Customer Reviews

Agatha Christie's Miss Marple - Collection 1 (1975)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

There she sits: A white-haired lady dressed in tweeds, a pair of knitting needles in her lap, more interested in village gossip than in the goings-on of the world at large -- and out of nothing, she utters sentences like that.

For more likely than not, another murder has been committed; and Miss Jane Marple, elderly spinster from the village of St. Mary Mead, just happens to find herself near the scene of the crime. And also more likely than not, while the police are still toddling around searching for clues she'll find the solution -- relying on her ever-unfailing "village parallels;" those seemingly innocuous incidents of village life that make up the sum of her knowledge of human nature, and to which she routinely turns in unmasking even the cleverest killer. "Miss Marple is a white-haired old lady with a gentle, appealing manner -- Miss Wetherby is a mixture of vinegar and gush. Of the two Miss Marple is the more dangerous," already observes Vicar Clement, the narrator of Miss Marple's literary debut, 1930's "Murder at the Vicarage" (although in the BBC series, only her fifth adventure).

Originally airing in the 1980s, the BBC's adaptations of Agatha Christie's twelve Miss Marple novels featured Joan Hickson in the title role; quickly establishing her as the quintessential Miss Marple even in the view of the grandmother (or rather, grand-aunt) of all village sleuths and "noticing kinds of persons"'s creator, Dame Agatha herself. (After seeing Hickson in an adaptation of her "Appointment With Death," as early as 1946 Christie reportedly sent her a note expressing the hope she would one day "play my dear Miss Marple.") Prior versions, partly involving rather high-octane casts, had seen as Miss Marple, inter alia, Angela Lansbury and Margaret Rutherford, but had been decidedly less faithful to Christie's books. While Lansbury holds her own fairly well when compared to the character's literary original in 1980's "Hollywood does Christie" version of "The Mirror Crack'd" (and that movie's ageing actresses' showdown featuring Elizabeth Taylor and Kim Novak is a delight to watch), the four movies starring Rutherford are only loosely based on Christie's books: Dame Margaret's Miss Marple, although itself likewise a splendid performance, has about as much to do with Agatha Christie's demure and seemingly scatterbrained village sleuth as Big Ben does with the English countryside, and of the scripts, only "Murder, She Said" is an adaptation of a Miss Marple mystery ("4:50 From Paddington"), whereas two of the others -- "Murder at the Gallop" and "Murder Most Foul" -- are actually Hercule Poirot stories ("After the Funeral" and "Mrs. McGinty's Dead," respectively), and "Murder Ahoy" is based on a completely independent screenplay.

Following the rule that ever since Sherlock Holmes and Inspector Lestrade every great private detective needs a policeman he can outwit, the creators of the BBC series inserted the character of Inspector Slack into almost all storylines -- hardly in keeping with the literary originals, which are set over a period of more than 30 years and thus, exceed the career span of a policeman already advanced on his professional path at the time of his first encounter with Miss Marple; even if the BBC's Slack is promoted from D.I. in the series's first instalment, 1984's "The Body in the Library" (where he really does appear) to Superintendent in 1992's "The Mirror Crack'd" (which is originally only an Inspector Craddock story). Yet, Hickson's and Horovitch's face-offs are a fun addition; and one is almost ready to pity Slack, who hardly ever gets a foot down vis-a-vis Miss Marple's quick rejoinders and, in the words of her friend, retired Scotland Yard chief Sir Henry Clithering, "wonderful gift to state the obvious." (During a conversation with Craddock [John Castle] in "The Mirror Crack'd," Slack -- whom Miss Marple herself, in the TV adaptation of "Murder at the Vicarage," has already likened to a railway diesel engine, or in that story's literary original to a shoe vendor intent on selling you patent leather boots while completely ignoring your request for brown calf leather instead -- unaware that he is talking to one of Aunt Jane's nephews, rather unsubtly credits her with having "a mind like a meat cleaver.")

Although Agatha Christie herself reportedly preferred Miss Marple over Hercule Poirot, her audience's demands compelled her to bring back the moustachioed Belgian with the many little grey cells much more frequently than the village sleuth from St. Mary Mead. All the greater the tribute paid to "Dear Aunt Jane" in these lovingly-executed adaptations - now, if only this set also contained the series' first three entries ...

