Author Topic: PBS Masterpiece Mystery! ~ Six by Christie (Read 76380 times)

ginny · « **Reply #200 on:** July 14, 2009, 03:33:20 PM »

Six 90-minute mysteries — Sundays, June 21-July 26, 2009
"With grey cells firing and knitting needles clicking, Hercule Poirot (David Suchet) and Miss Marple (Julia McKenzie) star in Six by Agatha, a half-dozen whodunits by the greatest mystery author of all time, Agatha Christie." (PBS Masterpiece Mystery!)

Would you enjoy discussing these new PBS mysteries? Reading the books adds a whole new dimension, as we learned reading Henning Mankell's novels.
Thank you for promoting reading, Masterpiece! Are you interested?

June 21, 2009 at 9pm
Hercule Poirot: Cat Among the Pigeons
Something is amiss at Meadowbank School for Girls, where hidden rubies, kidnapping, and murder disrupt the term. View the episode online through July 5 at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/poirot/watch.html

June 28, 2009 at 9pm
Hercule Poirot: Mrs. McGinty's Dead
A man is about to hang for a brutal murder. But did he do it? After learning about 30-year-old homicides, Poirot concludes a ghost from the past has returned. View the episode online through July 12 at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/poirot/watch.html

	July 5, 2009 at 9pm Miss Marple: A Pocket Full of Rye A killer who seems obsessed with a nursery rhyme commits a string of murders. Miss Marple and a local detective (Matthew Macfadyen) join forces to investigate. View the episode online through July 19 at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/marple/watch.html.
	July 12, 2009 at 9pm Miss Marple: Murder is Easy (the book is sometimes called EASY TO KILL) Miss Marple investigates a string of "accidents" after a woman on a train tells her about murders in a local village. Benedict Cumberbatch co-stars. View the episode online through July 26 at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/marple/watch.html.
	July 19, 2009 at 9pm Miss Marple: They Do it With Mirrors (the book is sometimes called MURDER WITH MIRRORS) During rehearsal for an amateur show a murder occurs, and Miss Marple must decipher the elaborate conjuring trick played by the killer. Joan Collins co-stars.
	July 26, 2009 at 9pm Miss Marple: Why Didn't They Ask Evans? (the book is sometimes titled THE BOOMERANG CLUE) The last words of a dying man lead the sole witness and a socialite to investigate. Miss Marple joins them as they land in a hotbed of homicide and intrigue.

Discussion Leader: Babi

ginny · « **Reply #201 on:** July 14, 2009, 03:39:10 PM »

You're absolutely right, Joan. Don't know why I said "killed off," that's not accurate, I should have said she wrote the final Poirot books and Miss Marple books ahead of time to bring them out for the last book in each series.

I'm sorry you can't hear her, she does have that kind of voice. I liked Helen Hayes, also.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #202 on:** July 14, 2009, 03:43:11 PM »

aha - two different times in history - I think of the play on Braodway in the 60s - thanks for clearning it up...

marcie · « **Reply #203 on:** July 14, 2009, 04:14:49 PM »

Joank, I too was struck by the reference to the red hat dye clashing with the woman's red hair. Her hair didn't look red to me either. :-)

Frybabe · « **Reply #204 on:** July 14, 2009, 07:03:52 PM »

Ginny your link to the 100th Anniversary of Agatha Christie led me to the following link. It is an interview with David Suchet regarding his voice over portrayal of the video game for Murder on the Orient Express. Most interesting.

Babi · « **Reply #205 on:** July 15, 2009, 09:05:22 AM »

Oh, Ginny, thank you for going to so much trouble, but I'm now totally deaf
and wouldn't be able to hear more than possibly a slamming door. I find I
actually 'hear' the vibrations from something like that, but nothing else.
Thank goodness for on-line communication!
You're right about Burton in Camelot. He did 'speak' his songs. I was a bit
startled at first, but he still did it so well.

Goodness, JOANG, that was definitely taking liberties with a Christie
novel. "Murder is Easy" is the one book I had not read before the film,
so I didn't realize. I'm surprised there weren't more complaints about that.

