Agatha Christie Marple: The Sittaford Mystery (2006) (TV)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Paul Unwin

Writers:

Agatha Christie (novel) and
Stephen Churchett (screenplay)

Release Date:

30 April 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Romance

Plot:

The death of the presumptive future PM is predicted during a séance in a snowbound country hotel and, not surprisingly, he is found stabbed to death the next morning.

Plot Keywords:

Miss Marple | Member Of Parliament | Prime Minister | Snowstorm | Stabbed To Death

Cast

Geraldine McEwan	...	Miss Jane Marple
Michael Brandon	...	Martin Zimmerman
Laurence Fox	...	James Pearson
Robert Hardy	...	Winston Churchill
Patricia Hodge	...	Mrs. Evadne Willett
Paul Kaye	...	Dr. Ambrose Burt
Matthew Kelly	...	Donald Garfield / Smith-Jones
Jeffery Kissoon	...	Ahmed Ghali
Carey Mulligan	...	Violet Willett
James Murray	...	Charles Burnaby
Mel Smith	...	John Enderby
Zoe Telford	...	Emily Trefusis
Rita Tushingham	...	Miss Elizabeth Percehouse
James Wilby	...	Stanley Kirkwood
Timothy Dalton	...	Clive Trevelyan

Also Known As:

Agatha Christie - Marple: The Sittaford Mystery (Australia) (DVD title)

Runtime:

Finland:93 min | USA:100 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Australia:M | USA:TV-14 (TV rating)

Filming Locations:

Dorney Court, Dorney, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Agatha Christie

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: In the scene where Miss Marple explains the murder's solution, just after 'Charles' falls into the ground, the feet of a crew member can be seen at the left bottom of the screen.

Quotes:

Emily Trefusis: If I were the nervous sort, I'd say there's evil in this house.
Miss Jane Marple: The house is bricks and mortar. If there's evil, it's in somebody's heart.

An inconsistent mystery that failed to engage me at all

Heavy snow is falling in the Dartmoor area of England and the guests of a small hotel find themselves being snowed in. News of an escaped prisoner loose on the moors dampens their spirits but to fill the time they decide to have a séance – even though one of their number, Clive Trevelyan, already has a connection with the other side. Meanwhile, at Sittaford House, Miss Marple discovers a death threat against Trevelyan and his loyal friend Enderby sets out to warn him despite the weather. When the séance predicts his death, things look bleak for Tevelyan, who finds himself surrounded by shadowy guests on all sides.

Several reviewers have already commented on the lack of respect shown to the source material but I would just say that those who have seen even one of ITV's "Marple" (not Miss Marple) series have no right to be surprised by this because it is a common factor across the whole lot of them. Accepting this, I wasn't looking for respect, just an entertaining mystery film – albeit the desecration of Christie's grave is rather a high price to pay for a Sunday night in. An hour goes by before we get a murder, which wouldn't be a problem if it used this time to do anything useful but instead it fails to build up back-story or characters. The slightly comic tone is forced and false while the actual mystery aspect is surprising dull – isn't the point of ITV revisionist approach to make it more energetic and accessible than the stiffer BBC version? As ever McEwan is all at sea with her character and does nothing interesting with Miss Marple. She is a dithery old thing but isn't able to bring out the sharp mind behind the physical appearance. The support cast ahs the usual famous names but, as usual, they aren't given much of value to do. Dalton is a strange find but he, Kaye and Smith are better than this. The performances are mostly a bit clunky even if everyone seems to be trying hard. The direction is colourful but the total delivery is badly inconsistent; comic music is played during unfunny moments and the visual trickery undermines the development of the story. To be honest I was bored and didn't ever really get into the story; I was hoping that the total rewrite of the original story would somehow produce something good but by the end of it I was left wondering what Churchett was thinking when he scrapped most of Christie's original novel.

Overall a bright and pointless mystery film that never decides what it wants to do and fails to do anything as a result. The presentation is bright but the mystery failed to engage me and I had lost interest long before it got anywhere near the solution. The cast can do nothing with the material and generally it just flops its way to the end without any great class or distinction. Others will say it is poor because of how it compares to the original material, personally I think it is poor even if you meet it on its own terms.