Episodes included:

"Murder at the Vicarage" (1930, BBC 1986; Christie's first Marple story)

"The Moving Finger" (1942, BBC 1985)

"They Do It with Mirrors" (1952, BBC 1991)

"4:50 From Paddington" (1957, BBC 1987; a/k/a "What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw!")

"The Mirror Crack'd" (1962, BBC 1992; title taken from Tennyson's "Lady of Shalott")

"At Bertram's Hotel" (1965; BBC 1987)

"A Caribbean Mystery" (1965, BBC 1989)

"Nemesis" (1971, BBC 1987; sequel to the above)

"Sleeping Murder" (1976, BBC 1987; Christie's last Miss Marple mystery)

Episodes not included:

"The Body in the Library" (1942, BBC 1984, the first adaptation starring Hickson)

"A Murder Is Announced" (1950, BBC 1985)

"A Pocket Full of Rye" (1953, BBC also 1985)

Joan Hickson portrays the definitive Miss Marple in this DVD series featuring 4 of the classic PBS and A & E series. With guest stars such as Donald Pleasance, Claire Bloom and Sophie Ward, this set features 4 of her many adventures. The only thing keeping this from getting a 5 star rating is the somewhat grainy prints used for this set. Nevertheless, this a fun and enjoyable mystery romp with Joan Hickson perfectly portraying the elderly, yet sharp sleuth. A must-have for your mystery collection and highly recommended.

The entire Joan Hickson Miss Marple series is superbly done in every way. Casting is excellent, acting is seamless, the music is enjoyable and appropriate to every scene and character. My wife and I view these over and over again. In all the productions there is only one we do not care for and that is in Collection 2: They Do it With Mirrors. Perhaps there the story is our problem and not the production. Otherwise we recommend every one without reservation and would suggest that others judge for themselves on the one title we, personally, avoid.

We are long time fans of the PBS Mystery series and feel that Joan Hickson as Miss Marple, David Suchet as Hercule Poirot and Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes are all great series and should all be collected. My husband and I like to sit with a glass of wine, a plate of cheeses and a great mystery movie.. These series are great!..

I'd been eagerly waiting for the DVD release of this wonderful series but am now very disappointed. This is the second set of A&E DVDs I've had to return recently because of poor quality. THE 4:50 FROM PADDINGTON DVD is the worst I've seen. It looks like an old and worn out video. It's dirty and the colors are washed out. No restoration work there! SLEEPING MURDER is better but not as good as it could be. Frankly, I didn't even bother to watch the other two shows, I returned the set. I've bought other A&E DVDs made from much older shows, like The Saint, from the sixties, and all 12 episodes are crisp and clear and the color is nice and bright. Also, why did they edit these shows? You lose important information that way, especially in mysteries.

It appears that A@E no longer cares about the quality of the products they sell. They should check them before they're made available to the public. Visually they lack the high standards that one expects from DVDs. Hopefully A&E will rectify this in future releases of this set.

In this case many people are disappointed with the quality of the recordings. I am concerned with the availability and for one am glad to get a copy while they are still being published.

"Sleeping Murder"

"Very dangerous to believe people, I haven't for years"

This film is an excellent adaptation of Agatha Christie's book. The actors were well chosen. G'raldine Alexander and John Moulder-Brown is a convincing newly wed couple. The couple gets to solve the lion's share of the mystery with guidance from Miss Marple of who warned them not to pursue the mystery. The location is beautiful and requires a vision of the sea. As with most Marple mysteries everyone and no one did it. In fact we are not sure that there was an "it" to did?

So get out your teacakes and sit back watching that new fangled invention that the Americans like (the TV) and be swept away to the Sleeping Murder.

"A Caribbean Mystery"

Introducing Jason Rafiel

A relative of Aunt Jane's pays her way for a rest in the West Indies. There she is still sort of out of place with the exception of talkative Major Palgrave who turns up dead. Aunt Jane is teaming up with and usually out guessing another guest (the exocentric millionaire) Mr. Rafael. In the process a few more murders show up and everyone looks suspicious.

This story introduces you to Jason Rafiel who will turn up again in "Agatha Christie's Miss Marple, V. 7: Nemesis (1986).

It was an intriguing touch to have the dead person's spirit supposed to come back after nine days to get revenge.

