When Emi told me that Jennifer Garner is scheduled to play Miss Marple, well, the first thought was, Jennifer Garner as the beloved Miss Marple? – how is that possible? Not to say anything against Jennifer Garner. It seems that Disney wants to change Agatha Christie’s famous and well-loved Miss Marple and make her “more contemporary.” And I have to ask why? Few things are perfect just as they are, and maybe Miss Marple as played by Joan Hickson is one of those things. One would think that Disney is capable of creating a story having its own wonderfully enjoyable character perhaps a bit similar to Miss Marple and leaving Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple as played by Joan Hickson just as she is.
And so now instead of post-war England, cups of tea, and a delightful elderly spinster who happens to have a flair for eventually tracking down murderers, will Miss Marple solve murders by computers in a high tech building, speed along in her sports car, have overwhelming adventures, a cell phone she can’t live without, a fashionable wardrobe, and possibly relationship problems, etc.? What exactly does “more contemporary” when referring to Miss Marple mean, Disney?
Have you guessed that I really like watching Miss Marple? You also? Spending time with her is a treat. Agatha Christie didn’t stoop to exaggeraged scenes in her stories; she proceeded softly and intelligently. We feel the wheels turning in Miss Marple’s head as she elegantly, quietly, and efficiently deduces who the murderer is. She likes traveling by train and sometimes she’s in a beautiful English countryside, and then a city, and, yes, the Bahamas usually in the midst of an array of people interesting in their own way. And we’re never quite sure who might have done it until Miss Marple has sorted things out and is ready to explain, all in proper fashion, who did it.
Agatha Christie wanted Joan Hickson to play Miss Marple; Joan Hickson was 78 when she took the role, and “She was the oldest actress ever to take the lead in a major television series,” and “The tools of her trade are frequent cups of Earl Grey tea, her needle sharp eyes and her acute hearing, which enables her constantly to overhear crucial conversations from considerable distances.” (quotes taken from the Independent Arts & Entertainment and written by Alexandra Younger and Tom Vallance.) At the age of 86 she wanted to retire from playing Miss Marple, though not to retire from acting. Imagine that!
www.agathachristie.com
The Classic Mysteries Collection:
A Carribean Mystery
The Mirror Crack’d
From Side To Side
Sleeping Murder
4:50 From Paddington
The Moving Finger
At Bertram’s Hotel
Murder At The Vicarage
Nemisis
They Do It With Mirrors
I feel that having Jennifer Garner play Miss Marple is like offering a chocoholic a bowl of hard candy when the finest of dark chocolate was always the offering. There’s dissapointment in that offering and the chocoholic would rather do without. Jennifer, one would think that there are other roles waiting for your talents, just not this one.
Thank you for listening 🙂 and have a beautiful day.