Murder, She Wrote: South by Southwest

TV Movie
1997
PG
1h 40m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Murder, She Wrote: South by Southwest (1997)

Jessica Fletcher (Dame Angela Lansbury) is attacked on a train when she investigates the case of a missing passenger.Jessica Fletcher (Dame Angela Lansbury) is attacked on a train when she investigates the case of a missing passenger.Jessica Fletcher (Dame Angela Lansbury) is attacked on a train when she investigates the case of a missing passenger.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.2/10

1.1K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 3 nominations total

Trivia
The dusty bus stop town location was Piru, California, adjacent to Fillmore. The Piru town's short Main Street commercial buildings were completely vacant, boarded up, and unoccupied. Art Director Mary Dodson created all of the shops, selecting a market, a Southwest Indian tourist shop, a barber shop, gas station, with necessary window and sign decoration. Mary and the decorator made the town come to life for the filming sequence. Several other exterior buildings and sidewalk locations were utilized filling out the filming schedule's use of the town site.

Goofs
When the train journey is interrupted by someone pulling the emergency brake because they claim someone fell from the train, they get out and search the area immediately around the train. In reality, at an average speed of 50mph, as later stated, it would take the train a mile or more to stop after the emergency brake was pulled, plus the distance from the time someone saw someone "fall" and the time it took to locate and pull the emergency brake. They would've needed to be searching at least a mile behind where the train stopped.

Quotes
[last lines]
Jessica Fletcher: ...It starts with a simple electronic game and an eastbound train.

Connections
Followed by Murder, She Wrote: A Story to Die For (2000)

User reviews12

Featured review

8/10

Murder, she Wrote - South by Southwest

Headed to a lecture by train, Jessica is sent on a mysterious journey after she has a brief encounter in the dining car with a woman -who witnessed the murder of a man trying to expose a serious flaw in a top-secret government satellite code - who later vanishes.

This feature length MSW is a well-plotted and enjoyable mystery with Jessica doing what she does best - putting her nose where it doesn't belong and solving a case of murder, witnesses and codes. Loved the train setting, though halfway in the setting changes to Arizona and rugged landscapes and long winding roads. The plot can be over convoluted and it's not always clear how Jessica comes to her conclusion, but it's still fun with its twist and turns.