Customer Reviews
Murder with style and skeptical asides; and be discreet when you look in the bath tub - By: C. O. DeRiemer, 26 Aug 2007 
"The countryside? A place where the birds & animals wander about uncooked." That's Mrs. Adela Bradley speaking. The place is a large country manor home. The time is the 1920s. And the who include an old friend of Mrs. Bradley, the wealthy Alastair Bing; his daughter Eleanor, who is Mrs. Bradley's god-daughter, confined to a wheelchair since an auto accident two years earlier & who will come into a fortune when she marries; Eleanor's fiancee, Everard Mountjoy; his son, Garde; Garde's best friend (who was driving when Eleanor was crippled), Bertie Philipson; & Garde's house guest, Dorothy Manners. Of course, there are assorted servants as well as Mrs. Bradley's chauffeur, George Moody (Neil Dudgeon). George is big, capable man who dislikes boredom as much as Mrs. Bradley does.
Adela Bradley (Diana Rigg) is a wealthy woman of a certain age, a divorcee, a psychoanalyst, a catcher of criminals, a woman who drives about in a Rolls Royce, enjoys cocktails, is skeptical about many things, especiallly love & husbands, & who some might say is, in one of the great descriptive words of the Twenties, louche. "I'm never entirely sure if I'm famous or notorious," she confides to us in one of her asides spoken into the camera. "Someone once said famous is to live in poverty & end up as a statue. Naturallly, I prefer to be notorious."
Little does Mrs. Bradley realize that during her weekend at the Bing estate, where Eleanor's engagement to Mountjoy will be formallly announced, she will encounter murder. That's in addition to calculated emotional manipulation, pre-planned adultery, psychotic obsession & a shocking discovery that takes place in a bath tub. There also is a red herring that, in a well disguised twist, turns out not be a herring after alll. Several people wind up getting happily married, a state that neither we nor Mrs. Bradley expect to last for long.
Does this alll sound a bit over the top? Or just "Scary biscuits!" as one character says? Actuallly, it's a solid story, thanks to Diana Rigg. She brings to the role such authority & skeptical amusement that the plot becomes a pleasure to follow. Rigg was 60 when she made this 90-minute TV movie (followed the next year by four additional episodes). She's a first-rate actress to begin with; she looks a knock-out in some almost outlandishly sleek Twenties dresses & hats; & she doesn't hesitate to show us the character, meaning herself, without make-up. If you like stylish mysteries, you'll most likely enjoy this one. The DVD transfer is excellent. Extras include a key cast biographies & a cast list.
