Agatha Christie's Miss Marple: A Caribbean Mystery (1989) (TV)

Director:

Christopher Petit

Writer:

T.R. Bowen (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

25 December 1989 (UK)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Plot:

While on vacation at a resort hotel in the West Indies, Miss Marple correctly suspects that the apparently natural death of a retired British major is actually the work of a murderer planning yet another killing.

Plot Keywords:

Miss Marple | Maid | Resort | Hotel | Murder

Cast

Joan Hickson	...	Miss Marple
Donald Pleasence	...	Jason Rafiel
Adrian Lukis	...	Tim Kendal
Sophie Ward	...	Molly Kendal
T.P. McKenna	...	Dr. Grahame
Michael Feast	...	Edward Hillingdon
Sheila Ruskin	...	Evelyn Hillingdon
Frank Middlemass	...	Major Palgrave
Robert Swann	...	Greg Dyson (as Robert Swan)
Sue Lloyd	...	Lucky Dyson
Barbara Barnes	...	Esther Walters
Stephen Bent	...	Jackson
Joseph Mydell	...	Inspector Weston
Valerie Buchanan	...	Victoria
Isabelle Lucas	...	Aunty Johnson
Shaughan Seymour	...	Napier
Gregory Munroe	...	Pathologist
T.R. Bowen	...	Raymond West (as Trevor Bowen)
James Curran	...	Piers Musgrave

Directed by
Christopher Petit

Writing credits
T.R. Bowen		(screenplay)
Agatha Christie		(novel) uncredited

Produced by
George Gallaccio	....	producer

Original Music by
Ken Howard

Cinematography by
John Walker		(photography)

Film Editing by
Bernard Ashby
Paul Garrick

Production Design by
Don Giles		(designer)

Costume Design by
Colin Lavers

Makeup Department
Vivien Riley	....	makeup designer
Sharleen Rassi	....	key hair stylist (uncredited)

Production Management
David Mason	....	production manager

Art Department
Linda Sherwood-Page	....	graphic designer
Francis Smith	....	properties buyer
Paul Birkbeck	....	title illustrator (uncredited)

Sound Department
Malcolm Campbell	....	film recordist
John Hale	....	dubbing mixer
Stephen Young	....	dubbing editor

Camera and Electrical Department
Pat Deveney	....	gaffer electrician
David Hall	....	second assistant camera (uncredited)

Music Department
John Altman	....	musical director
Alan Blaikley	....	composer: title music
Ken Howard	....	composer: incidental music
Ken Howard	....	composer: title music

Other crew
Phil Baggarley	....	supervisor operatives
Pat Bryan	....	production coordinator
Murray Carrad	....	finance assistant
Heidi Easton	....	assistant floor manager
Juley Harding	....	production assistant
Julian Hearne	....	assistant floor manager
Fiona B. McTavish	....	production associate
Alison Passey	....	production secretary
Errol Rollins	....	liaison: Barbados

Production Companies

• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) (as A BBC tv production)
• A&E Television Networks (in assocation with) (as The Arts and Entertainment Network U.S.A.)
• 7 Network (in assocation with) (as Network 7 Australia)

Distributors

• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) (1989) (UK) (TV) (original airing)
• A&E Home Video (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• A&E Home Video (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• A&E Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• A&E Television Networks (19??) (USA) (TV)
• Just Entertainment (2004) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Malavasi Editore
• Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) (199?) (Germany) (TV) (as N3) (as "Karibische Affaire")
• TM 3 (199?) (Germany) (TV) (as "Miss Marple: Karibische Affaire")

Also Known As:

Runtime:

USA:104 min (DVD)

Country:

UK | USA | Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono | Stereo

Certification:

Australia:PG | UK:PG (video rating) (1998)

Filming Locations:

Barbados

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Quotes:

Jason Rafiel:I had to think about this quite a bit before mentioning it to you.
Inspector Weston:And why is that, Mr. Rafael?
Jason Rafiel:It wasn't my idea, and the person who had it - the idea, I mean - is a little old lady who knits and wears lace. She also has a mind like a bacon slicer.
Inspector Weston:Why didn't she come to me herself?
Jason Rafiel:She didn't think you'd take her seriously.
Inspector Weston:I might have done.
Jason Rafiel:I doubt it. It's a very good disguise. She even had me fooled for a minute.
[He laughs]
Inspector Weston:Better have her name for the record.
Jason Rafiel:Miss Marple.
[...]

Has color and some spark, but not strong enough in the build

The BBC Marple is often considered as the best version but at the same time it is hard not to take as a reaction to the ITV versions so much as it is about the BBC one in particular. Personally I often find that its rather dry and crisp approach is both its strength and its undoing as it provides a really good base but then seems to hamper the build up and development of the mystery. In this case the film appears to be trying to do something a bit different and, reading around, I found that it was originally screened as a Christmas special, with a larger budget allowing it a move away from the UK.

This move allows for a bit more color in the production, and I mean that in several ways as of course the location is livelier but also the cast features characters that befit the exotic location. This location is used reasonably well against the character of Marple, who continues to be a bit dry and "tut tut" in her approach, although in this case it is played for the contrast. This works for a while but then the film settles into the telling and the setup works well, providing a small group that it must have been, an interesting back-story for Marple to uncover and a colorful group of characters. For the most part this base makes the film work but I thought the solution as always came too quickly and without much in the way of help for the viewer, it is something I watched than something I was engaged – particularly as it got closer to the end.

The performances and characters are solid though. Hickson plays to what she knows and I quite liked her out of her usual setting. The supporting cast is solid but owe a massive debt to Pleasence, who is fun and sparky in a supporting role. The locations are reasonably good but it does feel rather sanitized in terms of accents, characters and places – the action doesn't really leave the resort and, when it does, it doesn't seem to go to anywhere that isn't equally nice and well spoken.

Anyway, despite the usual problems, this is a solid Marple with a decent plot, good characters and a nice line in color and fun through it. Not enough to win over those that aren't fans of the approach (and an unlikely festive "treat") but still solid despite not taking the viewer with it at the end.