The fun evaporates slightly once a main character departs, although Hudson is a serious asset as the angst-ridden director Jason Rudd.

There simply aren't any other films around this Christmas that deliver as much solid entertainment as "The Mirror Crack'd.

The Christie plot ends up so drastically foreshortened that you'd swear a reel must have been misplaced, although the sluggish direction of Guy Hamilton doesn't make one anxious to see it restored.

The fun that Lansbury has here is palpable and infectious.