16 Uhr 50 ab Paddington (1961)

16 Uhr 50 ab Paddington: Directed by George Pollock. With Margaret Rutherford, Arthur Kennedy, Muriel Pavlow, James Robertson Justice. When Miss Jane Marple reports witnessing a murder through the window of a passing train, the police dismiss her as a dotty spinster when no trace of the crime can be found.

“This film was a real discovery for me. A real feel-good murder mystery if ever there was one. Margaret Rutherford as Agatha Christieu0026#39;s Miss Marple is quite something different I was expecting. Usually in other films and TV-series Iu0026#39;ve found the character a bit boring compared to Hercule Poirot and have much more preferred Christie stories involving the latter. Not this time, because this must be the best Agatha Christie movie I have seen yet. I havenu0026#39;t read the book the film is based on, u0026#39;16.50 from Paddingtonu0026#39;, so I canu0026#39;t tell how faithful the film adaption is. But Rutherfordu0026#39;s Marple sure sparkles. She is above all witty, energetic and enormously fun to watch.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhat generally makes this movie so delightful is the humorous style which I strongly connected to the classic Ealing comedies. There is also some obvious influence of Hitchcocku0026#39;s early films from his English period, for example the trick of using a womanu0026#39;s scream and a train whistle together very effectively. Good looking sharp photography and fast-paced direction keep things moving . The dialog is very stylish, so u0026quot;utterly Britishu0026quot; for someone from a different language area and a treat for oneu0026#39;s ear. I doubt if anyone really talks like that anymore, but hopefully Iu0026#39;m utterly wrong.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAnd for once I guessed the murderer right beforehand without spoiling any of my fun. On the contrary, the movie gave me such a good time it fully surprised me in that. Judging by this and the trailers of the other films in the series (Yes, hurray, there is more of it!) Iu0026#39;ll have to catch up with the rest of them too. Do let your evening be crowned or saved by this wonderful film.”