Miss Marple: Sleeping Murder

Trailer—Miss Marple: Sleeping Murder

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I love the film adaptations of Agatha Christie's books starring Joan Hickson. You can't help but love them for their purely English decorum and a certain primness, for their slowness and attention to detail. "Sleeping murder" is somewhat different from such classic films as" The Moving Finger" or "The Murder on Vicarage" because it is one of lady Agatha's most terrifying stories. But at the same time, the film retains its slowness and true English atmosphere. I must admit that I was somewhat lacking in the disclosure of the characters of Gwenda and especially Giles, who turned out to be a rather gray character. Kennedy, of course, is excellent, played just brilliantly. The film itself is very atmospheric and brilliantly staged. The finale is just great, congratulations to the creators! In General, it is one of the best film adaptations with Joan Hickson in the title role. 10/10

I've been trying to figure out why Miss Marple's mysteries tend to be sluggish while Hercule Poirot's are more engaging. Of course, Poirot himself is a more interesting and quirky character, what with his vanity, his gastronomic delicacy, his mustache wax. Poor Miss Marple has only her knitting, and not much of that. That aside, it occurs to me that Miss Marple is more often a passive but keen observer, giving advice. She doesn't do much. And the mystery is dependent on history. With Poirot -- and even in some of Agatha Christie's stories in which there is no obvious protagonist -- the conundrum is not so much "why" but "how"? How, for instance, can an inaccessible house wind up with ten dead people in it and no murderer to be found anywhere? "Sleeping Murder" boasts some fetching scenery. It's talky and dull but at least the talk goes on in some beautiful English gardens. You have never seen so many flowers, or so little action taking place among them. A blond, fair newly married young woman from New Zealand runs across a vacant house in Devonshire and talks her husband into buying it, but she soon begins to have flashbacks involving the house as it was a generation ago -- a hidden door behind the wallpaper, buried steps leading to the sea, a dead body at the bottom of the stairs. It takes the entire movie to unravel all the narrative threads, which I won't bother to describe because they take the plot into the byzantine. The thing could have been written by Dickens in a wanton mood. People stroll around in those gardens, everyone seems to know or have heard of everyone else, each contributes a bit to the story, characters come and go, and when the Big Reveal appears at the climax it comes as a complete surprise to those who have been driven to a mad frenzy like me. Miss Marple explains everything to the young couple. When Miss Marple began to lay out the threads, my clock read 24 minutes past the hour. She was finished at 25 minutes past the hour. Don't miss that final minute.

Let's see, this is an Agatha Christie murder mystery (which teases you with the supernatural at the start, but of course AC did not believe in the supernatural). There is a major character, who is of the right age to have committed the murder, had the motive and the opportunity, but NEVER gets implicated in the investigation, while several other minor characters are considered as the definitive suspects. Do you by any chance suppose that he or she will turn out to be the real killer? I don't know if Christie's story was so obvious on paper, but on the screen I spotted the killer as soon as he appeared, never changed my mind until the end, and I was actually right - something which happens in only about 10% of the mysteries I watch! Otherwise, this film is well-made, with an engaging performance by the lovely Geraldine Alexander, and a tense climax. Miss Marple herself is not the central character is this one, which works out fine. (**1/2)

POSSIBLE SPOILERS A young man called Giles Reed (Moulder-Brown) returns home with his New Zealand raised wife, Gwenda (Alexander). They buy a house in the small seaside town of Dartmouth in Devon and a number of strange things happen. Gwenda feels that she has been in the house before and she sees a strange apparition on the staircase of a man strangling a pretty blonde woman. The couple contact Miss Marple (Hickson) and after some investigation, they discover that when Gwenda's father sent her from India to live in New Zealand, they stopped off in England for a while and lived in the house that they have just bought. They also discover that Gwenda's father was committed to an asylum because he was obsessed with the fact that he may of strangled Gwenda's step mother and he committed suicide while inside. Giles and Gwenda are convinced that a murder did occur in the house, but the step mother had several affairs and any one of her lovers could have done it. Despite Miss Marple's advice not to dig up the past, they start their own investigation to find the real killer and clear her father's name even though it all happened twenty-years before. SLEEPING MURDER is a long and wordy adaptation of Christie's whodunit, but none of the talk is irrelevant to the film's plot twists and it is superbly acted throughout. Director John Davies does very able work and the settings are well chosen to suit the film's sinister mood. A few flashbacks would of helped things along.

