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8 out of 8 people found the following review useful: Joan Hickson is THE definitive Miss Marple, 24 August 2006 Author: jbpvdri from United States
I couldn't agree more with Mike. My local PBS station here in the US is currently broadcasting the new Miss Marple series one evening a week, while showing the original Joan Hickson Miss Marple as a daily series at 1:00 PM. There is NO comparison. Even Agatha Christie, some years before her own death, predicted that Joan Hickson would be the perfect Miss Marple. She knew her character, and the right actress to play her. The new series struggles far too hard to be "trendy" and puts far too much present-day "politial correctness" into the plots. Geraldine McEwan's Miss Marple has become nearly as much a caricature as Margaret Rutherford's movie portrayal.Jim.
9 out of 11 people found the following review useful: Another good Miss Marple, 5 January 2003 Author: (dawnfrancisuk@yahoo.co.uk)
Miss Marple is called into action once again. This time it's poison pen letters circulating in her friend's village. However, this wouldn't be Miss Marple without a murder or two and sure enough we get them. Another enjoyable, leisurely stroll through Christie country
16 out of 25 people found the following review useful: Poor Ted, 27 December 2004 Author: mike-1828 from United Kingdom
Oh dear, poor Ted, he seems, from his email address to be in Education, and one would suspect that his academic speciality is "Mystery Writers". A pity, excessive analysis over the years appears to have rather distorted his power of judgement. I was lucky enough to have been brought up in 1950s England, and I have never seen a series which more accurately reflects the life and people I remember then, less the murders of course! The real problem Ted has with the whole series is revealed in this comment: "At least this one emphasizes the obnoxious, mousey character of Jane more than the others." He just doesn't like Joan Hickson's characterisation. Well, sorry old chap, I knew many friends of my grandparents who were extremely similar to this Miss Marple, intelligent ladies of the Raj who had returned to England or daughters of the prewar middle class coping with the new society that was being shaped. They were used to a 'certain standard' in all things. Behind the fierce formal exterior, though, there was a twinkle, although often buried quite deeply. If Ted doesn't like this Joan Hickson characterisation, then I'm pretty sure he would have not have got on with Agatha Christie either. Probably Erle Stanley Gardner's more his type! This episode is up to the standard of the rest of the series, and it was directed by Roy Boulting, who would also remember this time well since it was his heyday at Shepperton Studios, producing classics like 'I'm alright Jack'. Hence the accuracy of the period feel. If you want to see Miss Marple really messed up, then check out the new 2004 series featuring Geraldine McEwan, whom I admire in the right part (Mapp and Lucia for example). But she is NOT Miss Marple, Miss Hickson IS.
1 out of 1 people found the following review useful: classic mystery, 12 December 2007 Author: (gbennie@bigpond.net.au) from Australia
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
I remember seeing this adaptation many years ago and remembered it as being rather scary, so recently I borrowed a taped version to verify my memory. Being an adept Agatha Christie fan and owning almost all her novels, this film sets the mood well of an old-fashioned quaint mystery, like most of the Joan Hickson series. I have seen both Margaret Rutherford and Geraldine McEwan as Miss Marple and undoubtedly Hickson exceeds them. In The Moving Finger, Miss Marple does not play a huge role and it is perhaps not the most clever or suspenseful of her cases. Whilst it moves at a slow pace, it does present realistic reactions to the murders. The film sets the scene well in the English countryside with stereotypical characters. The outfits in the Geraldine McEwan adaptations are a bit ambitious and too glamorous for quiet English settings, whereas they are more accurate in this with garments of tweed and natural hairstyles. The casting is suitable as it did not contain any famous movie stars (eg. Joanna Lumley in the recent 'Body in the Library') giving the film its authentic touch. For me, the most interesting and distinctive parts of the film were the murders. Although not violent, the body of Beatrice in the cupboard used to haunt me and when I re-watched the film it still did. I did notice Mrs Symmington's body twitching as though she were still breathing but this did not subtract from the brilliance of the acting. Elizabeth Counsell portrays a very loath-able character, providing a motive for any of the characters due to sheer hatred. Despite this, the murderer appeared rather obvious in my opinion, but that may be because I have read the book. Some may be disappointed at the very basic solution. Instead of calling the characters into the room and giving a fifteen minute monologue (with the help of flashbacks), here Joan Hickson explains it briefly in a few minutes with little ingenuity. Nevertheless, this film will impress those looking for a simple straightforward murder mystery because it has all the basic ingredients - clues, suspects, red herrings (such as the comment that the sender of the poison-pen letters is a woman) and the murderer caught trying to kill at the end. Overall this adaptation is hard to find but it is worth it. It is not too long and provides for a pleasurable night (just beware of Beatrice in the cupboard soon after the first murder, which may give nightmares). 'The Moving Finger' is not the most thrilling or clever Agatha Christie film but it is still well done.
do we all see the same show?, 29 August 2009 Author: angelknpenny from United States
I have to agree with Mike. I have no idea what Ted was watching. Miss Marple 'obnoxious" huh? Joan Hickson nails her completely and is charming. She also is able to bring across just how intuitive and intelligent Miss Marple is. I, too, like McEwan as an actress, but her portrayal of Marple is vile. she is better suited to series like "Mulberry". As for Rutherford, she doesn't bother me as Marple because I don't take her seriously in them. It's more like a charming parody of the character. Remember both Lansbury and Hayes also had a crack at Jane and while both very talented could not come close to Joan Hickson. She manages to be both steely and soft, no small feat! Ted's comments show a lack of knowledge about the mystery genre. There is no such thing as just mystery; there are numerous subcategories as well. So, comparing Gardner to Christie is akin to comparing Chandler to Conan Doyle.
