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[COLOR= black]Agatha Christie’s Marple: Series 5[/COLOR]
[COLOR= black]The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side/The Secret of Chimneys/The Blue Geranium[/COLOR]
[COLOR= black]Directed by Tom Shankland, John Strickland, David Moore[/COLOR]
[COLOR= black]Studio: Acorn Media
Year: 2010
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 anamorphic
Running Time: 267 minutes
Rating: NR
Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo English
Subtitles: SDH[/COLOR]
[COLOR= black]MSRP:[/COLOR][COLOR= black] $ 49.99[/COLOR]
[COLOR= black]Release Date: August 31, 2010[/COLOR]
[COLOR= black]Review Date:[/COLOR][COLOR= black] August 15, 2010[/COLOR]
The Series
4/5
Agatha Christie introduced her elderly spinster sleuth Miss Jane Marple in a series of six 1928 short stories, but it wasn’t until 1930 in the cozy village mystery Murder at the Vicarage that she achieved more international exposure. Though the character is today wildly popular, Christie trotted her out only occasionally between those first efforts and her last appearance in a novel in 1976’s Sleeping Murder. There were only twelve full length Jane Marple mysteries ever written plus a handful of short stories. Despite this paucity of viable material, Miss Marple has been appearing in theatrical films and made-for-television movies for almost five decades, often in adaptations of the Marple books but occasionally in either original plots or efforts where the character has been inserted into one of Mrs. Christie’s mysteries that originally didn’t feature Jane Marple at all. At this stage of her cinematic career, all of Miss Marple’s novel-length adventures have been filmed at least once, so as has been the case in previous series of Marple features which starred Geraldine McEwan, only one of these three films is based on an actual Marple novel. Of the other two, one inserts Miss Marple into a thriller in which she didn’t originally appear, and, at long last, one of the Miss Marple short stories has been chosen to be dramatized.
Stage veteran Julia McKenzie once again has been tapped to perform the role of the doggedly determined Jane Marple, and she seems ever so much more secure in these three outings than she did in her prior attempts at capturing the character. She’s still no match for Joan Hickson who, to my mind, was the perfect embodiment of the no-nonsense dedicated bloodhound of the Christie novels and who managed to film all twelve of the Marple mystery novels before her death in 1998. Still, McKenzie is aging into the part nicely and is already leagues ahead of Ms. McEwan’s interpretation of the role.
The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side is on its third go-round as a movie. The 1980 feature film starred Angela Lansbury as Marple and boasted an all-star cast in a camped-up version of the story that wasn’t wildly popular. Joan Hickson’s 1992 TV version was more faithful to the book and, like this new version, stressed the very melancholy story and bittersweet ending which left the final death as something of a question mark. Still, all three versions based on Christie’s novel kept the central framework intact: a Hollywood star (Lindsay Duncan), who has taken the legendary country home Gossington Hall in Miss Marple’s St. Mary Mead, hosts a village fete where a talkative villager (Caroline Quentin) is poisoned for seemingly no reason. Once the police begin to suspect that the star was the real target of the murderer and not the innocent villager, the list of suspects who despise her demanding ways and heartless treatment of others is quite lengthy, and the unfolding mystery results in one of the best of Agatha Christie’s late period.
As most no doubt know (though Christie never admitted it), the background for the mournful story of Marina Gregg was based on the tragic true story of Hollywood star Gene Tierney who gave birth to a child born deaf, nearly blind, and mentally handicapped. With a few name changes and the time period moved backwards a decade or so from the original novel, Kevin Elyot’s script does a very nice job of establishing a lengthy list of suspects and plants some excellent red herrings to throw sleuthing viewers off the track. Joanna Lumley gets to reprise Marple’s best friend Dolly Bantry from her first appearance six years ago, and Nigel Harmen makes a touching Jason Rudd, younger husband of the bedeviled star. This is the best of the three films offered in this set.
