The Moving Finger (TV 1985)

The residents of a quiet English village begin to receive nasty, threatening letters. The wife of the local vicar calls in her friend Miss Marple to investigate.

Director:

Roy Boulting

Writer:

Julia Jones (dramatised by)

Stars:

Joan Hickson, Michael Culver, Deborah Appleby

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Joan Hickson	...	Miss Marple
Michael Culver	...	Edward Symmington
Deborah Appleby	...	Megan Hunter
Andrew Bicknell	...	Gerry Burton
Sabina Franklyn	...	Joanna Burton
Richard Pearson	...	Mr. Pye
Hilary Mason	...	Emily Barton
Dilys Hamlett	...	Maud Calthrop
John Arnatt	...	Rev. Guy Calthrop
Sandra Payne	...	Eryl Griffith
Martin Fisk	...	Owen Griffith
Penelope Lee	...	Partridge
Juliet Waley	...	Beatrice
Imogen Bickford-Smith	...	Elsie Holland
Geoffrey Davion	...	Police Superintendent Nash

Storyline

Her old friend Maude Calthrop, wife of the village vicar, summons Miss Marple when several of the local residents receive a poison pen letter. All of the recipients thus far are men and all are accused of some act of moral turpitude. When the local solicitor's wife, Angela Symington, is found dead with a poison pen letter at her side, the coroner rules that she took her own life. Not surprisingly, Jane Marple disagrees and is convinced it was murder. When a second villager is killed, it appears Miss Marple is correct. She also deduces the real purpose of the letters.

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Plot Keywords:

letter | miss marple | poison | village | poison pen letter | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

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Details

Country:

UK USA Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 February 1985 (UK)

Also Known As:

A láthatatlan kéz

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), A&E Television Networks, Seven Network

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White (still photographs: of Gerry Burton's and Megan Hunter's trip to London) Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Just before the meeting of the maid and her boyfriend on the bridge, there is a view of Willie Lott's cottage in Suffolk, famous because it appears in John Constable's 1821 painting The Hay Wain.

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Goofs

Somebody finds a book used for cutting out letters to make threatening notes. However, the print in this book is much smaller than the letters used in the notes.

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Quotes

Miss Jane Marple: Oh, forgive me, Superintendent, but I hope you don't wa... how should I put it?... find me irratating.
Superintendent Nash: [In a condescendingly emphatic tone] Dismiss the thought, Miss Marple!
Miss Jane Marple: Oh, good. I'm so glad. Thank you... yes.

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Connections

Version of Les petits meurtres d'Agatha Christie: La plume empoisonnée (2009)

User Reviews

Poor Ted

Oh dear, poor Ted, he seems, from his email address to be in Education, and one would suspect that his academic speciality is "Mystery Writers". A pity, excessive analysis over the years appears to have rather distorted his power of judgement. I was lucky enough to have been brought up in 1950s England, and I have never seen a series which more accurately reflects the life and people I remember then, less the murders of course! The real problem Ted has with the whole series is revealed in this comment: "At least this one emphasizes the obnoxious, mousey character of Jane more than the others." He just doesn't like Joan Hickson's characterisation. Well, sorry old chap, I knew many friends of my grandparents who were extremely similar to this Miss Marple, intelligent ladies of the Raj who had returned to England or daughters of the prewar middle class coping with the new society that was being shaped. They were used to a 'certain standard' in all things. Behind the fierce formal exterior, though, there was a twinkle, although often buried quite deeply. If Ted doesn't like this Joan Hickson characterisation, then I'm pretty sure he would have not have got on with Agatha Christie either. Probably Erle Stanley Gardner's more his type! This episode is up to the standard of the rest of the series, and it was directed by Roy Boulting, who would also remember this time well since it was his heyday at Shepperton Studios, producing classics like 'I'm alright Jack'. Hence the accuracy of the period feel. If you want to see Miss Marple really messed up, then check out the new 2004 series featuring Geraldine McEwan, whom I admire in the right part (Mapp and Lucia for example). But she is NOT Miss Marple, Miss Hickson IS.