I’m not sure I saw Guy Hamilton‘s The Mirror Crack’d back in’80, but I probably attended the all-media. I wouldn’t watch it now with a knife at my back. Most of the cast looks trapped. They like the money but deep down they hate themselves, and yet they can’t escape it so they have to put their best foot forward.

Kim Novak and Tony Curtis look relatively content but everyone else seems miserable. Look at poor Edward Fox — he looks like he wants to kill himself. By today’s measure Rock Hudson looked at least 65 — he was actually 55.

Elizabeth Taylor‘s face had a puffy, boozy look, but at least she’d modified her appearance compared to that infamous Ron Galella “fat Liz” photo, snapped outside Studio 54 on 5.21.79. But she looked terrific in ’88 after following her own diet regimen (“Elizabeth Takes Off”).

Shooting happened in Kent between 5.12.80 and 7.18.80. The Mirror Crack’d opened on 12.19.80.

From Vincent Canby’s 12.18.80 review: “Who did it? If you haven’t figured that out by the time the second murder happens, you should be sent to bed without your warm milk.”

The Kino Lorber Bluray pops on Tuesday, September 1st.