Miss Marple was not a part of the original 1925 novel The Secret of Chimneys, but that hasn’t stopped the producers from inserting her into the TV adaptation. Actually, it’s not much of an adaptation but rather a reimagining of the original material. The setting of Chimneys, a splendid Gothic manse of centuries gone by, has been retained, and some of the characters from the novel have been used in screenwriter Paul Rutman’s fashioning a new murder mystery plot around the book which was more light thriller than mystery. A German count (Anthony Higgins) is found murdered in a secret passageway of the house, and suspicion falls on Anthony Cade (Jonas Armstrong), one of three men romancing Virginia Revel (Charlotte Salt), daughter of Chimney’s owner (Edward Fox). Inspector Finch (Stephen Dillane) is surprised to find the infamous Miss Marple as a weekend house guest and is determined not to let the elderly sleuth get the best of him (in vain, of course. The camaraderie that Dillane and McKenzie evince as they investigate the crime is terrific and easily the best thing about this production). Part of the mansion’s mystery also revolves around a jewel robbery and the disappearance of the suspected thief some twenty-three years previous. Miss Marple sorts everything out by the end of the program.
The first of the Marple short stories to be dramatized is The Blue Geranium, and the producers couldn’t have selected a more intricate puzzle to inaugurate dipping into that treasure trove of writing for further Miss Marple films. Of course, in the story, Miss Marple never leaves her chair to explain the solution of the baffling mystery to her Tuesday Murder Club group, but Stewart Harcourt’s screenplay plops her right into the midst of the action as wealthy hypochondriac Mary Pritchard (Sharon Small) is found dead in her bed, seemingly having been frightened to death. Her husband (Toby Stephens) confessed to the crime (along with two other murders which happened in the village of Little Ambrose), and it’s only through Miss Marple’s keen observation of her own gardener mixing wasp poison that she arrives at the answer. The story has been fleshed out, naturally, from its few pages of text for an 89-minute drama, but all of the essentials from the story are there with very few changes; only new characters and subplots have been added for that extra bit of attention deflection. Toby Stephens makes for a very believable ladies’ man, and Kevin McNally gets to be the latest in a long line of inspectors once again shown up by the elderly detective.
Video Quality
3.5/5
The films have been framed at 1.78:1 and the transfers have been anamorphically enhanced for widescreen televisions. For some reason, slight soft focus filters have been applied to these productions, obviously done to establish the period feel for these stories, but the lack of really crisp visuals is sometimes frustrating. (The Blue Geranium is the sharpest of the three.) Being new productions, obviously there are no age-related artifacts to worry about, and color saturation and flesh tone accuracy are as good as one would expect. But one longs for a sharper, more solid image. Each film has been divided into 11 chapters.
Audio Quality
3.5/5
The Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo audio track does a more than adequate job of presenting all of the dialogue clearly and cleanly, and the music adds just enough ambiance to supplement the visuals well indeed.
Special Features
4/5
The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side disc contains five text-based bonus features:
The Secret of Chimneys contains two text-based bonus features:
The Blue Geranium contains two text-based bonuses:
A bonus disc included in the package is titled “Agatha Christie’s Garden,” and it’s a 60-minute biographical program on the life of Agatha Christie told through a tour of her favorite home on the coast of Devon – Greenway House. Featuring comments from her grandson Mathew Prichard, biographer Janet Morgan, mystery novelist P.D. James, and historian Laura Thompson, this fascinating look inside the house and around the grounds of this impressive estate is hosted by Pam Ferris.
Also on this bonus disc are the following brief featurettes:
In Conclusion
4/5 (not an average)
Three more entertaining mystery adventures featuring the endearing sleuth Miss Marple come to us in Agatha Christie’s Marple: Series 5. With the three programs and the bonus disc giving some superb information about one of Agatha’s beloved homes in Britain, this package comes highly recommended!