The Moving Finger delights, 24 December 2008 Author: rbolt2008 from United Kingdom
The casting for this adaptation is good. Deborah Appleby portrays the role of Megan Hunter very well: her depiction of the way the character moves from directionless youth to romantic heroine is striking yet restrained. Richard Pearson makes a delightful appearance as the covertly homosexual Mr. Pye. Criticism of her ability to act dead aside, I think the Elizabeth Counsell's role as Angela Symmington captures her essential character as a mother who is disappointed with her daughter, yet also an innocent victim of murder. As usual, Joan Hickson is brilliant in the role of Miss Marple.The adaptation is divided into two fifty minute episodes. Use of shadows continues to be used in this film: see Megan's discovery in part two and the closing ten minutes of the same part. I like the parts where the action cuts from the vicarage to the Symmington's house where Dr. Griffith is examining the body of Mrs. Symmington. The camera moves away from Mrs. Symmington to reveal that we are not looking at her body, but the reflection of her corpse in the mirror.I wonder whether the original film was longer than that which was broadcast? That would have given time to show the development of the relationship between Megan and Gerry Burton on the one hand and between Joanna and Dr. Griffith on the other. I also think it would have been good if we were able to see more clearly what was written in the anonymous letters - maybe a shot scanning each line of the text written from letters cut out of a book.
Pleasant if a little slow, 5 April 2008 Author: Iain-215 from United Kingdom
Having recently re-read 'Moving Finger' I re-watched this adaptation and was a little disappointed. The humour so evident in the book is largely missing in this rather po-faced version. The central characters of Jerry and Joanna Burton are a little drab in comparison with their ITV McEwen counterparts as are many of the villagers. The character of Aimee Griffith is changed completely into a dowdy mouse and the vicar and his wife are rather too ordinary.On the plus side, the Symmington household are well done. Michael Culver is spot on as the unassuming, well liked solicitor. Elizabeth Counsell whines suitably as his wife and Deborah Appleby is convincing as adult-child Megan who emerges quite unexpectedly as a beautiful (but not TOO unconvincingly beautiful) swan. I also liked Penelope Lee as the gloomy, put upon Partridge. Joan Hickson as ever is perfect as a Miss Marple who remains in the background.Its really OK but in my opinion the newer versions knocks spots off it.
0 out of 1 people found the following review useful: Minor Marple Mystery, 5 October 2008 Author: gridoon2009
Not one of the best entries in the Joan Hickson - Miss Marple series. For one thing, the story is not one of Agatha Christie's strongest; I admit that the identity of the killer caught me by surprise, but in retrospect that happened because the script makes his/her motive almost completely obscure. For another thing, with the exception of 1 or 2 well-done atmospheric scenes (like the discovery of the second body), the film flirts dangerously with dullness. And for yet another thing, although the cast is adequate (it's surprising that Deborah Appleby's career went nowhere after this, because she is indeed - as her character is described by someone else - "a breath of fresh air"), nobody really creates a character as memorable as, say, Selina Cadell's Miss Dove in "A Pocketfull Of Rye". OK for one viewing. (**1/2)
6 out of 23 people found the following review useful: Nattering, 9 October 2003 Author: tedg (tedg@FilmsFolded.com) from Virginia Beach
Spoilers herein.These Marple mysteries are driving me a little batty, just like our detective does the local constabulary.In my case, it is because I am watching each one and finding them so radically different I am shocked. Sure, they all have Joan Hickson and the same music. But each has a different adapter and director, so the result is like meeting a dozen different interesting woman all wearing the same hat.And that matches what Ms Christie was doing with the Marple books, I think. Each is a completely different construction. Where Erle Stanley Gardner repeated the same formula each time, Christie prided herself on not only a variety but in the novelty of the thing.And incidentally, nearly every story has a writer, here the letterwriter. I think the game here (in the book that is) has to do with a completely ordinary killing obscured by the writing - both the writing of the letters and the book. But you need her cleverly written obfuscation to appreciate the story, and that has all been lost here.What remains makes no sense as a traditional detective story, because there is nothing to figure out, no tricks to watch out for. Instead we have just the regular march to the end: two young couples happily joined. and a hero restored.This could be the worst of the bunch, though many miss the whole point of the enterprise. At least this one emphasizes the obnoxious, mousey character of Jane more than the others.Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.
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