Two Marples, no waiting: A Murder is Announced
After my dislike of the Hickson Body in the Library, I sort of lowered my expectations for the Hickson version of AMiA. Happily, it was a much better and less "Men do lots of things" storyline. (I should note that I liked A Pocketful of Rye, too, but both versions have Miss Marple in a very active role)
It's a bit sleepy and slow, and there's lots of characters who seem to have little, if any, bearing on the plot (the colonel's wife, for instance, who has a mystery that never seems to get solved). But it is rather delightful (and also had surprise!Samantha Bond, who makes me think very shallow thoughts), and I rather enjoyed the side characters of Hinch and Murgatroyd.
For curiosity's sake, I watched the more recent version afterwards. And while it is more colorful (again, production values and digital coloring make a great difference), I actually found the changes they made pointless. While the first is a bit meandering, there is a nice sense of cohesion to it. The newer version is all over the place (and it has even fewer characters! You would think it would be more succinct).
The newer version also cast very attractive people for the roles. I'm not saying the Hickson version was filled with unattractive people, but, they were less attractive than today's standards, and the newer version felt a bit shallower (also, replacing Samantha Bond with Sienna Guillory didn't particularly work so well; Guillory felt too pretty for the role, if that makes sense).
(also, the removal of Julia's history as a member of the French resistance was sort of silly)
otoh, there was a lot less... prejudice in the newer version. If that's the right word for "Oh, dirty foreigners are always crooks"
It also gave Miss Marple one more bit of background in that she drove ambulances during the first world war. *cackles*
I think I'd prefer to smush both versions together! Miss Marple as an ambulance driver, Julia as a member of the French resistance, and the first versions of Hinch and Murgatroyd can stay. (not that the newer versions weren't adorable, they just were a slightly different type of adorable)
It's a bit sleepy and slow, and there's lots of characters who seem to have little, if any, bearing on the plot (the colonel's wife, for instance, who has a mystery that never seems to get solved). But it is rather delightful (and also had surprise!Samantha Bond, who makes me think very shallow thoughts), and I rather enjoyed the side characters of Hinch and Murgatroyd.
For curiosity's sake, I watched the more recent version afterwards. And while it is more colorful (again, production values and digital coloring make a great difference), I actually found the changes they made pointless. While the first is a bit meandering, there is a nice sense of cohesion to it. The newer version is all over the place (and it has even fewer characters! You would think it would be more succinct).
The newer version also cast very attractive people for the roles. I'm not saying the Hickson version was filled with unattractive people, but, they were less attractive than today's standards, and the newer version felt a bit shallower (also, replacing Samantha Bond with Sienna Guillory didn't particularly work so well; Guillory felt too pretty for the role, if that makes sense).
(also, the removal of Julia's history as a member of the French resistance was sort of silly)
otoh, there was a lot less... prejudice in the newer version. If that's the right word for "Oh, dirty foreigners are always crooks"
It also gave Miss Marple one more bit of background in that she drove ambulances during the first world war. *cackles*
I think I'd prefer to smush both versions together! Miss Marple as an ambulance driver, Julia as a member of the French resistance, and the first versions of Hinch and Murgatroyd can stay. (not that the newer versions weren't adorable, they just were a slightly different type of adorable)