Quote

"based on a story by Agatha Christie"

JOANP, you have found the key to the whole thing, right there. I missed that, wherever it was. It would have given me a helpful hint before I even began. "Based on" is comparable to advertising, where a med. is vaguely recommended as "aids in the relief of" which avoids any definite claims.

marcie · « **Reply #206 on:** July 15, 2009, 06:23:01 PM »

Spoiler alert regarding MURDER IS EASY or EASY TO KILL

I just finished reading the book and am glad to know that the motive for the murders is completely different than in the TV program. I was uncomfortable with the idea, in the TV episode, of Honoria being raped by her brother who was mentally retarded and then her killing him as her first victim.

The book doesn't mention a brother at all.

joangrimes · « **Reply #207 on:** July 15, 2009, 06:39:17 PM »

Right Marcie. I liked the book much better than the PBS Production . I was uncomfortable with all that in the book too. I just wonder what the reason for it all was. I kept asking myself why they did not use the story that Christie wrote. It was much better that what they did.

Joan G

Babi · « **Reply #208 on:** July 16, 2009, 08:34:01 AM »

MARCIE & JOANGRIMES, more and more it seems as though the producers of
this film were taking great liberties in giving it Christie's title and
assigning her authorship. Other than preserving the names of some
characters, it apparently has very little to do with the book. The writers
idea of what appeals to a modern audience, I suppose. I find that
very annoying and want to complain to someone. I may do so!

Babi · « **Reply #209 on:** July 16, 2009, 08:42:06 AM »

I did some checking, and there were complaints to 'Mystery' about the changes. One message board reported the following bit from the reply they sent her.

The British company Chorion owns the majority of Agatha Christie's brand and estate. For a time there was a moratorium on productions of Christie's work; Chorion wanted to see how it could be revised to better suit an audience of the 21st century. We now see the new Miss Marples.

Significantly, Mathew Prichard (Agatha Christie's only grandson), the chairman of Agatha Christie Ltd. (owned by Chorion), is fully in support of the changes made. He has said, "The rejacketing of her books and new adaptations of Poirot and Marple ... have all ensured that the magic of her storytelling continues to reach a contemporary audience and that she continues to be recognised as the undisputed 'Queen of Crime'."

I don't know. The grandson's endorsement sounds rather like it was
written for him by Chorion. I find myself somewhat cynical. If I'm wrong,
I hope Mr. Prichard will accept my apologies.

JoanP · « **Reply #210 on:** July 16, 2009, 09:18:13 AM »

Very interesting, isn't it? Perhaps the grandson hasn't read this particular book, lately - to see how wildly the PBS series differs from the book? Babi - it was in the introductory credits at the start of the PBS production where the words "based on the novel by Agatha Christie" appeared.

I notice that the description of the 1982 film, we are told it is an "adapted" from Agatha Christie's novel. Though there were minor changes, from the review you can recognize the book in the film.

Quote

"Luke Williams (Bixby), an American computer expert, is on a train to London when he meets an old woman (Hayes) who confides that she is going to Scotland Yard to report some mysterious deaths in her village. When she is killed by a hit-and-run driver after leaving the train, he decides to investigate. When he reaches the village, he is aided by a local girl who also suspects foul play. So-so mystery suffers from attempts to update the mystery with computer technology. Adapted from the Agatha Christie novel "Easy to Kill."

Film adaptation of Agatha Christie's novel-1982

I'd love to see this movie, wouldn't you? Olivia de Havilland as Honoria - Helen Hayes as Lavinia Fullerton. (Notice from the review, that Mrs. Fullerton was killed by a hit and run driver near Trafalgar Sq. as she was making her way to Scotland Yard....not pushed going down an escalator. I'm wondering what was gained by making this change?)

Just an observation - "Murder is Easy" was NOT one of the novels PBS made available to us. I'm thinking there was good reason. The ones we received were filmed as "adaptations" - not rewrites!

