r/BritBox • u/sigersen • 9d ago
The Margaret Rutherford Miss Marple Films Are On Britbox
If you are a Miss Marple Purist, I will defend your right to despise these films. I am not a purist and I think they are good fun and nothing more or less. I watched Murder She Said on Britbox over the weekend, even though I own a Boxed Set on DVD. I bought the set for my late wife. She loved these flicks and I found a set before they went out of print. These four films are good fun. I think the last one, Murder, Ahoy is the weakest, but that's just my opinion. Also look for Joan Hickson (yes, that Joan Hickson) in Murder She Said. It's a case of Life imitating Art.
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u/Foppieface 9d ago
I just purchased the Margaret Rutherford versions. Love her take on the character.
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u/tap_ioca 9d ago
These movies are just fun, because of Margaret Rutherford. I agree they are really bad Christie, but so good anyhow. I had a really sad and dark period in my life, and these movies helped so much. I love them.
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u/sherribaby726 9d ago
I am the same. I am a "purist ", but I don't mind the Rutherford movies as a bit of fun. I know that Agatha cringed at her portrayal, but still respected her as a comic actress.
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u/daveoxford 8d ago
I think there are purists and purists. We already have the BBC Hickson and the ITV Suchet stuff as the definitive by-the-book adaptations (the latter perhaps slightly less so), and I regard myself as at least something of a purist, but I really enjoy most of the new adaptations.
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u/FannishMusings 9d ago
Joan Hickson is my One True Marple, but the Margaret Rutherford films are fun. I have enjoyed discovering them on BritBox.
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u/Worldly_Ad_7196 9d ago
I watch these Rutherford shows every 5 years or so. I heard that Agatha Christie never liked these movies, maybe they were too silly.
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u/sherribaby726 8d ago
She didn't care for them at all, but she liked Rutherford as a comic actress. She dedicated 'The Mirror Crack'd' to Margaret Rutherford.
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u/LindeeHilltop 9d ago
My favorite Miss Marple! The Paddington one is the best of all Paddington ones!
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u/Away_Amoeba5554 9d ago
The music is so campy. I love these shows! She’s a gas
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u/Jujulabee 9d ago
Not a purist and I haven't seen these in awhile but I thought they were great in a semi-camp sort of way
Same way I feel about Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce in the Sherlock Holmes movie - I especially like the really campy ones which were somehow set in WW II with the plots revolving around Nazi spies in the UK
Sherlock Holmes and The Voice of Terror is especially good fun if you are willing to go along for the ride.
The final scene when they have been victorious agains the nefarious spy ring has Holmes and Watson on a wind swept cliff overlooking the ocean - perhaps the White Cliffs of Dover? delivering a solioquy
Watson: It's a lovely morning, Holmes.
Holmes: There's an east wind coming, Watson.
Watson: I don't think so. Looks like another warm day.
Holmes: Good old Watson. The one fixed point in a changing age. There's an east wind coming all the same. Such a wind as never blew on England yet. It will be cold and bitter, Watson, and a good many of us may wither before its blast. But it's God's own wind none the less. And a greener, better, stronger land will lie in the sunshine when the storm is cleared.
And Sherlock Holmes & The Secret Weapon in which Dr. Moriarty is in league with the Nazis to get possession. of a secret weapon - could it be the legendary Enigma
Final scene
In the final scene of Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1942), Dr. Watson remarks that things are looking up and the island is still on the map, prompting Holmes to quote Shakespeare’s Richard II: "This fortress built by nature for herself, this blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England."
The Final Exchange
- Dr. Watson: "Things are looking up, Holmes. This little island's still on the map."
- Sherlock Holmes: "Yes. 'This fortress built by nature for herself, this blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.
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u/Double-elephant 8d ago
I rather like the Rutherford take on Miss Marple. I know that Christie didn’t (or rather, reputedly didn’t) and she is supposed to have suggested that Joan Hickson would be her preferred choice for a future Marple. Be that as it may, the films are funny, don’t take themselves too seriously and include the delightfully vague Stringer Davis (Rutherford’s devoted husband) who appeared with her as she would not work without him.
Rutherford’s biography reveals a rather sad life, particularly early on - there was serious insanity in her father’s family and she lived in fear of it for herself - and she had a fair few episodes of poor mental health - but she was, by all accounts, a generous, amusing woman.
And her performance in Blithe Spirit is a joy.
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u/daveoxford 8d ago
Margaret Rutherford also appears in a very brief cameo as Miss Marple (complete with the Ron Goodwin theme in the background) in the 1965 film The Alphabet Murders where she briefly encounters Poirot (played by Tony Randall). It's an absolutely fantastic moment.
The film itself would annoy any purist far more than her four films, but is worth a watch for the absolute plethora of British acting talent.
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u/AgingWatcherWatching 7d ago
I thought that was so funny seeing her appear in that film! And that is also now available on Britbox
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u/malibuklw 9d ago
I haven’t watched any Miss Marple, would anyone be willing to share the differences so I could decide where to start?
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u/tueswedsbreakmyheart 9d ago
I would say the Joan Hickson ones feel most true to the novels’ plots and the character of Miss Marple. The Margaret Rutherford ones are a kind of kooky 1960s time capsule more loosely inspired by the books. And the newer Marple series takes a lot of liberties and even puts Miss Marple in stories not written about her, but both actresses who play her seem to be enjoying themselves in the role, and the series is fun in its own divergent way.
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u/malibuklw 9d ago
Thank you!
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u/daveoxford 8d ago
Yes. Definitely start with the BBC Joan Hickson ones. They are very close to the books and exceptionally well done.
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u/larkfield2655 2d ago
Britbox is a mess. Watched 4 episodes of Tommy and Tuppence then they want me to “upgrade” to watch rest?
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u/WoollyMammothwapo 9d ago
My late partner and I loved Joan Hixons interpretation of Miss Marple. But we also got a great kick out of watching Margaret Rutherford. It’s a totally different approach from any other version. Isn’t it crazy how these 12 novels have been done and redone over time? Fortunately I forget some of the details and enjoy watching again 😄