Marple: At Bertram's Hotel (2007) (TV)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Dan Zeff

Writers:

Agatha Christie (novel)
Tom MacRae (screenplay)

Release Date:

1 April 2007 (Canada)

Genre:

Mystery

Plot:

Miss Marple spends a holiday in a luxurious London hotel. The sinister atmosphere, the odd disappearance of a clergyman and the murder of the commissionaire moves her on the trail of a clever criminal gang.

Plot Keywords:

Hotel | Female Detective | Spinster | Beautiful Woman | Amateur Detective

Cast

Geraldine McEwan	...	Miss Marple
Isabella Parriss	...	Young Miss Marple
James Howard	...	Hotel Doorman 1891
Adam Smethurst	...	Cab Driver
Tony Bignell	...	Newsboy
Vincent Regan	...	Mickey Gorman
Mark Heap	...	Mr. Humfries
Emily Beecham	...	Elvira Blake
Mary Nighy	...	Brigit Milford
Martine McCutcheon	...	Jane Cooper
Charles Kay	...	Canon Pennyfather
Ed Stoppard	...	Malinowski
Nicholas Burns	...	Jack & Joel Britten
Mica Paris	...	Amelia Walker
Francesca Annis	...	Lady Selina Hazy

Also Known As:

Miss Marple: At Bertram's Hotel (USA) (new title)

Runtime:

USA:84 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

Claremont Fan Court School, Esher, Surrey, England, UK

Company:

Agatha Christie

Trivia:

In the opening minutes, as Miss Marple stares in wonderment at the lobby of Bertram's Hotel, the manager is on the phone and says, "Uh, no, I'm afraid Miss Otis regrets she's unable to lunch today." The line is from the 1934 Cole Porter song "Miss Otis Regrets" performed by many artists including Ella Fitzgerald and 'Nat ‘King’ Cole', and more recently by Bette Midler on the final episode of "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" (1962).

Goofs:

Continuity: When Elvira Blake and Brigit Milford enter the dining room and talk to Miss Marple, Brigit is in front. When the scene cuts back to them a second later, Elvira's shoulder is in front of Brigit's. The cut is too quick for their positions to change.

Movie Connections:

Version of At Bertram's Hotel (1987) (TV)

Oh dear

The Marple series continues like an incorrigibly naughty child. The producers are determined to misuse -- no, to trample on -- the original books whose titles they place at the beginning of their films. Their regular agenda seems to include the following: (a) Make everything as lurid as possible (b) set it in the early fifties, but force a trendy ethos upon the proceedings and (c) bring in lesbianism if at all possible. They did it all in this episode. It is a perfect textbook example of all that is wrong with the series.

That said, I have to admit that the original novel and the Hickson version of it are not particularly scintillating. However, this was not the way to liven it up.

Agatha Christie must be spinning in her grave at something close to the speed of light by now.