Frybabe · « **Reply #211 on:** July 16, 2009, 10:36:00 AM »

I suppose there are people who think they can do Christie better than Christie. Why do people think they need to update or modernize stories? For the most part I don't care for it, especially when what is left is pretty much just the name. Never cared for the modernized versions of Shakespeare either.

mrssherlock · « **Reply #212 on:** July 16, 2009, 11:49:40 AM »

I see a parallel with the discussion in People of the Book, a novel about a real artifact which is approximately 500 years old. Conserve the old with its signs of wear or restore it with glossy new paint? Nowadays many fine old pieces of furniture (I'm not speaking of genuine antiques) are gussied up with white paint to look like shabby chic or whatever the latest buzz words are. I guess it depends on what you want, something authetic or something stripped of its embarassing blemishes.

isak · « **Reply #213 on:** July 16, 2009, 03:18:43 PM »

Frybabe, etc -I agree about the motives of the adaptors or screenwriters. I think it must
be more about their egoes than about remaining true to Christie so that you and I can relate
to what she actually wrote. Pity. How long do we need to wait until someone actually tells
it like it is. I think I'll go back and buy the Poirot series we all like and make do with that.
isak

JudeS · « **Reply #214 on:** July 16, 2009, 06:44:37 PM »

Thank you all for clearing up for me the fact that my memory has not completely diminished (That of my Husband too0. We both read Murder is Easy some years back and the version we saw on Sunday night seemed very different to both of us.
We felt that our memories had aged considerably. I don't know why we didn't consider the fact that the remakers of this Christie Novel had taken such liberties with it that it was not as tight or clever as we remembered it.Certainly there was no brother raping his sister in the original.

I imagine the remakers are not of those who believe a good story is still a good story without their new twists and embellishments. Sort of like those , with good intentions I'm sure, who insist on putting on Shakespeare 's plays in modern dress and as if happening in this century. Perhaps their so called "modern embellishments" make them feel important.

The Curious Case of the Christie Embellishers. Who can solve that?

Babi · « **Reply #215 on:** July 17, 2009, 09:18:20 AM »

There seems to be a fair consensus here that the re-writing for this series
is definitely not appreciated. I suspect Honoria's motive for murder(s)
in the original story was not considered strong enough for modern times.
So much that was once considered too terrible to be endured, is now
hardly worth a second thought.
Sticking Miss Marple into a non-Marple story is sheer opportunism. Miss
Marple is popular, so drag her into the plot to lure the viewers in. Tch, tch!

zanybooks · « **Reply #216 on:** July 17, 2009, 09:40:31 AM »

Casting in Murder is Easy was dreadful. Big clue was that red-headed person (who? what?) had selected red-shoe dye. Pity they hadn't cast a red-head for the part. I picked out the murderer five minutes into the show--why else would a big-name star be in the cast?

marcie · « **Reply #217 on:** July 17, 2009, 11:41:37 AM »

I've been watching the TV productions first, without reading the book. For the episode coming up this Sunday, I decided to read the book first. We'll see how that works out.

I just read the blurb, in the heading above, about THEY DO IT WITH MIRRORS and I had to check if I'd read the wrong book! I don't know who writes the blurbs. LOL, those few sentence are not how I would characterize the story!

I've also just borrowed the Joan Hickson version of this story from our local library so I'll have three versions to compare (the book and the two TV productions).

JudeS · « **Reply #218 on:** July 17, 2009, 01:16:28 PM »

Wow Marcie!
Sounds like a serious college thesis you've taken on yourself.
Love to read the results.

marcie · « **Reply #219 on:** July 17, 2009, 04:35:47 PM »

Jude

I just finished watching the Joan Hickson Miss Marple version. It was very faithful to the book. A couple of differences but not major-major. I'll say more after I see the broadcast of the new adaptation.

pedln · « **Reply #220 on:** July 17, 2009, 11:43:13 PM »

Quote from: marcie on July 17, 2009, 11:41:37 AM

I just read the blurb, in the heading above, about THEY DO IT WITH MIRRORS and I had to check if I'd read the wrong book! I don't know who writes the blurbs. LOL, those few sentence are not how I would characterize the story!

Ditto and ditto, Marcie. I've just finished reading They Do It With Mirrors and was wondering the same thing. It will be interesting to see the film -- I hope to see it. OUr only PBS station is run by the University across the river in So. Illinois and again they have left the kids to run the show without any supervision. Beautiful HD picture, but no captions, which means no show for me. When this has happened before they don't fix it until after the weekend. We shall see.

