I've just finished watching this episode for the second time and it held up well for both showings.
Some reviewers don't seem to like the Miss Marple series but you have to wonder, why on earth are they watching? Miss Marple is never going to morph into Mike Hammer or James Bond, so why are you complaining about the slow pace?
What you CAN complain about with credibility is how did Lucy (portrayed as an exceptionally bright woman) allow herself to be man-handled by the arrogant roguish heel, Cedric? That scene was creeeepy.
And thank your lucky stars that when Lucy opens the sarcophagus they filmed in the style of Alfred Hitchcock: No blood or gross manifestations. The audience experiences the horror via the expressions of the heroine. That was classy.
A refreshing change of pace was the introduction of a law enforcement official that appreciated Miss Marple's off-beat way of solving crimes.
CHIEF INSPECTOR DUCKHAM: Where is she?
INSPECTOR SLACK: She's not in.
CHIEF INSPECTOR DUCKHAM: Well, don't let me keep you, my dear fellow. You can send a car back for me.
INSPECTOR SLACK: No, no, we'll wait.
(Miss Marple approaches, looking through her purse for her door key. Then she looks up and sees the two inspectors.)
MISS MARPLE: Oh! Oh, I AM so sorry. It's Mary's afternoon off.
CHIEF INSPECTOR DUCKHAM: Were you successful, Miss Marple?
MISS MARPLE: Oh I think so, yes thank you. I bought four very nice pillowcases from Derry and Tom's. Do come in, won't you?
MISS MARPLE: OH . . Oh yes I see, I see of course what you mean.
LOL So what if she's not as sharp as James Rockford. Scenes like this are a hoot and SOOO enjoyable.
Where I thought they let the audience down was, there needed to be one more scene of Harold hunting. Or they needed to show him up close, instead of through the window. The filmmakers failed to dwell on Harold. So when he disappeared, it had no effect. All good magicians show the audience the white rabbit several times before they put it into the hat and make it disappear.
As one reviewer mentioned, even the other characters seemed nonplussed at Harold's disappearance. The filmmakers wasted the effect of that murder, so the tension didn't build as strongly as it could have.
Also, I was disappointed with the opening. They took great pains to tell us about the itinerary of the two trains and how one was faster than the other but only at certain points in the journey. They also cut to clocks several times to emphasize the chronology. So I was expecting the murder to involve the clever use of how the trains travelled that night. But no such angle existed in the plot. Which made me wonder, why did the filmmakers bother with all of that timetable claptrap if it didn't figure into the main plot?
One reviewer said "Marple is the worst detective ever devised." Well, that just shows you some people will never get it. The whole Marple shtick is, she's right-brained. She solves crimes through intuition, a gift that left-brained people do not possess. If you want a left-brained detective then you need to watch Poirot. We like Miss Marple just the way she is, thank you.
EXTRA: At 40:49 you'll see the same bright red MG that was featured in the opening of Sleeping Murder.
Some reviewers don't seem to like the Miss Marple series but you have to wonder, why on earth are they watching? Miss Marple is never going to morph into Mike Hammer or James Bond, so why are you complaining about the slow pace?
What you CAN complain about with credibility is how did Lucy (portrayed as an exceptionally bright woman) allow herself to be man-handled by the arrogant roguish heel, Cedric? That scene was creeeepy.
And thank your lucky stars that when Lucy opens the sarcophagus they filmed in the style of Alfred Hitchcock: No blood or gross manifestations. The audience experiences the horror via the expressions of the heroine. That was classy.
A refreshing change of pace was the introduction of a law enforcement official that appreciated Miss Marple's off-beat way of solving crimes.
CHIEF INSPECTOR DUCKHAM: Where is she?
INSPECTOR SLACK: She's not in.
CHIEF INSPECTOR DUCKHAM: Well, don't let me keep you, my dear fellow. You can send a car back for me.
INSPECTOR SLACK: No, no, we'll wait.
(Miss Marple approaches, looking through her purse for her door key. Then she looks up and sees the two inspectors.)
MISS MARPLE: Oh! Oh, I AM so sorry. It's Mary's afternoon off.
CHIEF INSPECTOR DUCKHAM: Were you successful, Miss Marple?
MISS MARPLE: Oh I think so, yes thank you. I bought four very nice pillowcases from Derry and Tom's. Do come in, won't you?
MISS MARPLE: OH . . Oh yes I see, I see of course what you mean.
LOL So what if she's not as sharp as James Rockford. Scenes like this are a hoot and SOOO enjoyable.
Where I thought they let the audience down was, there needed to be one more scene of Harold hunting. Or they needed to show him up close, instead of through the window. The filmmakers failed to dwell on Harold. So when he disappeared, it had no effect. All good magicians show the audience the white rabbit several times before they put it into the hat and make it disappear.
As one reviewer mentioned, even the other characters seemed nonplussed at Harold's disappearance. The filmmakers wasted the effect of that murder, so the tension didn't build as strongly as it could have.
Also, I was disappointed with the opening. They took great pains to tell us about the itinerary of the two trains and how one was faster than the other but only at certain points in the journey. They also cut to clocks several times to emphasize the chronology. So I was expecting the murder to involve the clever use of how the trains travelled that night. But no such angle existed in the plot. Which made me wonder, why did the filmmakers bother with all of that timetable claptrap if it didn't figure into the main plot?
One reviewer said "Marple is the worst detective ever devised." Well, that just shows you some people will never get it. The whole Marple shtick is, she's right-brained. She solves crimes through intuition, a gift that left-brained people do not possess. If you want a left-brained detective then you need to watch Poirot. We like Miss Marple just the way she is, thank you.
EXTRA: At 40:49 you'll see the same bright red MG that was featured in the opening of Sleeping Murder.