McGuffin on a train

 Usually when some veteran actor dies, the headlines are written by under-30s for under-30s, and I am compelled to put some tart comment on Facebook to the effect that "X had a major career on stage and in classic cinema before playing an Orc for Peter Jackson". I am glad to see that due tribute was paid to the sadly-late Robbie Coltrane's early work before Harry Potter. It was also gratifying that Angela Lansbury was remembered in the obituaries (like Radio 4's Last Word) for more than Murder, she wrote. From being Elizabeth Taylor's schoolfriend (I remember her towering over her fellow English exile) in National Velvet and Charles Boyer's maid in Gaslight (still the best screen adaptation of Patrick Hamilton's play in my view) through Elvis Presley's mum to her chilling would-be queen bee in The Manchurian Candidate the major peaks of the first half of her career were covered. So I feel quite justified in adding my few jottings to Murder, she wrote.

To be honest, I did not watch the series for her acting (she confessed in an interview that she virtually walked through her performance) or, generally, the writing. One attraction was the puzzle element which was true to the series' inspiration, the classic English murder mystery, especially the work of Agatha Christie. Another was the fact that Ms Lansbury clearly called on the circle of friends she had made in Hollywood and on Broadway to feature, especially in the early series. Some must have revelled in playing against type: for instance, former matinee idols Stewart Granger (as a shady art dealer) and Van Johnson (as an eccentric inventor among other parts). In an episode I have just caught up on, showing on 5USA, Marsha Hunt, a major figure in Hollywood until she was victimised in the illiberal 1950s and who also died at a great age earlier this year, had a minor part. Keith Michell, who had a hit on BBC TV as Henry VIII in 1970, shared some of the burden of fronting the series. Some of the other names from the golden age I can pick out from the roll-call here are Norman Lloyd, Gloria de Haven, Hurd Hatfield, Nina Foch, June Havoc, Betty Garrett, Ann Blyth, Cyd Charisse, Ernest Borgnine, Dorothy Lamour, Jane Greer and of course Jean Simmons, not to mention many who had made their name in previous TV series. Quite a few Brits appear in the list, but surprisingly there is no cross-over with another of our exports, Alfred Hitchcock. It's as if there was a Lansbury set and a Harrison/Hitchcock set in Hollywood. However, the best of the Murder, she wrote productions gives several nods to Hitchcock.

South by Southwest is set largely on a train (as two of Hitchcock's classics were), has a McGuffin (Hitchcock's name for an object on which a plot turns) and has a title which is an incorrect compass bearing, like North by Northwest. (The anomaly appealed to Hitchcock, a keen sailor. In fact, the reference is to Northwest Airlines.) There the resemblances cease. There is no mysterious blonde or any psychological overtone. There are hints of another Hollywood classic, The Narrow Margin. It neatly combines the elements of thriller and whodunit. And Ms Lansbury tones down her performance from the broad acting, at times mugging, of the weekly series production line. I hope to be watching it again on TV tonight.