I set Murder Is Easy to record while I was out of town, but there was a storm and power outage, so missed that one too. It's supposed to show again tomorrow night, maybe captioned, maybe not.

Looking at Netflix offerings it shows Helen Hayes as Miss Marple in Murder with Mirrors.

JoanG, thanks for the list of all the Miss Marple mysteries. I think my favorite is the 4:50 from Paddington, and I saw it on TV not too long ago with Geraldine McEwan as Miss Marple. There's also one with Joan Hickson.

JoanP · « **Reply #221 on:** July 18, 2009, 08:10:18 AM »

Finally found some time to finish Easy to Kill (Murder is Easy.) I don't think that those of you who only saw the last episode can appreciate the extent of the liberties taken with Agatha Christie's own story. You do know that the book is not a Miss Marple book. That Masterpiece inserted her into this story. But what else do you know?

Try this - the murderer IS Honoria Waynflete. But that's about the only thing the film and the book have in common. Bridget Conway was NOT Honoria's daughter. NOT HER DAUGHTER! Honoria had been engaged to a Lord Easterfield - who broke off the engagement years before because he thought Honoria was mad. (she is) Honoria is determined to make him pay for this. So she murders all those people to make it appear as if Lord Easterly did it And almost succeeds in getting him convicted. Bridget Conway had been engaged to marry Lord Easterfield - until she met Luke, the detective - fell in love with him - and decided to break off her engagement with Lord E. and marry Luke. Honoria then attempted to murder Bridget - to make it look as if Lord Easterfield did it.

You can't recognize the PBS version, do you? I think it's an outrage. Oh, there is another similarity - the title and the idea that it is EASY TO KILL or MURDER IS EASY. That theme runs through the book - that it is easy to kill as long as no one suspects you. I'd say the word "easy" is used close to 100 times in the book - I guess I'm exaggerating, but it is used frequently.

There's a lot to like in Agatha Christie's story. I think we all owe it to Ms. Christie to read it. She writes - "Men are more easily ((another easy!) than women." And then there was something else about listening to the wisdom of old aunts. I hear Miss Marple within these comments, though she does not appear in this story.

The "hat-paint" appears in both of these stories...I find myself wondering about it? What is it? Did ladies paint their hats at one time? Red? Hmm, early Red Hat Club ladies?

JoanP · « **Reply #222 on:** July 18, 2009, 08:16:55 AM »

Oh no, you don't recognize Agatha Christie's, 'They Do It With Mirrors,' from the description of the TV series either? I had hoped that last week's was some abberation - and will be double outraged if they do it again! I have Mirrors here at my fingertips - I think I'd better start it now... is Miss Marple in the book, I wonder.

On another note, have you seen the just-released Emmy nominations -

■Outstanding Directing For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Dramatic Special - Wallander
■Outstanding Lead Actor In A Miniseries Or A Movie – One Step Behind, Kenneth Branagh as Kurt Wallander

joangrimes · « **Reply #223 on:** July 18, 2009, 09:43:53 AM »

Joan P,

Miss Marple is in "They Do It With Mirrors". Christie wrote her in this one. Of course I am sure that there will be many other changes in the story. However I hope that it will at least be recognizable as Christie's story instead of a mess that very few would want to read as the last production was. That story that they created leaves me with such a bad feeling. Christie"s writing never did that to me.

I don't think they should have the right to call this series "6 by
Christie" because they have changed what was written by Christie until it is not even recognizable in so many instances.

I have not yet read "They do it with Mirrors". I will wait until after the production.

Joan Grimes

Babi · « **Reply #224 on:** July 18, 2009, 09:46:48 AM »

Your posts are inspiring me with a desire to see how many of the old
Joan Hickson 'Miss Marple' films I can find. I'm sure to have seen many
of them, if not all, but it would be nice to see where the writers didn't
mess with the story.

JOANP, a mad Honoria seeking revenge is a much more plausible motive, to
me, than the one used in the current film. I agree, the film we saw was
a travesty. I've been wanting to complain, but I don't know who the writers
were. I don't think I can blame PBS. cHORION owns the rights to the Christie
stories, but did they okay the changes, I wonder?

