3 September 2010

Agatha Christie Blog Tour 2010 - Day 3

Today our treat is Julia Mckenzie’s first on set interview as Miss Marple



What about you - does Julia Mckenzie fit your idea of Miss Marple?

Or do you prefer Joan Hickson?



Or Geraldine McEwan?



And who could forget Margaret Rutherford?




Who is "your" Miss Marple? - take the poll in the right hand column -leave a comment

10 comments:

BooksPlease said...

I prefer Joan Hickson, for me she is Miss Marple.

Julia McKenzie would almost fit my idea of Miss M, if Joan hadn't got there first. I think she's very good. I just couldn't take to Geraldine McEwan as Miss M. I didn't think she was right for the part at all.

And I think I'd rather forget Margaret Rutherford.

Anonymous said...

I agree with everything that Margaret (BooksPlease) said above. Miss Marple is one of my favorite fictional characters. I've read the books in which she appears many times each.

For me, Joan Hickson is THE Miss Marple. Julia McKenzie is adequate. I couldn't get the witch from the movie Robin Hood out of my mind every time I saw Geraldine McEwan. The times she appeared were also the ones that the filmmakers began "tweaking" the actual stories severely. It took me a while to disconnect and be OK with that.

I don't even understand the Margaret Rutherford portrayals. And, let's not forget when Angela Landsbury starred and Miss Marple along with Rock Hudson and Elizabeth Taylor. And she smoked in the film. Horrors!!! Plus she was way too tall.

Maria said...

Well, okay, I've never watched the shows (didn't even know they existed until I saw a blogger blogging about them a year ago.) When I first read the question, I thought it was going to be "authors" who best write in the Miss Marple guise...

:>)

Maria

Winifred said...

I love them all but for me Joan Hickson is Miss Marple.

I notice you didn't list Angela Lansbury, Helen Hayes or Gracie Fields. You picked the best of the crop obviously!

Sarah M. said...

I did not like Geraldine McEwan at all in the role of Miss Marple. Joan Hickson is the first Miss Marple I remember, but I honestly prefer Julie McKenzie out of all these ladies.

Deb said...

I'm a Joan Hickson gal myself. And as much as I loved Margaret Rutherford in movies like "Blythe Spirit," "The V.I.P.s," and "The Yellow Rolls Royce," she was absolutely WRONG for Miss Marple. However, Agatha Christie must have liked her portrayal to some extent because she dedicated at least one book to Rutherford.

Brian Kavanagh said...

I enjoy all three ladies' interpretation on different levels, but I must admit a liking for Geraldine McEwan. After revisiting Joan Hickson I found her version rather po faced and dour, and I don't believe that the MM of the books is like that. There is an undercurrent that I believe Geraldine captures and makes the character more believable - and a little more human.

Birdie said...

Ah, yes, all the wonderful Miss Marples. The first Miss Marple I ever saw on film was Maragaret Rutherford. She is delightful, but she is not at all like the Miss Marple of the books. In fact, Christie herself was rather pleased that the films did poorly because she hated what they had done with her books.

I can't remember whether I saw Angela Lansbury or Helen Hayes as Miss Marple next, but although both of them are very fine actresses, they just didn't quite seem to fit the part as it was in my head.

I don't know whether the story is apocryphal or not, but it's said that Christie saw Joan Hickson perform Miss Marple on stage, and that Christie wrote her a note encouraging her to play Marple on television. Joan Hickson is my Miss Marple. I just always get the picture of her lovely serious blue eyes confronting the murderer in Nemesis.

Geraldine McEwan and Julia London are both fun in the part, but neither of them strikes me as a real Miss Marple type. London, in particular, is rather hearty and of the Rutherford-Marple type. McEwan just seems a little to--well, maybe to be having a little too much fun with killers?

Margot said...

I've said it before and I will just keep on repeating it: Helen Hayes is Miss Marple for me. I know she only played in a few films as Miss Marple, but she's who I see when I read the books.

Carolyn said...

I heard that Agatha Christie did not like Margaret Rutherford as Miss Marple, but I watched her in the sixites and enjoyed the movies with my Mom. Haven't sen enough of the others to vote.

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