Murder Most Foul Murder Most Foul Murder Most Foul is the third of four Miss Marple films made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Loosely based on the novel "Mrs McGinty's Dead" by Agatha Christie, it stars Margaret Rutherford as Miss Jane Marple, Bud Tingwell as Inspector Craddock, and Stringer Davis (Rutherford's real-life husband) as Mr. Stringer. The story is ostensibly based on the original Christie story, but notably changes the action and characters. Hercule Poirot is replaced by Miss Marple and most other characters are not in the original story. The film was released in 1964 and directed by George Pollock, with David Pursall credited with
Miss Marple (TV series) Helen Hayes for television broadcast. Thus these three titles were the last to be dramatised under the BBC's agreement. The adaptations are mainly true to the original novels. Joan Hickson, who played Miss Marple, was an octogenarian herself during most of the series' production. Decades before, she had appeared in a minor role in "Murder, She Said", in which Margaret Rutherford played Miss Marple. Hickson had also appeared in a stage adaptation of the novel "Appointment with Death" in 1946, after which Christie sent Hickson a note that read, "I hope one day you will play my dear Miss Marple."