Cheap Agatha Christie's Marple Set 1 (DVD) (Geraldine Mcewan) Price

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Customer Reviews of Agatha Christie's Marple Set 1

Wonderful Geraldine, Great Christie but who wrote the screenplays?
Geraldine McEwan is Miss Jane Marple. She has now a past, which is O.K. although exploited more than necessary. Yes, Joan Hickson was good, but Ms. McEwan is great. She has this wonderful twinkle of naughtiness in her eyes and a sense of humor just Agatha Christie must have visualized Miss Marple to be. <
>The village background is astonishingly good. Looks as if photographed probably through a filter; the colors stand out, the reds and blues are vivid. The village is a real English countryside. The setting is pure nostalgia. Acting is uniformly competent, no wonder, given the parade of stars that play the parts. <
>Now, who thought of focusing on Raymond Chandler's The Simple Art of Murder, as the book Miss Marple was reading in Murder at the Vicarage? Is it a joke? For Chandler disliked village mysteries, hated Christie and Sayers. His article, The Simple Art of Murder lambasted the golden age mystery writers. So why this particular book on Miss Marple's bedside table? And then, consider this, The Simple Art of Murder, the book, a compilation of various Chandler works was not published till 1950! And Murder at the Vicarage was published in 1930 and set in those wonderful and peaceful years before Hitler. Come on, we are all mystery fans and such things cannot be overlooked. <
>Yes, the whole series is full of more sex, salty language and women in bikinis than previous Christie mysteries (forget the godawful Endless Night)but that's all right. Mrs. Christie was no prude. She, like all good writers of that age, hinted at rather than wrote explicitly about sexual escapades. A lesson to more hard boiled colleagues, her books have survived for more than eighty years; and as things are going, she might become like Shakespeare. Everyone can interpret her wonderful stories their way and prove that good mysteries don't die. <
>Worth watching. <
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There's plenty of room
First a confession: I've loved Christie since my high school days, but always stuck with Poirot. So I am a recent "discoverer" of the charms of Miss Marple. I watched with great interest and was more than pleasantly surprised by these new adaptations of four of the St. Mary Meade sleuth's cases. I thought they were produced with a great deal of care, presented in a very cohesive style and were very engaging. I very much like McEwan's Marple, and I also love the cast of fine talent that give her support in the roles of the victims, suspects and the police. Definitely not as stuffy as some of the older British-mysteries that have come along. <
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> But, there is no crime here, however. IMHO, the new videos can serve a new generation of fans who like me are new to Miss Marple. I'm sure the devotees of Joan Hickson as Marple will continue to watch their collection with the same affection. But for those of us who like their British mysteries a bit more quirky and their spinster sleuths freshly baked, then I'll take Geraldine McEwan's new Marple. <
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> And finally, if the new series will spur new readers to the book shop, bookshelves and libraries to rediscover or find for the first time ANY of Agatha Christie's great detectives and carefully crafted whodunnits, then cheers to the new series!

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Too many changes.
I watched the new Miss Marple series, excited to see what Geraldine McEwan would do with the role. Unfortunately, I don't like what they've done with this latest batch of Christie's. Mrs. McEwan is a fine actress and she brings a "fluffiness" to the role that is missing from the Hickson version. Still, there is too much tampering with the plotlines to suit me. There are significant changes made in a couple of the stories, most notably in "The Body in the Library" so let the buyer beware. This isn't a minor change either as it involves the resolution of the case. They also add an odd, on-going storyline involving Miss Marple's own past love life that is simply not part of the books and isn't even close to being in keeping with the character of Miss Marple. As Agatha Christie is arguably the most acclaimed and accomplished mystery writer that ever lived, these changes were pretty outrageous. Her books stand the test of time and need no updating simply to satisfy 21st century ideas. I was surprised at this as the British are usually the ones who can be depended upon to leave good stories alone. So, if you just want a few hours of light entertainment, have at it, but if you're an Agatha Christie purist, you won't like this dvd so save your money.