Change Your Image
shanty_sleuth
Reviews
Marple: The Blue Geranium (2010)
An excellent expansion of an ingenious short story.
THE BLUE GERANIUM is based on a short story from THE THIRTEEN PROBLEMS, a collection of short stories told by several characters in the Miss Marple canon. It is also the first Miss Marple short story ever to be adapted to screen, and I am very pleased to say that it was adapted successfully.
The story begins with a prelude of the murder of universally-hated Mary Pritchard (Sharon Small), wife to philandering George Pritchard (Toby Stephens) who was first engaged to Mary's sister Philippa (Claudie Blakley) before Mary swept him off his feet. Now George finds comfort in other women - a former nurse named Susan Carstairs (Rebekah Manning) for instance, as well as the talented artist Hazel Instow (Caroline Catz) as Mary slowly became an agoraphobic, superstitious, and insufferable blight on the quaint country village of Little Ambrose. Even the kindly Rev. Dermot Milewater (David Calder) harboured a dislike for her - especially after she embarrassed him in public and refused to fund repairs to the crumbling town church. Indeed, everyone disliked Mrs Pritchard, including Lewis Pritchard (Paul Rhys), George's novelist brother and Philippa's husband whose penchant for gambling caused him to go into debt and put his family in near poverty. Dr Jonathan Frayn (Patrick Baladi) comforted Mary with placebos, but secretly loathed her and was trying to find a way to ask the reverend's cheerful niece and the Pritchards' housekeeper Hester (Joanna Page) to marry him. Even Mary's live-in nurse, Caroline Copling (Claire Rushbrook), seemed to resent her employer as she endured Mary's endless tirades, tantrums, and strings of abuse. When a mysterious fortune-teller named Zarida arrives to warn Mary of blue flowers, such as hollyhocks and geraniums, Mary's superstitious nature becomes inflamed until she is in a state of hysteria - a state compounded when she witnesses the pink hollyhocks in her wallpaper slowly turn blue one evening. Soon after, she dies - apparently having been frightened to death after a geranium on her wall turned blue.
Now, in the present day, two other people have died other than Mary - including the mysterious Eddie Seward (Jason Durr) whose body was found by the river on the very day he arrived in Little Ambrose, along with Miss Marple (on a visit to her friend, Rev. Milewater). Seward had connections with the Pritchards - he even had a missing wife - but could his death have been anything other than murder? Miss Marple seems to think so, much to the annoyance of Detective Somerset (Kevin R. McNally). After all of these deaths have occurred, Miss Marple watches as her gardener John (Ian East) prepares a mixture of potassium cyanide and water to kill an infestation of wasps. Suddenly, she realizes who the murderer is and how the murders have been committed. But George Pritchard has admitted to committing the murders, and now she must call upon her old friend Sir Henry Clithering (Donald Sinden) to save him from the gallows so that the true culprit does not escape justice.
This story was adapted by Stewart Harcourt and directed by Dave Moore. The costumes and scenery are as lovely as ever, and Julia McKenzie continues to deliver top-notch performances as the cunning spinster sleuth Miss Jane Marple. Harcourt has taken a very short story with minimal plot and turned it into a fantastic full-length story that could easily pass off as an actual Christie novel. No one has any valid argument in saying that this is an "unfaithful" mockery of Christie's story - it's as faithful as it can be! Everything from the original story is here, but it is expanded so that it can be a regular adaptation in this series. The only change I was able to notice was that of the killer's motive - but it's understandable, as this plot would not have served the original motive at all (which was actually love, not greed). This is a particularly great short story, and the solution seems so simple that any well-educated viewer would certainly feel stupid for not guessing at it earlier. I was amazed at how this adaptation was able to hold my interest, because about 90% is original material not culled from Christie. I must say 'bravo' to Mr Harcourt for such a fantastic adaptation all-around. Everything, from the acting to the script to the costumes, was superb. It really does pay to adapt these Miss Marple short stories rather than shoving her in foreign novels, because not only are you adapting Christie's material faithfully, but you can also add your creative touches and flourishes for wonderful evening entertainment without feeling guilty. And the purists would have nothing to complain about! A win-win situation, I'd say.
This is turning out to be the strongest season of the series yet, and I have yet to see THE PALE HORSE (alas, I probably won't see it for some time yet). To conclude this rather lengthy review: I firmly believe that THE BLUE GERANIUM will remain as a standout of this series when it ends because of the superb production values and first-rate script. I will watch it a few more times to see if I still enjoy it as much as I did the first time, but if one viewing allows me to enjoy it so much, multiple viewings will bring about more of the same sentiment.
Marple: A Pocket Full of Rye (2008)
Rhymes and Crimes
I'm not always a Christie purist, and most of the time the changes in these adaptations do not really bother me as much as they'd bother others. The only times I do get upset with changes are when the changes add nothing to the story, or when they are completely ridiculous and do not better Christie's original ideas. Thankfully, little is changed in this particular adaptation, in which Julia McKenzie is handed her knitting needles and tweed as she steps into the role of Miss Marple from her successor Geraldine McEwan.
I'll be honest - McKenzie is a much better Miss Marple than McEwan was. McEwan did not seem serious enough, and was hardly the character that Christie had invented. McKenzie is warmer and more in the vein of Christie's character, although she's no Joan Hickson (unsurprisingly).
The tale here is of a fractured family, whose patriarch is poisoned at his office one day. A quantity of rye is mysteriously found in the dead man's pockets. The dead man was pigheaded and very much disliked, so there is no shortage of motives or suspects. Unfortunately, the case thickens when his young gold-digging wife is poisoned while drinking tea and eating bread and honey, and the parlormaid is strangled with a clothes peg on her nose. The murders copy the nursery rhyme, "Sing a Song of Sixpence." But why? Fortunately, Miss Marple (who trained the parlormaid Gladys) decides to investigate and seek justice.
