tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6606798.post8304687001888459434..comments2024-03-28T22:32:50.562+00:00Comments on Liberal England: Joan Hickson was the greatest Miss MarpleJonathan Calderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00730157683743989696noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6606798.post-53838800135593751342022-10-06T13:25:43.403+01:002022-10-06T13:25:43.403+01:00She truly is the quintessential Miss Marple. I bui...She truly is the quintessential Miss Marple. I build dollhouses and make dollhouse people. I am working on Danemead and the lady herself.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6606798.post-40201868185759256422014-07-17T13:45:47.461+01:002014-07-17T13:45:47.461+01:00Agatha Christie wrote wooden characters. For those...Agatha Christie wrote wooden characters. For those playing Marple, Poirot or a significant supporting role, this could be viewed as a problem or an opportunity. I think all involved in TV productions deserve credit for the gentle humour introduced to the programmes.<br /><br />Thanks to ITV3, I have been discovering the quality of ITV's drama. It certainly wasn't cheap to make and the production teams seem to have spent money wisely. Maybe the playing is not as brilliant as Joan Hickson's portrayal, but the filming and sets are glorious.<br /><br />There is a delicious running joke that Marple, a Golden Age cosy detective, curled up in bed to read hard boiled American fiction. Smart alec observation: when Marple read Raymond Chandler's _The Simple of Art of Murder_, the book was the US edition with a different cover from the one that sits on my shelves.Phil Beesleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18442987962398498812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6606798.post-79758803610600194692014-07-16T23:05:23.566+01:002014-07-16T23:05:23.566+01:00The recent ITV versions have been excruciating - d...The recent ITV versions have been excruciating - dropping Miss Marple into stories in which she doesn't feature - the Tommy and Tuppence novel "By the Pricking of my Thumbs" - and adding salacious (mostly lesbian) frippery that Christie either didn't mention or left very vague (with the exception of "A Murder is Announced" where it is fairly strongly indicated). <br /><br />I'd agree that Joan Hickson gives a more accurate rendering of Christie's description of Miss Marple than any of the others. Curiously, Hickson featured in one of the Margaret Rutherford adaptations - "Murder She Said" , a fairly entertaining adaptation of "4.50 from Paddington".Paul Murraynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6606798.post-9722971934392578292014-07-16T21:43:48.738+01:002014-07-16T21:43:48.738+01:00Why they even bothered remaking them, when the she...Why they even bothered remaking them, when the sheer talent of Hickson's Marple are still shown on Drama and Alibi is beyond belief. She was Marple, she owned that role. Her very interpretation was as Donald Pleasence as Mr Rafiel. said (I think almost correctly) "She has a mind like a meat slicer"...<br />You could see her working through the plot as if it were real. that is the mark of a great actress.<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17330210172455905938noreply@blogger.com