Monday, July 30, 2007

Miss Marple, Indeed

In spite of what we said here, we can't take it any longer. As of last night and the mutilation of "At Bertram's Hotel" it is no longer possible "to ignore the anachronisms and the not terribly subtle political agendum" nor, indeed, the "intrusions of the fatuous assumptions of 2006." in the current PBS version of Agatha Christie's "Miss Marple" series. Lord knows we tried. Perhaps since it is now 2007, the relevant assumptions are even more fatuous.

It was not Agatha Christie's plot, it was not a characterization remotely like Miss Marple, the sets were tawdry and obvious, the cultural assumptions were anachronistic, and the script appeared to have been drawn up by a high school drama club. The series has gone from fairly well done, if disappointing in its moral view and distance from Christie's original, to a complete travesty.

Suggestion: destroy the original masters of the whole series. Locate the version starring Joan Hickson as Miss Marple, remaster them (the copies provided for sale some time ago are not in the best of shape) and present them again. Show the world how well Christie can be done.

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