This is a very run-of-the-mill outing, despite its extreme faithfulness to the text. I think it's because the book was not one of Christie's best. It's a standard murder mystery, with plenty of clues and red herrings to fool viewers. The solution is satisfying, but certainly a difficult one to guess at. The main problem I have here is that nothing quite engages the viewer. The scenes plod along, and the acting is very stale for the most part. Matthew Macfadyen is fine as Inspector Neele, but he isn't quite as interesting as one would expect. Rose Heiney does well as the gullible Gladys, but we see very little of her. Lucy Cohu is a lifeless Pat - I don't know if that's a good or bad thing, but I much preferred Frances Low in Hickson's version. Rupert Graves is great as Lance, but Ben Miles' Percival is stuffy and uninteresting. Helen Baxendale is excellent as Mary Dove, Liz White is alright as Jennifer, Anna Madeley is a good Adele, but Hattie Morahan's Elaine is rather useless here. Joseph Beattie and Chris Larken play Vivian Dubois (Adele's lover) and Gerald Wright (Elaine's lover) respectively, but neither of them have enough screen time to make an impact. Ken Campbell's Crump was rather too silly as comic relief, and Wendy Richard played Mrs Crump well (RIP). Last but not lease was a small cameo by Prunella Scales, who did a convincing take on the tragic Mrs Mackenzie.
All in all, I did enjoy this adaptation, but it could have been better. Julia McKenzie will certainly do a fine job as Miss Marple, so I don't think I should worry about her.
Marple: At Bertram's Hotel (2007)
Fans of Agatha Christie will not be disappointed
If you've seen the third series so far chronologically, you may have been pleased with the way TOWARDS ZERO was left virtually untouched plot-wise, but you may feel disgusted at how many liberties were taken to alter the original story of NEMESIS. However, this episode stands out as being both moderately altered and possibly the most atmospheric episodes this series has seen so far. When I say moderately altered, it is obviously changed somewhat from the original novel (the Britten twins, Amelia Walker, Mutti etc. do not appear as they do here, for example). However, that doesn't mean that it goes to the extremities that NEMESIS faced, with a complete redesign of the book. AT BERTRAM'S HOTEL stays comparatively close to the novel while spicing it up a bit to keep viewers attentive and observant while many clues that are seen, but are left ignored, are brought together in the end. This episode is changed from a typical whodunit to a spectacle seen by viewers that has many cryptic hints twinkling in the background of several "unimportant" scenes. Unlike many of the other mysteries, where viewers have to struggle with the burden of remembering countless clues and must wait to be proved right or wrong at the end, this adventure provides enough visual hints to solve the murder on the spot and see just how clever you really are. Of course Miss Marple pieces it all together at the end, but her solution may come as a shock as to how easy the truth had been laid out. Newcomer to the series Tom McRae creates a worthy screenplay that shines, along with the superb direction, setting, and costumes. I guarantee you that this episode will not leave a bad aftertaste as did NEMESIS or other episodes in previous seasons.
Marple: By the Pricking of My Thumbs (2006)
Excellent!
I was skeptical about Miss Marple being entwined into a Tommy & Tuppence Beresford mystery, but she was woven into the plot beautifully in the movie. Geraldine McEwan is a great Miss Marple, and she was particularly eccentric in this move (maybe a little too much coffee?) Tuppence Beresford is a middle-aged, drinking housewife who spends most of her time alone. Her husband, Tommy, is usually away on business with the Military Intelligence Service. One day, Tommy and Tuppence go to the Sunny Ridge Nursing Home for Ladies to visit Aunt Ada, Tommy's quick-witted aunt. Tuppence befriends the dotty old Mrs Lancaster, who tells her about a murdered child behind a fireplace. This bugs Tuppence, but Tommy thinks it's the talk of a crazy old "biddie." A few weeks later, Aunt Ada is dead and Mrs Lancaster is missing. Tuppence receives a painting of an old cottage which she believes didn't belong to Ada. Miss Marple, visiting an old friend, decides to help Tuppence put together the mystery. It takes them to Farrell St. Edmund, a Norfolk village holding a barricade of secrets. That's where the Witch's House, the house in the painting, was presumably painted. Marple and Tuppence believe that Mrs Lancaster was taken to that house by one of her relatives. But first they must find out who the relative is... is it Mrs and Mr Johnston, a twittery couple who have the habit of repeating each other? Is it Nellie and Septimus Bligh, the vicar and his wife? Or Rose Waters, a pregnant bartender? The ending is truly a delightful shocker! If you like Miss Marple, this is an enjoyable mystery to watch. It has humor, suspense, and lots of drama. It makes me think how they'll do "The Sittaford Mystery"... Truly an excellent, yet awkward adaptation!
Marple: The Moving Finger (2006)
So far, one of McEwan's best episodes
OK, so there were a few minor things with lighting, and the back-projection of the driving scenes were a bit odd, but all in all this is an excellent Miss Marple starring Geraldine McEwan. Harry Enfield was a magnificent portrayal of the uptight solicitor Richard Symmington, and Imogen Stubbs was a great gossipy, snobbish Mona Symmington. Ken Russell scared me (I have to admit) as Reverand Caleb Dane Calthrop, and I can't believe Frances De La Tour was cast as his wife, Maude (she looked as ugly as a gargoyle)! James D'Arcy was a good Jerry Burton, and Emilia Fox as Joanna Burton was good.
I thoroughly enjoyed this episode, and it's on my Top 3 list along with "A Murder is Announced" and "The Murder at the Vicarage." This adaptation isn't as good as Hickson's version, but still very enjoyable. I recommend that you see it, for I know you will enjoy it!