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Miss Marple :: A Murder Is Announced (01x03)
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Episode Information |
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| Title: | A Murder Is Announced |
| Episode #: | 01x03 |
| Original Airdate: | Thursday February 28th, 1985 |
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 annefu02
Total Reviews: 26
Not Useful
Useful
| A Murder is Announced
|
A Murder is Announced
(1950)
People involved:
Letitia Blacklock: owner of Little Paddocks
Dora Bunner: old school chum, now living at Little Paddocks
Julia Simmons: niece of Letitia
Patrick Simmons: nephew of Letitia
Phillipa Haymes: widow and boarder at Little Paddocks
Mitzi: hysterical maid at Little Paddocks
Colonel and Mrs. Easterbrook
Mrs. Swettenham and her son Edmund
Miss Murgatroyd and Miss Hinchcliffe : residents of Chipping Cleghorn
The Reverend Harmon and Mrs. Bunch Harmon
Dect. Inspect. Dermot Craddock
Belle Goedler: sister of Randolph Goedler
The bucolic village of Chipping Cleghorn is agog by a notice in the town’s Gazette: a murder is announced at Little Paddocks, (6:15 for) 6:30. “Friends accept this, the only intimation”.
As the circuit is made throughout Chipping Cleghorn, we get a peek at the various suspects/victims.
At Little Paddocks itself, the owner as well as her numerous occupants profess to know nothing about the announcement.
Everyone shows up at the appointed time; all eager as the clock on the mantle strikes the time. When the last chime fades away, the room is suddenly plunged into darkness. There are squeals of delight, yelps of alarm, and various comments relating to pushing, getting stepped on, etc. In the midst, a dark figure crashes through the door and a man’s voice demands everyone to put his or her hands up. Two shots ring out, the strange figure falls to the floor, and the door to the living room swings shut.
After some confusion, lighters are found and Letitia is seen with blood running down her face.
Law and order are restored when someone slaps Mitzi’s hysteria down to its normal level, the fuse box is set aright and everyone is gathered around the body.
Dora recognizes the boy, he worked at a nearby hotel; recently he had intercepted Dora and Letty and asked for a loan from Letty which she rightly refused.
Clues:
the lights going out at just the right time, an accomplice?
premeditation: obviously, due to the insert in the Gazette
the central heating is turned on
the side door is locked that day at 5:30p
a burn mark on a table
the switching of a pair of Dresden lamps
the door which won’t stay open
the dead flowers in a vase
With DI Craddock in charge, we find out that the dead man’s name was Rudi Scherz and that he did indeed work at The Royal Spa Hotel (we later learn of a remarkable patron staying there). We also find that Rudi was a petty thief, he placed the advertisement himself, and that the gun used was fired at close range.
At this point in the story, Miss Marple appears. She informs the detective that Rudi had altered a check of her and stole £10 from her. It was expertly done by someone with lots of practice. She finds it hard to believe, though, that such a personality would confront a roomful of people, in the dark, with a gun in order to rob them of their measly valuables. She advises Craddock to reinterview one particular waitress, who had been seeing Rudi; she knows more than she’s telling, as Miss Marple knows that the girl normally can tell the difference between kippers and herring.
A second theory is put forward, that the intention of the crime was not robbery but murder, mainly that of Letitia Blackwood. There are problems with that theory as well, such as :
Why set up such an elaborate charade to kill anyone? With Letty in particular, Rudi could have just taken a shot at her one afternoon while she’s out and about and noone would have been witness to the crime.
Why would have Rudi wanted to kill her? Because she refused to give him a handout? Possible, but not very likely.
Where did Rudi get the gun?
Dora, usually the easily lead, has insisted from the start that the “game” was in bad taste, and then with Letty getting shot, decided that that was the original intention. She tells Letty that she should reveal all to Inspector Craddock and as he’s in the room when Dora states this, Letty drops another bombshell. She informs the detective that as of now, she is not a wealthy woman but will most likely be very, very wealthy in a short period of time. It turns out that Letitia worked with a well-known financier some years ago; he since died and his wife is soon to die from a debilitating illness (they had no children). So, if Belle dies first, Letitia will be a wealthy woman; if on the other hand, Letitia should die before Belle, then the estate would pass to Randolph Goedler’s sister’s two children.