Women on small budgets did refurbish their hats as long as possible. I would
imagine that a felt hat could be painted, possibly some others, too. There are
places today where you can send a favorite hat to be refurbished. I tried
looking up 'hat paint' only to discover that there is a 'medicine hat paint
horse' that got all the attention.

joangrimes · « **Reply #225 on:** July 18, 2009, 09:57:48 AM »

Babi,

I met someone earlier this year who was talking about painting a straw hat. I had never heard of anyone doing such a thing until she said she had painted her straw hat. So when I saw that in the book I knew that people did that.

Joan Grimes

JoanK · « **Reply #226 on:** July 18, 2009, 07:58:36 PM »

MARCIE: in your comparison, don't miss the version with Helen Hayes as Miss Marple. Bette Davis is in that one too, when she was old, and had had a stroke.

Babi · « **Reply #227 on:** July 19, 2009, 09:05:42 AM »

  Apparently there is more refurbishing of hats than I would have thought, JOANG. I found a number of sites for places that did refurbishing, and some
that offered instructions and supplies for making or refurbishing hats. They
seemed to be mostly useful to people with old period pieces they want to
preserve.

  Tonight we get to see what they've done with "They Do It With Mirrors". I'm
curious to see which role Joan Collins is going to play. I suspect they will have
to 'beef up' one of the women's roles, if she is to 'co-star" with Miss Marple.
At least it is a genuine Miss Marple, unlike the last film we've all complained
about.

  Have some popcorn. Enjoy the show!

marcie · « **Reply #228 on:** July 19, 2009, 03:59:40 PM »

Thanks, JoanK, for the alert to the production with Helen Hayes. I'll see if I can locate a copy I can borrow.

marcie · « **Reply #229 on:** July 19, 2009, 04:21:30 PM »

JoanP. Hooray for Wallander receiving the Emmy nomination. I hope that ensures that there will be a season 2.

mrssherlock · « **Reply #230 on:** July 19, 2009, 04:30:58 PM »

According to Wikipedia the Beeb is hoping Wallender will prove to be another series like Inspector Morse.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallander_(TV_series)

JoanP · « **Reply #231 on:** July 19, 2009, 04:39:38 PM »

Jackie, do you think k.branaugh will agree to play Wallander for too long - he is Kenneth Branaugh after all, with lots of other interests and offers. Can you imagine anyone else playing Wallander though?

Thanks for letting us know that Mirrors is a Miss Marple story - in the film and in the book. I was worried.

Babi · « **Reply #232 on:** July 20, 2009, 08:21:21 AM »

Monday morning, and another Miss Marple film viewed. This one did stick
somewhat closer to the book.
Deciding to use the adopted daughter and a younger Mildred, instead of
the granddaughter and a widowed, even more bitter Mildred, worked well
enough and did simplify matters somewhat. I did resent the writers changing
the character of Miss Believer (Jolly) into a mere housemaid. I very much
preferred the intensely loyal character Christie created.
The Carrie Louise characterization in the film did not, IMO, capture the calm
and serenity that was her hallmark in the book. Nor, for that matter, was
Lewis at all as Christie wrote him.
Still, as a film, I suppose it all worked well enough. Adding in a hidden door
and passageway was really too, too trite.
What did all of you think of the film?

Frybabe · « **Reply #233 on:** July 20, 2009, 08:58:34 AM »

I ended up not watching the show. The story was not very interesting to me when I read the book, and when I turned the program on, it started out with a fire. I don't remember a fire in the book. Later when I cruised by to check it again, I came right in on when they found the secret passageway. Again, not in the book.

Mippy · « **Reply #234 on:** July 20, 2009, 09:13:41 AM »

Once again the book was much better ... I agree, Margie ... although I didn't have a chance
to watch the entire film. But I certainly enjoy reading AC once again, so this discussion has been a great boost this month for reading for relaxation!

joangrimes · « **Reply #235 on:** July 20, 2009, 10:09:21 AM »

Quote

I certainly enjoy reading AC once again, so this discussion has been a great boost this month for reading for relaxation

Mippy, certainly agree with that statement. I have really enjoyed revisiting Agatha Christie Novels.

