supporting performances the standout, like a previous reviewer has mentioned, is Season Hubley as Molly, she was stunning. All in all, decent and pleasant, but not as good as the Hickson adaptation. 6/10 Bethany Cox

There's been a fair amount of actresses playing Agatha Christie's favourite spinster, but I find Helen Hayes does a fine job as Miss Marple, capturing that "old sweet looking old lady but with great observation skills" really well. Sure, her accent can occasionally slip into an American tang, but, for me, it's not that noticeable - nor does it distract from her rather lively performance. Like my favourite Marple, Margaret Rutherford, she's a fun Marple and not sour-faced like the other actresses who played her.

The story- Detective Miss Marple (Helen Hayes) is on vacation, luxuriating in an opulent Caribbean resort. She meets quirky mystery writer Maj. Geoffrey Palgrave (Maurice Evans), who giddily informs her that he believes one of the other guests is a wife-murdering serial killer. But before he can reveal the alleged killer's identity, Maj. Palgrave dies under suspicious circumstances. Soon there are other victims. Now, Miss Marple must take on the case before more are murdered.

A Caribbean mystery moves at a leisurely pace, and is quite entertaining- close attention is paid to the motley crew of suspects and when the murderer is unravelled you're left satisfied.

After Helen Hayes's comeback in Airport, she set off in the second half of her career as a delightful little old lady. Naturally, she made a couple of Miss Marple movies! In A Caribbean Mystery, Helen goes on a vacation, but trouble follows. Just when she's starting to relax, a murder is committed and turns her vacation into a mystery. Sounds just like Agatha Christie's specialty, doesn't it?

Usually, these types of murder mysteries fall into two categories: too guessable or too complicated. I'll admit I was a bit too distracted by the gorgeous '80s hairdos and ruffled dresses to fully pay attention, but all the characters (aka suspects) started to blend together. There were too many ladies with perms and too many men with Hawaiian shirts for me to form a definite opinion of "He did it!" So, while it was a bit confusing, at least I was entertained until the end. And, how funny was it that Helen referenced her turn in Airport by asking, a bit tongue-in-cheek, what it's like to fly First Class? If you like her, you'll like her sweet amateur sleuthing as Miss Marple. Next up, check her out in Murder with Mirrors.

If you love Agatha Christie, this may be a little disappointing.

Jane Marple has the incredibly annoying habit of mispronouncing English words with a dreadful American twang! As if the quintessential Miss Marple would ever be so awfully common.

I love a good Agatha Christie. This was not a "good" AG. It was mediocre at best.

This is a decent movie and if there were nothing to compare it to, I would say a good adaptation from the book. I like all the actors. However, this movie falls short of the one with Joan Hickson "Agatha Christie's Miss Marple, V. 1: A Caribbean Mystery (1989)"

They sped up the pace of the movie and it looks like a baby crawling at 60 miles an hr. Jane is more actively figuring out the plot and really needs no other characters to think.

This movie does, however, introduce you to Jason Rafiel who is the basis of "Agatha Christie's Miss Marple, V. 7: Nemesis (1986) If you are rich buy them both, if not then this is not the one.

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.

Cable TV here has just shown the two versions back to back. I prefer this one as the more 'solid and faithful' even though the British version has the great Joan Hickson and a strong supporting cast. This version has the great merit of sticking to the story with no fancy touches (or overacting). It's been updated (to the 80s from the 50s) but the cast have the right kind of glitter and vivid beachwear (and big hair).

This US Christie series often looks like Agatha played by the cast of Dallas - appropriately enough since she often wrote about people who didn't need to work thanks to Daddy's money! xxxxxxx

As a fan of Agatha Christie's stories, I was disappointed at the lack of mystery of this TV movie. The plot is annoyingly obvious, not trusting the audience to notice any subtleties.

The acting is worse than one in a school play. No wonder the actors in this old movie are long forgotten.

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.

I've never been anyplace where someone was murdered, but Miss Marple can't escape it. On vacation in the Carbbean, she meets a nice old codger (Maurice Evans) who passes away in suspicious circumstances. Does she just see murder everywhere she looks, or . . .

The first sign Helen Hayes is playing rather than being Jane Marple is during the opening credits when she's beaming out of a plane window. My mother loved the sainted Helen but I can take her or leave her.

It's a largely 1980s cast, including Jameson Parker and Beth Howland. And Stephen Macht (I never understood how he maintained a career; he had the goods on somebody?)

The story is followed closely enough with proper tweaking for oversensitive American audiences (and we've only gotten worse; we're like children). Which is strange because the script is partially by Sue Grafton who had already started her popular "alphabet" series of crime novels (it's nice to find a gimmick).

Frankly, I've always preferred 1920s and '30s Christie. She produced some great stuff in later life, but not that much. I do like the idea Marple has that people are the same everywhere and so she can always draw her village parallels. It's a very American notion (or used to be).

It's nice to see Brock Peters. Nice to see Maurice Evans, too. In fact, I wish Evans had played in the wheelchair and grumpy Bernard Hughes had been murdered, but one can't have everything.

I agree with those who say Joan Hickson's version is better, but I'm reviewing this and not that. And while I have reservations about some of the cast, this version is good enough and not too heavy if, like me, you're an insomniac who needs to pass the night without getting (inside joke) one's blood pressure up.