This is the third screen adaptation of one of Agatha Christie's weaker Miss Marple novels. Julia McKenzie is the wily old sleuth this time and I find that I am warming to her interpretation. She is a much more serious Marple than her predecessor Geraldine McEwan but with more warmth than the excellent but slightly chilly Joan Hickson. Here is a Miss Marple with a great deal of quiet intelligence, shrewd and capable - I like it. Hickson is still definitive for me but McKenzie is becoming a very acceptable second best!
As always, this is a beautifully shot production with good period detail. They have changed aspects of the story slightly but not to any great detriment. Personally I think it was a mistake to have Gina and Mildred as sisters - they struck me as just too young to be convincing as Carrie Louise's daughters but it's a very small point. Once again the scriptwriters could not resist packing the narrative with extra incident and so I could have done without the poisoned oysters and the fire and the secret passage but, as I said, no great damage was done. The portrayal of Carrie Louise was interesting in that she was not played as the usual fragile innocent but rather as quite a strong willed, determined if somewhat misguided creature. I liked that but it did mean that one the key points in the book that leads Miss Marple to unravel the plot is lost - Carrie Louise's ability to see the reality of things despite her 'head in the clouds' appearance.
I thought the casting was generally strong and particularly liked Brian Cox as an understated Lewis Serrocold and Ian Ogilvie as a very likable Johnny Restarick. Despite some other comments on here, I really didn't mind Joan Collins too much as Ruth. It's quite a small role and I thought she did rather well as the old American broad who fights against her age (but her accent did wander about a bit). Chief plaudits though to the always watchable Penelope Wilton who was probably the best of the three Carrie Louise's I've seen so far.
All in all this was very enjoyable but let down slightly by a rather weak script. As a result it was all a bit patchy but worth a look nevertheless.
As always, this is a beautifully shot production with good period detail. They have changed aspects of the story slightly but not to any great detriment. Personally I think it was a mistake to have Gina and Mildred as sisters - they struck me as just too young to be convincing as Carrie Louise's daughters but it's a very small point. Once again the scriptwriters could not resist packing the narrative with extra incident and so I could have done without the poisoned oysters and the fire and the secret passage but, as I said, no great damage was done. The portrayal of Carrie Louise was interesting in that she was not played as the usual fragile innocent but rather as quite a strong willed, determined if somewhat misguided creature. I liked that but it did mean that one the key points in the book that leads Miss Marple to unravel the plot is lost - Carrie Louise's ability to see the reality of things despite her 'head in the clouds' appearance.
I thought the casting was generally strong and particularly liked Brian Cox as an understated Lewis Serrocold and Ian Ogilvie as a very likable Johnny Restarick. Despite some other comments on here, I really didn't mind Joan Collins too much as Ruth. It's quite a small role and I thought she did rather well as the old American broad who fights against her age (but her accent did wander about a bit). Chief plaudits though to the always watchable Penelope Wilton who was probably the best of the three Carrie Louise's I've seen so far.
All in all this was very enjoyable but let down slightly by a rather weak script. As a result it was all a bit patchy but worth a look nevertheless.