There are few traditions quite like The Mousetrap. The whodunit, penned by Agatha Christie, has been running in London’s West End since 1952, but even that’s not what’s remarkable about it. Instead, it’s that the entire British theatrical audience and establishment has taken a vow of secrecy to never reveal who, indeed, dunit.
However, prepare for a few details in delicious throwback murder mystery See How They Run, set backstage at the original production of The Mousetrap, back when Richard Attenborough was playing the lead role of Detective Sergeant Trotter. But Dickie (played here by Dickinson) is merely a witness to the actual murder that overshadows the 100th performance. The corpse is that of Hollywood director Leo Köpernick (Brody), who has been attempting to get the play made into a movie. An event that, in the real world, is basically inconceivable, so it’s no surprise that someone beats him to death with a sewing machine in the costume department. It could also explain why the powers that be aren’t terrifically interested in solving the crime, what with it disrupting performances and all being overshadowed by the Rillington Place murders.
If you’re not aware of them, do look them up (or maybe even watch the 1971 movie, 10 Rillington Place, starring Attenborough on the wrong side of the law). Such details add an extra level of Anglophile fun to See How They Run, a period comedy written by longtime David Cross collaborator Mark Chappell (Bliss, The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret). He’s who unleashes raggedy copper Inspector Stoppard (Rockwell, sporting a delightful accent) and perky if officious WPC Stalker (Ronan) in this frothy metacomedy that is as much a loving commentary on the conventions of the genre as an indulgent frolic in them. Moreover, it’s a not-so-subtle dig at crass Hollywood adaptations, which is exactly why screenwriter Mervyn Cocker-Norris (a deliciously camp and arch Oyelowo) is immediately in the casting chair for the part of the killer.
Whodunits are getting a bit of a resurgence in the wake of Knives Out and Kenneth Branagh’s adaptations of two Christie novels, Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile, and of course Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building. Undoubtedly, See How They Run relishes their return, but also feels a lot like one of Quentin Tarantino’s alternative histories, where there’s just enough irreverently referential material to make those red herrings a little more tantalizingly tasty – if you know about Romulus Films and John Woolf and such like. If you’re not au fait with the scandalous yet prim world of the 1950s West End, See How They Run is still a silly if slight affair, playful without ever being weighty, and mostly given a sense of giddiness by Rockwell’s gruff detective and Ronan as his determined if doubting assistant. It may not have the longevity of The Mousetrap, but it definitely deserves a decent repertory run. Oh, and don’t spoil the ending.
This article appears in September 16 • 2022.
