Marple: By the Pricking of My Thumbs (2006) (TV)

Director:

Peter Medak

Writers:

Stewart Harcourt (screenplay) and
Agatha Christie (novel)

Release Date:

19 February 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Plot:

Miss Marple joins forces with Tommy and Tuppence Beresford to find the murderer of Tommy's Aunt Ada.

Plot Keywords:

Miss Marple | Tommy And Tuppence | Vicar | Murder | Syringe

Cast

Geraldine McEwan	...	Miss Jane Marple
Chloe Pennington	...	Young Hannah
Oliver Jordan	...	Young Ethan
Anthony Andrews	...	Tommy Beresford
Greta Scacchi	...	Tuppence Beresford
Clare Holman	...	Miss Packard
Miriam Karlin	...	Marjorie Moody
June Whitfield	...	Mrs. Lancaster
Claire Bloom	...	Aunt Ada
Steven Berkoff	...	Freddie Eccles
Patrick Barlow	...	Mr. Timothy
O.T. Fagbenle	...	Chris Murphy (as O-T Fagbenle)
Jody Halse	...	Amos Perry
Josie Lawrence	...	Hannah Beresford
Michael Maloney	...	Dr. Joshua Waters

Also Known As:

Agatha Christie - Marple: By the Pricking of My Thumbs (Australia) (DVD title)

Runtime:

USA:102 min | Brazil:93 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Australia:PG

Company:

Agatha Christie

Trivia:

Although the date of is not made clear, it appears to be set in the Post-War late 40s or early 50s. The movie version of Jane Eyre (1944) that it refers to was made during the war in 1944, so although the poster art from the film appears similar to the Robert Stevenson film, it doesn't mention either Joan Fontaine or Orson Welles, who starred in the film. The part of Jane's friend, who dies in the film, was originally played by Elizabeth Taylor, although she dies from pneumonia, not leukemia, as stated in "By the Pricking of My Thumbs."

Goofs:

Anachronisms: This episode is set somewhere in the late 40s, early 50s (Polo mints were first made in 1948). Miss Marple requests the taxi driver to take them to "the train station". The expression "train station" has only been in common use in the last few years, it's certain Miss Marple would have said "railway station".

Quotes:

Septimus Bligh: Why do you drink?
Tuppence Beresford: Why do you?
Septimus Bligh: [Bitterly] Because life is empty of meaning.

Movie Connections:

Version of Mon petit doigt m'a dit... (2005)

Most disappointing

Even my wife was disappointed, which is saying something. Agatha Christie could not be classified among the best authors but she could put together an entertaining and well constructed mystery story. To adapt her books to film obviously requires some modifications and we can tolerate even mixing Jane Marple and Tuppence. But many changes made for this film were just unnecessarily destructive of the Christie characters. To have Tuppence as a plonk sponge and Tommy represented as arrogant and stupid are totally unacceptable to Christie fans. Tommy barges in to a lawyer's office making threats of prosecution before the poor guy could open his mouth, and simply to obtain an address. This is just crazy. I couldn't believe that this could be put in a serious film. Beyond that, the vicar was totally unbelievable. In reality he would not have lasted two weeks in a parish. This shows to me that the screenwriter is simply out of touch with the real world.

Geraldine McEwan is a delightful actress, as are many of the others actors who have appeared in the many enjoyable English films that we love so much. We have come to regard the English film industry as a paragon of top quality film entertainment (well, mostly anyway). It is a crying shame to see this sort of trash being released with these excellent actors playing parts in it. To the sponsors of these films, can we urge you please to be a bit more proactive in quality control.

Ken Sarkies, Australia