You will want to view this movie several times to see how the plot could have gone. Later this movie will be like a friend and just need watching again.

"The Mirror Cracked from Side to Side"

Mirror Cracked from Side to Side

Aunt Jane finds herself at a local an annual summer garden party hosted by the new owners of Gossington Hall. The new owner is an aging movie star who is at odds with the studio producing the latest movie. A visitor mysteriously dies. People start dropping like flies and the Movie Star (Marina) knows she is next. The title of the movie is taken from "The Lady of Shallot"

Joan Hickson is Miss Marple. Agatha Christie always considered her as the ideal Miss Marple; she shows this through her reserve savvy. Jane takes an interactive interest in the mystery and yet each character as part of the discovery, stands on their own. The ending of the story is as is in life, it is appropriate not black and white judgmental.

"4.50 From Paddington"

4.50 From Paddington

A woman is being strangled and there is a witness. The police are can not find any evidence. So it is up to Miss Marple with help from Lucy Eyelesbarrow an independent maid.

Notice how Aunt Jane is always several steps ahead of the others in planning. Watch the expressions when Aunt Jane grates on David Horovitch as Detective Inspector Slack. "...When one of us is clever enough to find the body."

The story does not totally follow the book yet it has the unmistakable Aunt Jane feel.

John Hallam has fun playing randy Cedric Crackenthorpe watch him again playing "Lord Rhysart" in "A Morbid Taste for Bones" (1997).

The Moving Finger:

Mrs. Cleat has a nose for the nasty.

Naturally, if they kept the subplots and characterization the same as the book, this movie would be a mini series. However they did do a good job of consolidating characters and sticking to the main points of the story. Even if you have read the book you will enjoy watching the movie.

One of the plusses of this movie is the character that plays Edward Symmington (Michael Culver.) He is in several other English films and plays Prior Robert in the Brother Cadfael Series.

One of the minuses of this movie is the Lisa Doolittle scene; it is totally out of character for aunt Jane films.

You have the characteristic mystery and the usual (or unusual) suspects. Aunt Jane is confronted with a problem that may snowball into murder if she does not figure it out in time. But as everyone says, "Ask Miss Marple. She usually has the right answer."

Nemesis:

Jason Rafiel's last wish

Millionaire Jason Rafiel of whom we met in the in the movie "A Caribbean Mystery (1989) leaves a last wish before he dies. He wants Miss Marple to look into the accusation that his son murdered a girl. He leaves her a considerable sum and a bus ticket regardless of what she finds.

Naturally we get all the clues but only Aunt Jane can make sense out of them.

Murder at the Vicarage:

Aunt Jane sees it all

"Murder at the Vicarage" starts out with important information scenes and a missing one pound note. As Reverend Leonard Clement (Paul Eddington) passes the hedge hiding Miss Jane Marple (Joan Hickson), he expresses an ill chosen explicative to describe Colonel Lucius Protheroe (Robert Lang).

Yep, there is a murder at the vicarage, which is conveniently located in plane sight of Miss Marple. Everyone has a motive and nobody had opportunity. You and Detective Inspector Slack (David Horovitch) must sort through all the sub plots and confessions to find out what happened.

At Bertram's Hotel:

Muffins vs. tea cakes with raisins

It is not easy comparing movies to books, especially Agatha Christie's novels. However this one has the feel and just the right actors. There is great attention to detail.

If you have the nagging feeling that you saw Chief Inspector Fred Davy (George Baker) before it may be that he has been in at least 100 movies and shows, recently as Detective Chief Inspector Wexford in Ruth Rendell Mysteries.

Bertram's Hotel is just how Jane remembered it as a child. She soon comes to the conclusion that it is to good to be true. The Chief Inspector is of the same mind. This film has several overlying plots. However just being in the hotel will distract you from them.

So get out your muffins, sit up in bed and watch "At Bertram's Hotel."

They Do It with Mirrors:

The answer to the riddle is in the title.

Once again Aunt Jane has to sort things out when a friend Ruth asks her to look in on her sister, Carrie Louise. You anticipate that Carrie has had it. And you meet many unbalanced and seedy characters. While you are watching you can miss the whole thing as they do it with mirrors.

Just side notes that the still pictures from this movie are on the back of the video sheath of "Murder at the Vicarage"

Well paced and the perfect English actors to match each part.

