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Marple: The Body in the Library (2004) (TV)
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Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
12 December 2004 (USA) morePlot:
A young woman's corpse is dumped in the library of Gossington Hall, home of Jane Marple's friend Dolly Bantry and her husband Arthur... more | add synopsisPlot Keywords:
Awards:
Nominated for Primetime Emmy. Another 2 nominations moreNewsDesk:
Agatha Christie's Marple: Series 4 - DVD Review(From Monsters and Critics. 14 July 2009, 11:12 AM, PDT)
User Comments:
Intriguing, handsomely produced, but too many alterations... moreCast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Geraldine McEwan | ... | Miss Jane Marple | |
| Ian Richardson | ... | Conway Jefferson | |
| Tara Fitzgerald | ... | Adelaide Jefferson | |
| Jamie Theakston | ... | Mark Gaskell | |
| Giles Oldershaw | ... | Edwards | |
| Florence Hoath | ... | Pamela Reeves | |
| Joanna Lumley | ... | Dolly Bantry | |
| James Fox | ... | Colonel Arthur Bantry | |
| Simon Callow | ... | Colonel Terence Melchett | |
| Ben Miller | ... | Basil Blake | |
| Emma Cooke | ... | Dinah Lee | |
| Robin Soans | ... | Dr. Haydock | |
| Bruce Mackinnon | ... | Scamper (as Bruce MacKinnon) | |
| Jack Davenport | ... | Superintendent Harper | |
| Mary Stockley | ... | Josie Turner |
Additional Details
Also Known As:
Agatha Christie's Marple (UK)Agatha Christie's Marple: The Body in the Library (UK) (complete title)
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Add content advisory for parentsRuntime:
94 minLanguage:
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StereoFun Stuff
Trivia:
The producers of this series of Miss Marple TV dramas have set her home village of St Mary Mead in Oxfordshire. From clues given in the Agatha Christie books, if a real county was guessed at, Hampshire would be the likely location for St Mary Mead. moreFAQ
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If the alterations to Agatha Christie's novel were only minor in nature, much of the criticism leveled at THE BODY IN THE LIBRARY would vanish, for it's a handsomely produced version of the story starring GERALDINE McEWAN as the inquisitive Miss Jane Marple.
At least for most of the running time, this sticks pretty closely to the Christie tale about the body of a young girl being found in Colonel Bantry's (JAMES FOX) library, a woman who turns out to be a dancer from a high class hotel but with no obvious attachment to the Bantry household. Dolly Bantry (JOANNA LUMLEY), the colonel's daughter, invites Jane to play sleuth and investigate the case with her.
It's another case where nothing is what it seems when the convoluted plot is finally unraveled and this is where the scriptwriters got into trouble by applying a twist to the identity of a murderous couple that was not present in the book. However, even with this flaw, the story makes a diverting viewing experience.
Not that there aren't other flaws. The acting is all a little over the top, including such seasoned performers as SIMON CALLOW and JAMES FOX, while JACK DAVENPORT does an interesting job as Superintendent Harper. Davenport is an actor who was so brilliant in THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY.
No expense has been spared to give the production the look of an expensive movie and updating the story to the '50s does no real harm (the novel was written in the early '40s).
I'm not a fan of GERALDINE McEWAN's interpretation of Miss Marple, too light-headed and never giving the appearance of the deep thinking that supposedly goes on below the surface.
Summing up: Not as bad as some of the comments insist, and certainly worth watching for the cast alone.