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Miss Marple :: The Moving Finger (01x02)
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Episode Information |
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| Title: | The Moving Finger |
| Episode #: | 01x02 |
| Original Airdate: | Thursday February 28th, 1985 |
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 annefu02
Total Reviews: 26
Not Useful
Useful
| The Moving Finger
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The Moving Finger
(1943)
This is another wonderful Agatha Christie murder mystery. The description of Lymstock and the characterizations of the suspects are very vivid and the reader is quickly transported to the little village located in the heart of England. A joy to read!
The story is written in the first person, by one Jerry Burton, brother of Joanna. The siblings have taken a house in little, quiet Lymstock. Jerry is on a six month recuperation sabbatical, due to a plane crash. They have rented a house from Mrs. Barton, a respected little-old-lady of the village. The story starts with Joanna receiving a poisoned pen letter in the mail. Jerry is somewhat upset, but Joanna just blows it off, putting it down to natural spite against young newcomers.
Other people involved:
The Rev. Calthrop and his wife, Maud
Partridge- servant
Aimée Griffith- sister of Dr. Griffith, who’s attending to Jerry
The Symmington’s- Mr. (lawyer), his wife and two young boys
Megan- Mrs. Symmington’s daughter from a previous marriage
Elsie Holland- the Symmington’s governess
Agnes Woddell-servant for the Symmington’s
Mr. Pye- local town color
Into idyllic, bucolic Lymstock creeps the Poisoned Pen, and the charm of the hamlet is ruined. A number of people have received vile, graphic, but fairly general letters, and eventually one such outpouring has deadly results:after having been the recipient of just such a letter, the fragile Mrs. Symmington commits suicide. She had been in ill health for some time. She was alone in the house, and the letter was hand delivered. The manner of death was some cyanide that was found in the family's potting shed. The letter stated that the second son was not Mr. Symmington’s.
Poisoned pens sent via:
The book from which the letters were cut from came from a book published circa 1830. No fingerprints were found, the envelopes were typewritten on a Windsor 7; the “a” and “e”s are out of alignment. The letters were either posted locally or by hand, thus indicating a close culprit. The typer used one finger, thus making it more difficult to make more distinguishing characteristics in the letters. The letters were full of sex and spite, which apparently indicates an old or possibly middle aged woman behind them all.
Next, Joanna receives another letter. This time, the “u” in Burton has been smudged in some fashion…..
Meanwhile, Partridge’s acquaintance, Agnes, arranged to meet Partridge to discuss something weighing on her mind, but Agnes never shows up. Later on, it is found out that Agnes never made it back to the Symmington’s that night. Her “day-off” clothes are found still lying on her bed. Megan goes looking for her and finds Agnes in a closet. She had received a blow to the back of the head, and a skewer had been thrust into the base of her skull.
The usual timetable for afternoons is:
Rose, the cook, takes the 2:25 bus.
Agnes leaves between 3:00-3:30.
In regard to Mrs. Symmington’s demise: death between 3-4 pm; Elsie was back with the boys by 4:50. It turns out that Agnes had returned shortly after leaving that afternoon: she had had a fight with her boyfriend and returned to the house.
In regard to Agnes’ end: death between 2:50-3:30; Else left with the boys by 2:40 (house was then presumably empty except for Agnes), and back by 4:50. What could have been troubling Agnes? If she knew something about her mistress’ death, then why did she not come forward? Did she know anything about that afternoon?
Clues:
Miss Barton, and the Burtons
A phone message, written by Joanna, concerning Dr. Griffith
Misdirection, with a capital “M”
The typewriter
The manner of writing found in the last poisoned pen
One of the ladies of the village is arrested: cut pages from the antique are found in her possession, along with a pestle which was probably used to kill Agnes. This woman was also seen typing a poisoned pen to Elsie.
An unsuspecting person (though in hind sight a rather obvious one in many respects) brings the real killer out in the open. The killer strikes again, though with a different outcome than she expects.
What is the end result of the poison pens?? Death by retribution.
The Moving Finger with Joan Hickson
(1985)
The Cast:
Joan Hickson .... Miss Jane Marple
Michael Culver .... Edward Symmington
Elizabeth Counsell .... Angela Symmington
Deborah Appleby .... Megan Hunter
Lucy Gleeson .... Robert Symmington
Stuart Mansfield .... James Symmington
Andrew Bicknell .... Gerry Burton
Sabina Franklyn .... Joanna Burton
Richard Pearson .... Mr. Pye
Hilary Mason .... Emily Barton
Dilys Hamlett .... Maude Calthrop
John Arnatt .... Reverend Guy Calthrop (vs. Dane)
Sandra Payne .... Eryl Griffith
Martin Fisk .... Owen Griffith
Penelope Lee .... Partridge
As in the book, Miss Marple is brought to Lymston (Lymstock in the book) by Maud Calthrop, an old friend. Whereas Miss Marple shows up very late in the original, here she is on hand for most of the poisoned pens as well as the multi-murders.
The opening scene of life at Lymston: surface quaintness and serenity. The core selves of the people are seen as nasty, narrow minded folk.
Some differences between the film and the book:
Megan: firstly, she looks remarkably like Lady Di, before her glamour transformation.
In the book, there’s a jolly scene involving Megan’s first ever cocktail. It happens after the death of her mother, it shows Megan to be a real trooper in many areas(!). In the film, she is spending the afternoon with Jerry and Joanna, and just in the natural course of the day, they have cocktail. It’s too bad the original thread of this scene wasn’t used in the TV episode.
Megan doesn’t spend the aftermath of her mother’s death at Jerry and Joanna’s.
It’s hard to believe what this version of Megan does, though the confrontation with her stepfather is more in line with the original story.
Beatrice, instead of Agnes, is looking out of her window on the afternoon of Mrs. Symmington’s death and sees a man out in the street. He’s wearing dark clothes and a cap is pulled over his head.
With Miss Marple already on the scene before the first death; when the verdict of suicide is given for Mrs. Symmington’s demise, Miss Marple knows otherwise.
At the inquest, something else occurs: Beatrice stops Partridge outside to ask to speak to her sometime about something that’s bothering her. Who overhears this conversation?
The finding of the second body follows the storyline, but it’s much more effective in the film: scary!!
The characters of: Maud, Guy, Megan and Miss Griffiths all vary a bit from the original story. In the film, Maud is seen as very down to earth (compared to the original character!), Guy is less worldly, Megan is not as mercurial, and Miss Griffiths seems more catty.
The plot unfolds in Dr. Griffith’s office: that’s where the first suspect is confronted. The doctor is on his rounds, so Miss Griffiths makes up a renewed prescription while the real murderer plants evidence against her.
Anne
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| Review posted on Monday, September 21st 2009 12:53 pm |
| 1 member found this review useful |
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