Margaret Rutherford Very Rare Autographed Playbill '66 Murder She Said Blithe

Description

Here is a very rare autographed playbill by actress Margaret Rutherford (1892-1972) from her last state appearance, in 1966, in The Rivals. Made more rare for her having to give up the role after only a few weeks due to declining health. With two other autographs: Moray Watson and Geoffrey Toone.
Rare is the reference to Margaret Rutherford that doesn't characterize her as either jut-chinned, eccentric, or both. The combination of those most mundane of attributes has led some to suggest that she was made for the role of Agatha Christie's indomitable sleuth, Jane Marple, whom Rutherford portrayed in four films between 1961 and 1964 plus in an uncredited film cameo in The Alphabet Murders (1965). Rutherford began her acting career first as a student at London's Old Vic, debuting on stage in 1925. In 1933, she first appeared in the West End at the not-so-tender age of 41. She had made her screen debut in 1936 portraying Miss Butterby in the Twickenham-Wardour production of Hideout in the Alps (1936).
In summer 1941, Noël Coward's Blithe Spirit opened on the London stage, with Coward himself directing. Appearing as Madame Arcati, the genuine psychic, was Rutherford, in a role in which Coward had earlier envisaged her and which he then especially shaped for her. She would carry her portrayal of Madame Arcati to the screen adaptation, David Lean's Blithe Spirit (1945). Not only would this become one of Rutherford's most memorable screen performances - with her bicycling about the Kentish countryside, cape fluttering behind her - but it would establish the model for portraying that pseudo-soothsayer forever thereafter. Despite Rutherford's appearances in more than 40 films, it is as Madame Arcati and Miss Jane Marple that she will best be remembered. Very rare.
Will ship worldwide. I always combine shipping on multiple orders.
Filmography:
1970The Great Inimitable Mr. Dickens (TV Movie)
Miss La Creevy (rehearsed only)
1970The Virgin and the Gypsy
Grandma (scenes deleted)
1967Arabella
Princess Ilaria
1967The Wacky World of Mother Goose
Mother Goose (voice)
1967A Countess from Hong Kong
Miss Gaulswallow
1966Jackanory (TV Series)
Storyteller
- The Tale of Beatrix Potter (1966) ... Storyteller
- The Tale of Mr. Tod (1966) ... Storyteller
- The Tale of Johnny Town-Mouse (1966) ... Storyteller
- The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle (1966) ... Storyteller
- The Tale of Little Pig Robinson (1966) ... Storyteller
1965The Alphabet Murders
Miss Jane Marple (uncredited)
1965Chimes at Midnight
Mistress Quickly
1964Murder Ahoy
Miss Jane Marple
1964Murder Most Foul
Miss Jane Marple
1963The V.I.P.s
The Duchess of Brighton
1963Murder at the Gallop
Miss Jane Marple
1963The Mouse on the Moon
Grand Duchess Gloriana XIII
1957-1963ITV Play of the Week (TV Series)
Mary Smith / Duchess
- The Kidnapping of Mary Smith (1963) ... Mary Smith
- Time Remembered (1957) ... Duchess
1962Zero One (TV Series)
Mrs. Pendenny
- The Liar (1962) ... Mrs. Pendenny
1961Murder She Said
Miss Jane Marple
1961On the Double
Lady Vivian
1960ITV Television Playhouse (TV Series)
Emily Blagdon
- The Two Wise Virgins of Hove (1960) ... Emily Blagdon
1960The Day After Tomorrow (TV Movie)
Amy Carr
1959I'm All Right Jack
Aunt Dolly
1959Farewell, Farewell, Eugene (TV Movie)
Miverva Goody
1950-1958BBC Sunday-Night Theatre (TV Series)
Lady Proudfoot / Miss Constance Hargreaves
- The Noble Spaniard (1958) ... Lady Proudfoot
- Miss Hargreaves (1950) ... Miss Constance Hargreaves
1957Just My Luck
Mrs. Dooley
1957Dick and the Duchess (TV Series)
Cynthia Gordon
- The Kissing Bandit (1957) ... Cynthia Gordon
1957Big Time Operators
Mrs. Fazackalee
1956A Likely Tale (TV Movie)
Mirabelle Petersham
1955An Alligator Named Daisy
Prudence Croquet
1954Aunt Clara
Clara Hilton
1954Mad About Men
Nurse Carey
1954The Runaway Bus
Miss Cynthia Beeston
1953Trouble in Store
Miss Bacon
1953Innocents in Paris
Gwladys Inglott
1952Miss Robin Hood
Miss Honey
1952Castle in the Air
Miss Nicholson
1952The Importance of Being Earnest
Miss Letitia Prism
1952Curtain Up
Catherine Beckwith / Jeremy St. Clair
1951The Magic Box
Lady Pond
1950The Taming of Dorothy
Mrs. Dotherington
1950The Happiest Days of Your Life
Muriel Whitchurch
1949Passport to Pimlico
Professor Hatton-Jones
1948Miranda
Nurse Carey
1947Meet Me at Dawn
Madame Vernorel
1947While the Sun Shines
Dr. Winifred Frye
1946The Importance of Being Earnest (TV Movie)
Lady Bracknell
1945Blithe Spirit
Madame Arcati
1944Her Man Gilbey
Lady Christabel Beauclerk
1943Adventure for Two
Rowena Ventnor
1943Yellow Canary
Mrs. Towcester
1941Quiet Wedding
Second Magistrate
1941Three Wise Brides
Aunt Bijou
1938Spring Meeting (TV Movie)
Bijou Furze
1938Have You Brought Your Music? (TV Movie)
Ms. Massingberd
1937Missing, Believed Married
Lady Parke
1937Catch As Catch Can
Maggie Carberry
1937Big Fella
Nanny (uncredited)
1937Beauty and the Barge
Mrs. Baldwin
1936Talk of the Devil
Housekeeper
1936Hideout in the Alps
Miss Butterby
1936Troubled Waters
Bit Role (uncredited)