MovieChat Forums > Murder by Death (1976) Discussion > Miss Withers

Miss Withers

posted 12 years ago by corbyz
8 replies | jump to latest

So apparently Miss Withers was a reference to another detective character named Hildegarde Withers, who was somewhat Miss Marple -like.

Are any of the other sidekick characters references to other detective characters? I get all the main characters.... So was surprised when I found out miss Withers was a detective in her own right.

[–] bpollen 9 years ago

I wasn't aware of that. Interesting.

[–] viaggio1 9 years ago

Are any of the other sidekick characters references to other detective characters?

Hmmmm.....good question, corbyz......

Well, Mr. & Mrs. Charleston were definitely based on Nick & Nora Charles....

Detective Wang's son would probably have been Charlie Chan's "Number One Son"...

I don't think that any of Bogie's detective / tough guy characters (Spade / Marlowe / Blaine) had a woman detective sidekick, so Tess Skeffington may be a composite of his girlfriends / femmes fatales....Wikipedia claims that her name is a "riff" on Spade's secretary, Effie Perrine...

Don't know enough about Poirot to know if he had a sidekick or compatriot....the character's name was "Marcel Cassette" --- perhaps some spoof on "Marcel Marceau" and a commercially available audiotape from the time period of the movie --- "Maxell Cassette" ?

Hope this helps !

J'ai l'œil AMÉRICAIN !

[–] Jimmy-128 9 years ago

Don't know enough about Poirot to know if he had a sidekick or compatriot....

The closest one would be his valet, Georges, who only appears sporadically from the late 20s to the mid-40s (notably, he must be having his day off when Poirot invites a suspect to his apartment in Cards on the Table). There's no other Poirot sidekick that could be a match; Marcel certainly isn't Captain Hastings or Inspector Japp, and he most definitely is not Miss Lemon or Mrs. Oliver.

[–] viaggio1 9 years ago

The closest one would be his valet, Georges, who only appears sporadically from the late 20s to the mid-40s.

Thanks Jimmy-128 --- Good to get some clarification on this issue !

J'ai l'œil AMÉRICAIN !

[–] greenbudgie 9 years ago

I wondered if Marcel the chauffeur was borrowed from Mrs Bradley's murder mysteries. She has a chauffeur who dresses just like Marcel in her series.

[–] viaggio1 9 years ago

I wondered if Marcel the chauffeur was borrowed from Mrs Bradley's murder mysteries. She has a chauffeur who dresses just like Marcel in her series.

Thanks for the insight and for the leads, ganglehog ---

Before you mentioned them, I was not aware of either the BBC production of "The Mrs. Bradley Mysteries" (1998 - 2000) or of their original author, Gladys Mitchell (who apparently wrote novels from 1929 to the 1980s !)

Will have to check them both out soon --- Diana Rigg is always great fun to watch !

J'ai l'œil AMÉRICAIN !

[–] greenbudgie 9 years ago

I saw the Mrs Bradley Mystery series on the UK Drama Channel 20 some time ago. Diana Rigg is good. A lot of the BBC productions end up being sold to Drama TV.

[–] robert-758-836286 9 years ago

Don't know enough about Poirot to know if he had a sidekick or compatriot....

He most definitely had a sidekick: Captain Arthur Hastings. He is in several of the Poirot stories. Poor Hastings was as dense as Poirot was perceptive. Even so, Hastings imaginative (but naive) view of the world often gave Poirot ideas, ideas completely unanticipated by Hastings.

Hastings is to Poirot as Watson is to Holmes.

Another sidekick-like character is Chief Inspector Japp of Scotland Yard. He is a competent policeman but tends to jump to conclusions (the most obvious suspect or motive). None the less, he is quite intelligent and eventually sees the wisdom of Poirot's theories and conclusions. His ultimate "surprise" is much less than that of Hastings. Japp: "Sergeant, take him away!" Hastings: "Good Lord!" or "My word!"

Japp is to Poirot as is Lestrade is to Holmes.