Speedy Death

The first of the "Mrs. Bradley Mysteries", "Speedy Death", based on the 1929 (first) Gladys Mitchell novel, was adapted for TV by the BBC, starring Diana Rigg ("The Avengers", "Evil Under the Sun") as Mrs. Adela Bradley - note that in the books she was Mrs. (later Dame) Beatrice Adela Lestrange Bradley, an elderly woman resembling a pterodactyl with the smile of a Cheshire Cat - not at all like Rigg.

The plot itself is reasonably faithful - Mrs. Bradley, accompanied by her chauffeur George (in the TV series, a romantic lead - in the books, a faithful servant), arrives at Chayning Court, to visit her god-daughter's engagement party. Her god-daughter's fiance, Everard Mountjoy, dies - drowned in the bathtub, and ... a woman. Mrs. Bradley investigates, and after two attacks - one on the god-daughter Eleanor Millicent Bing, the other on a young woman staying at the house - apprehends the killer. The famous trial scene (one of the best parts of the book) is missing from the film, unfortunately.

The acting is well done - Rigg excels as Mrs. Bradley, as do the actors playing Arthur Bing, Eleanor Bing, and Bertie Philipson. The story is full of action, the suspicion is well spread, and the denouement is surprising. Excellent.

Mrs Adele Bradley, a socialite with a forensic mind attends the engagement party of daughter Eleanor Bing, and her intended Everard Mouthjoy. Accompanied by her faithful Chauffeur George it's not long until her skills as a Detective are put to the death when Everard is discovered drowned in the bath tub. Bradley must work out who, and why, as well as answer an intriguing discovery about Everard.

It's a fine production, the original story is tweaked to make way for Rigg's sassy interpretation of Bradley, but as a mystery it works really well, plenty of suspects, and an unusual twist, not one you'd find in an Agatha Christie.

Excellent production values, it looks so good, wonderful costumes, stylish decor, and music, which I'm not altogether crazy about, that fits the production. It's very well acted, Rigg is superb in the role, her addresses to the camera so full of wit. Dudgeon great also. Sue Devaney was lots of fun as maid Mabel, Emma Fielding and Tom Butcher also stood out.

Super stylish, but with a degree of substance.

It seemed there were too many plots and too many people that were greedy or had reasons to kill someone in this story. Dianna Riggs is the star, Mrs Bradley. Years ago she starred in the The Avengers and a Agatha Christie movie in which she was arrogant and rich, she is like this in the movie as well, a miss know it all. The story starts off unbelievable to begin with. A man is engaged to a woman in a wheelchair is found dead in a tub. Later when the police come the "man" in the tub is actually a "woman". Then Mrs Bradley goes on to say why women make out they are men because men can do more things and go places women cannot. That is a lot crap. I kind of lost my interest in this story, it became more of a political talk in normalizing the behavior of a woman passing herself off as a man. Mrs Bradley is staying in the house of a old friend of hers, who is probably still in love with her. He is mean, bossy and does not like his son's choice for a bride.

The end is kind of surprising. If you see Poirot movies you come to appreciate the villain or villains being brought to justice. In this one I can't say that happened and some of it was due to Mrs Bradley knowing information and not passing it on to the police.

So I am not sure about this series, the sin of omission is what bothers me.

Gladys Mitchell (1901-1983) is one of my favorite British mystery writers. She wrote 66 Mrs. Bradley, later Dame Beatrice, novels and Speedy Death is the first, published in 1929. Fortunately, Diana Rigg looks nothing like Mitchell described her in the books where her looks are repeatedly described as reptilian. Indeed, one of her associates nicknames her Mrs. Croc. But Rigg does excellently portray Mrs. Bradley's wit, tolerance, cynicism and reasoning skills. After attending the funeral of one of her ex-husbands, Mrs. Bradley visits the estate of an old friend, Alistair Bing. Mrs. Bradley is his daughter Eleanor's godmother. Eleanor, who was paralyzed as the result of an auto accident some years previously is engaged to Everard Mountjoy. But just prior to the engagement party, Mountjoy is found dead in a bath tub. Thereafter, Eleanor and another young woman are attacked. Mrs. Bradley, a trained psychiatrist, unravels the many twists and turns the plot takes. I liked the gimmick of Mrs. Bradley making asides to the viewing audience. Mrs. Bradley is good at discerning or finding out people's secrets but in this episode, as in a number of the original stories, she does keep one secret from the police. George, Mrs. Bradley's chauffeur, nicely sums up her character when he tells a cheeky stable boy that "She's not mad, she's unique." The production values of this series are great and Diana Rigg shines as Mrs. Bradley. It's a shame only five episodes were made, but at least we have those five. It's a series worth watching more than once.

As much a character study of the story protagonist, Adela Bradley (Diana Rigg), as a murder mystery, this film, the first in a series, was a minor disappointment to me. Mrs. Bradley is an older, wealthy woman who is chauffeured around by her driver George (Neil Dudgeon). She is nothing if not skeptical, cynical, worldly, and icy cold, traits I found not terribly endearing. The script has her making occasional asides to viewers, as if we're all invited along to see how a smart lady solves crimes; I did not care for that style of storytelling.

The murder mystery begins shortly after Mrs. Bradley arrives at the English estate of her old friend Alastair Bing (John Alderton). The victim is found in a bathtub. From this point on, Mrs. Bradley uses her analytical smarts to solve the crime.

The main problem with the story is that characters are not well defined until fairly late in the film. Heavy English accents made dialogue a tad difficult to understand at times. I could have wished for more time with various suspects, to get to know them, and their potential as the killer. It's one of those films wherein the story is perfectly clear ... the second time around.

"Speedy Death" is set in the 1920s. And the film has wonderful period piece costumes and production design, along with music from that era. I really like Diana Rigg as an actress. She was absolutely terrific in "Evil Under The Sun". But "Speedy Death", while still enjoyable for a one time viewing, lacks the sparkle and cinematic magic of the earlier Agatha Christie classic.