I watched all the Miss Marple's as my Mother & I are big fans of Agatha Christie's many books. I watched the series when it ran years ago, and was looking forward with great anticiption to the DVD's. I must say this is the worst job of transferring a beautifully produced television series to DVD. There were so many artifacts from cramming everything onto single disks that they are in many cases, completely unviewable. I would recommend renting this set from Netflix or somewhere before purchasing them. This is such a major disappointment. I loved the series and waited with great anticipation for their release, only to discover they're unwatchable.

Much to my annoyance I found out that at least two of the stories in this set have been edited. For those trying to make a decision whether or not to buy these disks, I have outlined the cuts below:

Sleeping Murder - intact: no cuts.
The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side - appears to be intact.

4.50 from Paddington - edited: 5 mins 11 secs
Scenes edited are:
* Miss Marple and Mrs McGillicuddy directly after the latter arrives at Miss Marple's where she talks about how the people on the railway wouldn't believe a word she said about what she saw on the train(30 secs)
* Miss Marple collects the mail after it has been dropped off by the postman (13 secs)
* A continuation of the conversation between Lucy Eylesbarrow and Emma Crackenthorpe as they walk down the hall after the former arrives there where they discuss the imminent arrival of the rest of the family and the peculiarities of the family will / Emma introduces Lucy to Mrs Kidder (the cook) / Dr Quimper leaving and chatting to Emma / Mrs Kidder leaving for the day and Lucy asking if she minds if she does a bit of tidying up / Lucy cleaning the kitchen (3 mins 10 sec)
* Dr Qumper walking with Inspector Slack away from the barn watched by the two boys / Slack talking to Quimper about the family (1 min 26 secs)

As you can see substantial edits here that actually affect what information we receive about the will, plus the removal of chunks of character development - grrr.

A Caribbean Mystery - edited: 3 mins 54 secs
Scenes edited are:
* Man setting up lantern on raft - a continuation of this scene where he jumps in boat and starts back / Miss Marple meeting Victoria / Tim greeting Miss Marple and discussing with her whether or not she would prefer an English-style meal for dinner, as Jason Rafiel enters (1 min 13 secs)
* Miss Marple unable to sleep (12 secs)
* Molly returning to dinner covered in blood after she finds Victoria and breaking down (1 min 3 secs)
* Greg Dyson the beach / Evelyn Hillingdon talking to Miss Marple (26 secs)
* Inspector Weston arriving at Victoria's funeral / singing at funeral (25 sec)
* Jason Rafiel watching Miss Marple approach and inviting her to tea, to which Miss Marple responds that she was coming to see him anyway (21 secs)
* Miss Marple folding linen as she packs to leave (4 secs)
* Inspector Weston with Miss Marple and Molly after the murderer is caught (10 secs)

The cuts here are not as severe except for the ones concerning Victoria (they establish Miss marples relationship with her) and the one with Molly returning to dinner where she finally cracks.

I am entering a review solely to reassure potential buyers that the DVD quality of this set is not "unviewable", and the sound quality is not "inaudible" as one or two other reviewers seemed to think. Could they have cleaned it up a little better? Sure. The picture is not crystal sharp, like the new DVDs that are issued today. However, there was not one single moment when I was distracted by either the picture or the sound. I am so glad that I purchased this, because my local PBS no longer broadcasts this series, and I have missed it. Now I can watch it whenever the desire for a taut, well acted mystery hits me.

It's surprising that the BBC (or is it ITV?) has not denounced these DVDs and demanded their destruction. The charm of the original made-for-TV films is utterly degraded by incompetent transfer from the originals by A&E. It looks almost as if the master tape was played on a big-screen TV then recorded by a VHS tape recorder using a middling camera with lens lightly smeared with vaseline. One can't even read the text of labels into which the camera pans.

The fault for this travesty lies purely with the transcription - I own VHS tapes recorded in Europe from the telly which have comparatively superb resolution (but which, alas, can only be played on an European TV).

Buy these DVDs only if you are incurably devoted to Joan Dickson's superbly understated performances of Miss Marple's adventures, and are able to pretend you are myopic - or that you have removed your glasses if you already are. Otherwise, save up your money for something less frustrating. Take Sitar lessons, or buy a good book, or a CD of your favorite music. At least they will endure, and be worth revisiting.