Agatha Christie's Miss Marple: Sleeping Murder (TV 1987)

When a young bride moves into a country manor, long repressed childhood memories of witnessing a murder come to the surface.

Director:

John Davies

Writer:

Ken Taylor (screenplay)

Stars:

Joan Hickson, Geraldine Alexander, John Moulder-Brown

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Joan Hickson	...	Miss Marple
Geraldine Alexander	...	Gwenda Reed
John Moulder-Brown	...	Giles Reed
Frederick Treves	...	Doctor James Kennedy
Jean Anderson	...	Mrs. Fane
Terrence Hardiman	...	Walter Fane
John Bennett	...	Richard Erskine
Geraldine Newman	...	Janet Erskine
Jack Watson	...	Mr. Foster
Joan Scott	...	Mrs. Cocker
Jean Heywood	...	Edith Paget
Georgine Anderson	...	Mrs. Hengrave
Edward Jewesbury	...	Mr. Sims
David McAlister	...	Raymond West
Amanda Boxer	...	Joan West

Storyline

BBC TV adaption of the Agatha Christie's novel. A young recently married woman, Gwenda Reed, comes back to England after living most of her life in New Zealand. While her husband, Giles, is out of the country she buys a house for them and starts recalling memories which make her start to think that perhaps she had lived in the house before. It's only then, while dining out with friends, that a chance remark triggered off a frightening memory, as a little girl, looking down at a woman's body and the murderer with "monkey paws" hands. Gwenda is determined to find out the sources of this memory. The killer, thought that he/she was safe after eighteen years and is prepared to kill to cover up the past. But Gwenda has help as one of her dining friends is Raymond West, who has a very special Aunt who is willing to help Gwenda - Miss Jane Marple...

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Plot Keywords:

murder | house | miss marple | country doctor | insane asylum | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

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Details

Country:

UK USA Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 January 1987 (UK)

Also Known As:

Addio Miss Marple

Filming Locations:

Lympstone, Devon, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), A&E Television Networks, 7 Network

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Agatha Christie originally entitled the manuscript for this novel "Murder in Retrospect." However, in 1942 Dodd, Mead Co. published Christie's novel "Five Little Pigs" in the U.S. with the title "Murder in Retrospect" (it retained its original title in the U.K. publication). She then renamed the story "Cover Her Face" but had to change it yet again, when P.D. James published her début novel in 1962 with that title. The novel itself was written around 1940 as her last novel featuring Miss Marple (around the same time that she was writing "Curtain" which was the last Hercule Poirot); it was published in 1976 after her death.

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Goofs

While Miss Marple is chatting with the gardener and using the sprayer to kill the bugs, she generously sprays the top of the wall where the gardener's coffee cup is resting. A few moments later he drinks from it, but apparently suffers no ill effects.

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Quotes

Gwenda Reed: Why didn't *we* think of that?
Miss Jane Marple: Because you believed what he told you. It's very dangerous to believe people - I haven't for years.

User Reviews

Entertaining

What a film! Watching 'Sleeping Murder' scared me more than any other Miss Marple film, mainly due to the suspense. The version with Joan Hickson was much, much better than that with Geraldine McEwan, mainly because the director stuck to the plot and didn't add a silly romance between the protagonist and her aide to supposedly warm the hearts of the audience. I thought that the house used was just right, and the gradual tension brought about by new discoveries (some gruesome) added a thrill to the plot. The main actress came across as a genuine damsel in distress and her husband loyal and devoted. One of the few films to make me frightened.