The Body in the Library

[sagehen]

Our viewing, like Shelley's was only of the second half (in our part of the
map, Monk conflicts with the first hour), so it was a little hard to catch
the allusions in a lot of the dialogue. The acting was very stagey for
television, almost commedia dell'arte-like in the obvious I'm-a-white-hat,
I'm-a-black-hat presentations. I don't remember the original story at all,
so the deviations in plot meant nothing to me.  I did like the new Marple
(what's her name...Geraldine something?).  She captures some of what Joan
Hickson(sp?)'s  portrayal always seemed to me to lack: a sort of suppressed
impatience, possibly even resentment at the constraints of her position.
Christie's own life reveals her chafing at the confines of the upper middle
class female role in the early 20th Century. Making her Jane Marple a kind
of latter day Jane Austen gave some expression to this impatience. A sharp
observer and sly commentator bound by convention to shade her wit.

[The Rutherford "Marple" is another matter altogether: a perfectly
marvellous character, but not Christie's Marple.]

Our reception of CBC is very uncertain, but if we can get it, I'm sure
we'll keep watching.  I think they're planning to do three.
A. Murie

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