Years ago, Randolph and his sister Sonia had a falling out over her choice of a husband. Randolph learned that the couple had had a set of twins, then lost contact again. When it came time to write up his will, Randolph was advised by his solicitors to list a “backup”, in case of Belle outlasting Letitia, hence his niece and nephew added to the will.
More clues:
Mistaken identities
Talk of tales from the past
An ill-tempered waitress at the Blue Bird Café
Everything that happened on the 29th of October was supposed to have happened…?????
With these clues now added to the astounding array from the first murder, another death occurs and on the heels of this one, yet another murder. Someone is desperate over something….
Delicious Death is served on Dora’s birthday, with ironic results. Someone has poisoned some aspirin from Letitia’s cache. The noose is closing in on Letty, someone very close to her must be behind all of these horrible incidents.
Hinch and Murgatroyd leave their mark when death strikes for the third time at their beloved home named Boulders. Murder has seeped in everywhere, soiling the sleepy village.
Just when everyone has had enough, even the youngsters at Little Paddock, there is the climax: false masks are unveiled, starting with relatives and ending with the murderer himself being shown to the public. Miss Marple forces the murderer’s hand to kill yet another time, but thankfully is stopped with the fourth murder attempt.
The reason for the murders is one of the oldest known to mankind, and here is shown with an excellent telling.
The twists and turns and the unveiling of the very unexpected murderer is priceless and very adroitly done. Who would have guessed? and who would have come up with the why? of the mystery?? There are a few clues which point the way but there are so many well-thought out red herrings it’s hard to follow the twisted path. This is one story to finish and then start again from cover to cover to really appreciate the work done here by Dame Agatha.
A Murder is Announced starring Joan Hickson
(1985)
The cast:
Ursula Howells .... Letitia Blacklock
Renée Asherson .... Dora Bunner
Samantha Bond .... Julia Simmons
Simon Shepherd .... Patrick Simmons
Nicola King .... Phillipa Haymes
Elaine Ives-Cameron .... Hannah
Ralph Michael .... Colonel Easterbrook
Sylvia Syms .... Mrs. Easterbrook
Matthew Solon .... Edmund Swettenham
Mary Kerridge .... Mrs. Swettenham
Joan Sims .... Miss Murgatroyd
Paola Dionisotti .... Miss Hinchcliffe
Vivienne Moore .... Mrs. Bunch Harmon
David Collings .... The Reverend Harmon
Another excellent adaptation of the series. This film has more of the earlier feel to the show, akin to The Seven Dials Mystery, Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? and the like from the early 1980’s.
The cast is excellent from the renown Ursula Howells and Renée Asherson to Kevin Whately (AKA DI Lewis in the Inspector Morse series).Hinch and Murgatroyd are played to perfection from their first appearance at the murder scene at Little Paddocks, through their reenactment of the crime and so on to the end. I particularly loved Mrs. Swettenham, quite a funny dolt, and Bunch, who’s the bright flower in the fodder of these murders.
There are a few hysterics in this version, mainly Julia, Patrick, Edmund and of course Hannah (Mitzi).
The murder scene is done exactly as one would envision it: everyone strolling in to see the continuation from the morning’s reading of the “Murder Announcement” in the local paper; the dramatic “lights out” and the expected confusion in the dark with the culmination of Hannah finally getting slapped into silence and Rudi being loudly silenced for good.
Each scene thereafter is so well done, it’s a great joy to watch this episode time after time.
The last scene at Little Paddocks where all is revealed is also perfectly done: a round of accusations towards everyone, the hidden identities revealed, the tensions having built up over the passing of time and the passing of more bodies (not everyone is enjoying themselves as much as they were in the beginning), and with the finale: justice finally being brought to hand.
Anne
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| Review posted on Wednesday, September 23rd 2009 12:46 pm |
1 member didn't find this review useful
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