Matt Hough
Charlotte, NC
[COLOR= black]Agatha Christie’s Marple: Series 5[/COLOR]
[COLOR= black]The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side/The Secret of Chimneys/The Blue Geranium[/COLOR]
[COLOR= black]Directed by Tom Shankland, John Strickland, David Moore[/COLOR]
[COLOR= black]Studio: Acorn Media
Year: 2010
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 anamorphic
Running Time: 267 minutes
Rating: NR
Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo English
Subtitles: SDH[/COLOR]
[COLOR= black]MSRP:[/COLOR][COLOR= black] $ 49.99[/COLOR]
[COLOR= black]Release Date: August 31, 2010[/COLOR]
[COLOR= black]Review Date:[/COLOR][COLOR= black] August 15, 2010[/COLOR]
The Series
4/5
Agatha Christie introduced her elderly spinster sleuth Miss Jane Marple in a series of six 1928 short stories, but it wasn’t until 1930 in the cozy village mystery Murder at the Vicarage that she achieved more international exposure. Though the character is today wildly popular, Christie trotted her out only occasionally between those first efforts and her last appearance in a novel in 1976’s Sleeping Murder. There were only twelve full length Jane Marple mysteries ever written plus a handful of short stories. Despite this paucity of viable material, Miss Marple has been appearing in theatrical films and made-for-television movies for almost five decades, often in adaptations of the Marple books but occasionally in either original plots or efforts where the character has been inserted into one of Mrs. Christie’s mysteries that originally didn’t feature Jane Marple at all. At this stage of her cinematic career, all of Miss Marple’s novel-length adventures have been filmed at least once, so as has been the case in previous series of Marple features which starred Geraldine McEwan, only one of these three films is based on an actual Marple novel. Of the other two, one inserts Miss Marple into a thriller in which she didn’t originally appear, and, at long last, one of the Miss Marple short stories has been chosen to be dramatized.
Stage veteran Julia McKenzie once again has been tapped to perform the role of the doggedly determined Jane Marple, and she seems ever so much more secure in these three outings than she did in her prior attempts at capturing the character. She’s still no match for Joan Hickson who, to my mind, was the perfect embodiment of the no-nonsense dedicated bloodhound of the Christie novels and who managed to film all twelve of the Marple mystery novels before her death in 1998. Still, McKenzie is aging into the part nicely and is already leagues ahead of Ms. McEwan’s interpretation of the role.
The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side is on its third go-round as a movie. The 1980 feature film starred Angela Lansbury as Marple and boasted an all-star cast in a camped-up version of the story that wasn’t wildly popular. Joan Hickson’s 1992 TV version was more faithful to the book and, like this new version, stressed the very melancholy story and bittersweet ending which left the final death as something of a question mark. Still, all three versions based on Christie’s novel kept the central framework intact: a Hollywood star (Lindsay Duncan), who has taken the legendary country home Gossington Hall in Miss Marple’s St. Mary Mead, hosts a village fete where a talkative villager (Caroline Quentin) is poisoned for seemingly no reason. Once the police begin to suspect that the star was the real target of the murderer and not the innocent villager, the list of suspects who despise her demanding ways and heartless treatment of others is quite lengthy, and the unfolding mystery results in one of the best of Agatha Christie’s late period.
As most no doubt know (though Christie never admitted it), the background for the mournful story of Marina Gregg was based on the tragic true story of Hollywood star Gene Tierney who gave birth to a child born deaf, nearly blind, and mentally handicapped. With a few name changes and the time period moved backwards a decade or so from the original novel, Kevin Elyot’s script does a very nice job of establishing a lengthy list of suspects and plants some excellent red herrings to throw sleuthing viewers off the track. Joanna Lumley gets to reprise Marple’s best friend Dolly Bantry from her first appearance six years ago, and Nigel Harmen makes a touching Jason Rudd, younger husband of the bedeviled star. This is the best of the three films offered in this set.
Miss Marple was not a part of the original 1925 novel The Secret of Chimneys, but that hasn’t stopped the producers from inserting her into the TV adaptation. Actually, it’s not much of an adaptation but rather a reimagining of the original material. The setting of Chimneys, a splendid Gothic manse of centuries gone by, has been retained, and some of the characters from the novel have been used in screenwriter Paul Rutman’s fashioning a new murder mystery plot around the book which was more light thriller than mystery. A German count (Anthony Higgins) is found murdered in a secret passageway of the house, and suspicion falls on Anthony Cade (Jonas Armstrong), one of three men romancing Virginia Revel (Charlotte Salt), daughter of Chimney’s owner (Edward Fox). Inspector Finch (Stephen Dillane) is surprised to find the infamous Miss Marple as a weekend house guest and is determined not to let the elderly sleuth get the best of him (in vain, of course. The camaraderie that Dillane and McKenzie evince as they investigate the crime is terrific and easily the best thing about this production). Part of the mansion’s mystery also revolves around a jewel robbery and the disappearance of the suspected thief some twenty-three years previous. Miss Marple sorts everything out by the end of the program.
