{"id":4726,"date":"2007-11-07T13:29:51","date_gmt":"2007-11-07T20:29:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=4726"},"modified":"2021-09-05T11:44:10","modified_gmt":"2021-09-05T18:44:10","slug":"murder-at-the-gallop-1963","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=4726","title":{"rendered":"Murder at the Gallop (1963)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;A wealthy old gentleman with a weak heart had a pathological horror of cats: what easier than for some interested party to slip a cat into the house, a cat that the old man will come upon unexpectedly? Yes &#8212; old Enderby was frightened to death!&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Murder-at-the-Gallop-Poster.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Murder-at-the-Gallop-Poster-194x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"194\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-68104\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Murder-at-the-Gallop-Poster-194x300.png 194w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Murder-at-the-Gallop-Poster-662x1024.png 662w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Murder-at-the-Gallop-Poster-83x128.png 83w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Murder-at-the-Gallop-Poster-175x270.png 175w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Murder-at-the-Gallop-Poster.png 721w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 194px) 100vw, 194px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nWhen wealthy Mr. Enderby (Finlay Currie) falls dead from a heart attack, plucky Miss Marple (Margaret Rutherford) suspects foul play, and tries to determine who among his greedy heirs is the murderer.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Amateur Sleuths<\/li>\n<li>Inheritance<\/li>\n<li>Margaret Rutherford Films<\/li>\n<li>Murder Mystery<\/li>\n<li>Robert Morley Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nBritish comedic actress Margaret Rutherford is primarily known for two eccentric characterizations: medium Madame Arcati in Noel Coward&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=1136\"><em>Blithe Spirit<\/em> (1945)<\/a> (originally a stage play), and amateur sleuth Miss Marple in George Pollock&#8217;s four screen adaptations of Agatha Christie&#8217;s novels; of the latter, <em>Murder at the Gallop<\/em> is the only one listed in Peary&#8217;s book, and thus is the only one I&#8217;ve seen (so far). While purists have complained that jowly Rutherford doesn&#8217;t fit Christie&#8217;s description of prim, spinsterish Miss Marple, the inimitable actress brings her own unique charm and energy to the role, and the result is sheer delight: with her otherworldly facial grimaces and her indomitable lust for sleuthing (and snooping), Rutherford carries the film with ease. The mystery itself is well-plotted (I was unable to guess the true culprit), the supporting performances are all fine, and Ron Goodwin&#8217;s lilting thematic score provides a welcome touch of humor to the proceedings. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Margaret Rutherford as Miss Marple<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/murder-gallop-marple.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/murder-gallop-marple.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"853\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4724\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Atmospheric b&#038;w cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/murder-gallop-cinematography.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/murder-gallop-cinematography.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"853\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4725\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, simply for Rutherford&#8217;s performance &#8212; but it&#8217;s likely that any of the other three films in the series (<em>Murder She Said<\/em>, <em>Murder Most Foul<\/em>, or <em>Murder Ahoy<\/em>) would suffice as well. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Noteworthy Performance(s)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/imdb.com\/title\/tt0057334\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1963\/06\/25\/archives\/screen-tea-with-miss-rutherfordmurder-at-the-gallop-opens-at.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;A wealthy old gentleman with a weak heart had a pathological horror of cats: what easier than for some interested party to slip a cat into the house, a cat that the old man will come upon unexpectedly? Yes &#8212; old Enderby was frightened to death!&#8221; Synopsis: When wealthy Mr. Enderby (Finlay Currie) falls dead from a heart attack, plucky Miss Marple (Margaret Rutherford) suspects foul play, and tries to determine who among his greedy heirs is the murderer. Genres,&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=4726\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4726"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4726\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75828,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4726\/revisions\/75828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}