I found the presentation hard to follow last night but was glad that I watched it. My family from South Carolina were here and they watched it with me. My 10 year old grandson just keep saying that there were too many characters in it. He watched all of it though as did my 9 year 0id granddaughter.
The Next one, " Why Didn't They Ask Evans, is a book that Miss Marple does not appear in but is added for the next episode. I will not even bother to try to read the book. I will probably watch the production though.

Joan Grimes

pedln · « **Reply #236 on:** July 20, 2009, 10:15:27 AM »

I read the book first and enjoyed it.. Then watched the film and kept asking myself "why." Why so many changes. And I kept wondering how old Carrie Louise was when Mildred was born. I understand that it was no doubt easier not to explain all about Pippa, etc, but the missing generation was a deterent for me. I just thought the whole show was so bad. ANd I wasn't too impressed with Julia McKenzie as Miss Marple. Actually prefer Geraldine McEwan and those shows weren't so hot either. Even if I had not read the book first, I would not have liked that show.

marcie · « **Reply #237 on:** July 20, 2009, 11:14:30 AM »

It's a bit difficult for me to judge if I would have enjoyed the TV production more if I had not read the story first, as was the case for the previous productions. LOL, Frybabe, when I saw the fire in the opening scene, I was worried that PBS was switching programs on me :-) but it did set the plot about the financial dealings. Pedln, I was thinking the same thing... wondering how old Carrie Louise was when Mildren was born, although I agree with you that it probably helped to reduce the number of characters introduced. JoanG, I agree with your grandson, that there were a lot of characters for a 90 minute production, though they did try to "consolidate."

Babi, I agree with you that the characters of Carrie Louise and Lewis were very much different in the tv production. I guess the screenwriter may have been trying to update Carrie Louise into a more assertive person --with it being her idea to have the rehabilitation center for young men, rather than her husband's idea. But that seemed to make her more at fault for not realizing that she was overspending and left her husband to try to make up for it by "cooking the books." The motivation about him being jealous of Carrie's second husband, also lessened the depiction of Lewis's and Carrie Louise's characters, in my estimation, and made me have less empathy for them. The animosity between Carrie Louise and her sister was also unnecessary to the plot.

I didn't really come to like any of the characters. I don't think it was because of the acting. I think it was the way the screenplay was written. It's not so much that it was different from the book (it was) but the main ways in which the characters and their motivations were different from the book were not improvements.

JoanK · « **Reply #238 on:** July 20, 2009, 02:54:52 PM »

I didn't reread the book first. It seems that I enjoy the Tv presentations better when I don't. But I agree about Carrie Louise, and Lewis being different. Lewis was made more likable,and the motive more sympathetic (although rediculous -- if they were going broke, Carrie Louis would find out soon enough. Would anyone kill to postpone it a few months?)

I find they are giving enough clues to allow me to sort out the characters -- I give them marks for that. In spite of the alterations, i'd give them a "not wonderful, but not too bad".

JoanP · « **Reply #239 on:** July 20, 2009, 04:14:47 PM »

Loving your posts! This time I read half the book first - and then watched last night's production. I did find it off-putting that Gina was Carrie Louise's daughter, not her granddaughter last night, but on the whole I thought the story was fairly close to what A. Christie wrote. (Actually I liked the PBS Carrie Louise better than AC's - but feel guilty saying so because this is Agatha Christie's story, isn't it? Carrie Louise was so maddenlingly blurry and vague - vacant as if she was on drugs in the book version. Wait a minute - was she being slowly poisoned?)

I need to finish the book today before concluding on how PBS handled the story. I agree with your grandson, JoanG - there are always so many characters in A. Christie's storys- and in the film too. And so many of them are alike. If not alike, the names are alike and it's difficult to keep the right name attached to the right character. One of the reasons I like the books - I can keep flipping back.

I do intend to read "Why Didn't They Ask Evans" - remember it's also called "Boomerang Clue." It will be the final episode in the series.
Minutes after the Masterpiece Mystery production of "Mirrors" last night, our local PBS showed an old PBS Mystery - the "Bradford Hotel" I think it was called...Geraldine McEwan as Miss Marple. You couldn't help but compare the two Marples - there was no comparison!!!

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Author Topic: PBS Masterpiece Mystery! ~ Six by Christie (Read 76380 times)