The first of the Marple short stories to be dramatized is The Blue Geranium, and the producers couldn’t have selected a more intricate puzzle to inaugurate dipping into that treasure trove of writing for further Miss Marple films. Of course, in the story, Miss Marple never leaves her chair to explain the solution of the baffling mystery to her Tuesday Murder Club group, but Stewart Harcourt’s screenplay plops her right into the midst of the action as wealthy hypochondriac Mary Pritchard (Sharon Small) is found dead in her bed, seemingly having been frightened to death. Her husband (Toby Stephens) confessed to the crime (along with two other murders which happened in the village of Little Ambrose), and it’s only through Miss Marple’s keen observation of her own gardener mixing wasp poison that she arrives at the answer. The story has been fleshed out, naturally, from its few pages of text for an 89-minute drama, but all of the essentials from the story are there with very few changes; only new characters and subplots have been added for that extra bit of attention deflection. Toby Stephens makes for a very believable ladies’ man, and Kevin McNally gets to be the latest in a long line of inspectors once again shown up by the elderly detective.
Video Quality
3.5/5
The films have been framed at 1.78:1 and the transfers have been anamorphically enhanced for widescreen televisions. For some reason, slight soft focus filters have been applied to these productions, obviously done to establish the period feel for these stories, but the lack of really crisp visuals is sometimes frustrating. (The Blue Geranium is the sharpest of the three.) Being new productions, obviously there are no age-related artifacts to worry about, and color saturation and flesh tone accuracy are as good as one would expect. But one longs for a sharper, more solid image. Each film has been divided into 11 chapters.
Audio Quality
3.5/5
The Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo audio track does a more than adequate job of presenting all of the dialogue clearly and cleanly, and the music adds just enough ambiance to supplement the visuals well indeed.
Special Features
4/5
The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side disc contains five text-based bonus features:
Julia McKenzie discussing her greater ease in performing Marple for a new series of adventures.
Joanna Lumley praising the high quality of these new productions and relishing her second attempt at playing Dolly.
A few pages on the film history of the Dorney Court estate used as Gossington Hall in this film and in plenty of previous British-based productions.
Filmographies on the four principal actors: Julia McKenzie, Joanna Lumley, Hugh Bonneville (Inspector Craddock), and Lindsay Duncan.
“120 Years with Agatha Christie” celebrates the anniversary of the birth of the esteemed Queen of Crime.
The Secret of Chimneys contains two text-based bonus features:
A few pages on the history of Knebworth House which was used as the mansion in this story and has been used in dozens of films and television productions.
Filmographies for Julia McKenzie, Edward Fox, and Stephen Dillane.
The Blue Geranium contains two text-based bonuses:
Filmographies of four of the actors: Julie McKenzie, Caroline Catz, Donald Sinden, and Toby Stephens.
“120 Years with Agatha Christie” celebrates the anniversary of the birth of the esteemed Queen of Crime.
A bonus disc included in the package is titled “Agatha Christie’s Garden,” and it’s a 60-minute biographical program on the life of Agatha Christie told through a tour of her favorite home on the coast of Devon – Greenway House. Featuring comments from her grandson Mathew Prichard, biographer Janet Morgan, mystery novelist P.D. James, and historian Laura Thompson, this fascinating look inside the house and around the grounds of this impressive estate is hosted by Pam Ferris.
Also on this bonus disc are the following brief featurettes:
“Remembering Agatha,” 3 ¼ minutes with Mathew Prichard and Janet Morgan telling personal stories of their experiences with the shy, reticent lady.
“Greenway Garden History” offers 3 minutes about the extensive grounds some of which will now be open for public viewing and a look at some sections which will still be closed to the public.
“Agatha’s Writing” is 3 minutes with P.D. James taking some veiled potshots at Mrs. Christie’s writing style (this isn’t her first interview in which she downgrades Mrs. Christie somewhat as a writer though she has tempered her criticism some as she’s gotten older) and Janet Morgan praising her appeal to every strata of society.
There is another Agatha Christie biography in text form.
In Conclusion
4/5 (not an average)
Three more entertaining mystery adventures featuring the endearing sleuth Miss Marple come to us in Agatha Christie’s Marple: Series 5. With the three programs and the bonus disc giving some superb information about one of Agatha’s beloved homes in Britain, this package comes highly recommended!
Matt Hough
Charlotte, NC
