Sleeping Murder (1987) (TV)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

John Davies

Writers:

Agatha Christie (novel)
Ken Taylor (screenplay)

Release Date:

11 January 1987 (UK)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Murder | House | Miss Marple | Country Doctor | Insane Asylum

Cast

Joan Hickson	...	Miss Jane Marple
Geraldine Alexander	...	Gwenda Reed
John Moulder-Brown	...	Giles Reed
Jack Watson	...	Mr. Foster
Joan Scott	...	Mrs. Cocker
Frederick Treves	...	Dr James Kennedy
Eryl Maynard	...	Lily Kimble
Ken Kitson	...	Jim Kimble
Jean Heywood	...	Edith Paget
Jean Anderson	...	Mrs. Fane
Terrence Hardiman	...	Walter Fane
John Bennett	...	Richard Erskine
Geraldine Newman	...	Janet Erskine
Georgine Anderson	...	Mrs. Hengrave
Edward Jewesbury	...	Mr. Sims

Also Known As:

Miss Marple: Sleeping Murder (UK) (series title)

Runtime:

USA:102 min

Country:

Australia | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Filming Locations:

Lympstone, Devon, England, UK

Company:

7 Network

Trivia:

A line in the film's ending, 'Cover her face, Mine eyes dazzle, Gwennie', spoken by Dr. Kennedy to Gwennie, are references to almost identical lines in Scene 2, Act 4 of the 17th century Jacobean play 'The Duchess of Malfi' published by the English playwright John Webster in 1623. In the 'Duchess of Malfi' the referenced line is 'Cover her face. Mine eyes dazzle. She died young.', spoken by the character Ferdinand to Bosola.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Although the character of Gwenda Reed is purportedly a New Zealander the accent is clearly Australian.

Quotes:

Miss Jane Marple: Good advice is almost certain to be ignored, but that's no reason for not giving it.

Movie Connections:

Followed by A Caribbean Mystery (1989) (TV)

Far better than the recent version

The 1980s adaptations starring Joan Hickson are on the slow side by modern standards. This was in fact the last golden age of television before it was ruined by too many channels and the advent of the MTV attention span -- which has sadly affected us all, I fear. This version is lovingly crafted with delightful period details.

Although, in its slowness, this version fails to build up the various suspects as sufficiently menacing, it is a good version which keeps quite faithful to the book. Geraldine Alexander is excellent as Gwenda and to my ears does a super New Zealand accent. John Moulder-Brown is a let-down as her unconvincing animatronic husband, beautifully dressed in the gent's outfitters styles of the period, but far too mannered in his perfect elocution. Joan Hickson does her stuff very well as usual.

It is interesting (if depressing) to compare this with the travesty version starring Geraldine McEwan, where the plot has been mangled -- and garbled -- beyond recognition.