Giles and his beautiful New Zealander wife Gwenda return to the UK, whilst driving through the sleepy village of Dilmouth, they drive past a house which Gwenda falls in love with, the couple quickly snap it up and move in. Gwenda starts to feel deja vu and memories of the house haunt her, she feels like she's been there before and also believes she witnessed a murder there. Miss Marple is called in to solve the puzzle and protect Gwenda. Sleeping Murder is one of my favourite Agatha Christie novels, it has some really dark elements to it, it's very captivating with real life and intriguing characters. I think the production team did an excellent job making it, they characters seem like real people, nobody is too over the top, the story is not too way out. There are several scenes that stand out, firstly the Dutchess of Malfi play, Jacobean drama is particularly heavy, but those words 'cover her faced mind eyes dazzle she died young,' they have such an impact, Gwenda's reaction is wonderfully sincere, the whole staging of the scene is brilliant. The unveiling of the murderer scene is also brilliant, so creepy and sinister. There is lots of tension, they succeeded in creating a definite sense of unease, the music is really spot on, it fits perfectly. The English countryside looks so beautiful too. The acting as always is spot on, not a single weak link in the chain. Joan Hickson is as always bang on the money. John Bennett is excellent as Richard Erskine, what a great actor. Freddie Treves is very good as the sinister Doctor Kennedy, John Moulder Brown is charming as Giles, but it's Geraldine Alexander that puts in a truly fabulous and believable performance as Gwenda, her interpretation is somehow better and more sincere then the character in the book. For years I believed she was actually a New Zealander, so she did a good job with the accent. An excellent production that's a must for any fan of mysteries, may be a little plodding for some, but I think it's spot on, beautifully acted it's such a clever story. 9/10 Miss Marple as the hero!

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. It showed excitement and surprise all at the same time, and would I watch it again? Yes. Lots of times. My recommendation for this movie is VERY HIGH. Really - watch it. You'll enjoy it. Sit down with your favourite biscuits and drink and get ready to watch the movie, best watched with other people because I always love someone to laugh, smile and look shocked and surprised and puzzled with during movies! I recommend this film until I am red in the face, and let me say that Miss Marple is a very sweet and clever young lady! I am so happy to be recommending this movie to many people out there and then when you have watched it tell all your friends about it.

Spoilers herein. These Marple films are driving me crazy! The books are so clever, so experimental and adventurous. These film versions are so ignorant of how the books are put together it leaves me breathless. In this case, the idea is that the house (including the grounds) is itself a witness, a character. The competing realities in this mystery are all triggered by that space. There are films that use architecture as characters, and do it well. But not here. What a waste. Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.

'Sleeping Murder' keeps rolling around on afternoon BBC television, and I have been drawn into the story twice so far. I don't like Miss Marple, so perhaps that is why I find this a decent story - I can't compare it to the books, and the world's oldest detective only crops up every now and again to explain the plot to the newlywed couple. I love the idea of Gwenda subconsciously buying a house from her past, and the details she uncovers, such as the pattern of the wallpaper in the cupboard and the steps in the garden. The history in the house, and the subsequent family tree research, had me hooked. The 'whodunnit' wasn't exactly taxing - just look for the most dubious character, battling with a bad case of pantomime villain - but the unravelling of the clues kept me interested (just about - at times this felt like an epic, instead of an installment of a detective series). The setting, period detail, and characters were all evocative of a storybook version of an era gone by. Perfect Sunday afternoon fodder.