I remember seeing this adaptation many years ago and remembered it as being rather scary, so recently I borrowed a taped version to verify my memory. Being an adept Agatha Christie fan and owning almost all her novels, this film sets the mood well of an old-fashioned quaint mystery, like most of the Joan Hickson series. I have seen both Margaret Rutherford and Geraldine McEwan as Miss Marple and undoubtedly Hickson exceeds them. In The Moving Finger, Miss Marple does not play a huge role and it is perhaps not the most clever or suspenseful of her cases. Whilst it moves at a slow pace, it does present realistic reactions to the murders. The film sets the scene well in the English countryside with stereotypical characters. The outfits in the Geraldine McEwan adaptations are a bit ambitious and too glamorous for quiet English settings, whereas they are more accurate in this with garments of tweed and natural hairstyles. The casting is suitable as it did not contain any famous movie stars (eg. Joanna Lumley in the recent 'Body in the Library') giving the film its authentic touch. For me, the most interesting and distinctive parts of the film were the murders. Although not violent, the body of Beatrice in the cupboard used to haunt me and when I re-watched the film it still did. I did notice Mrs Symmington's body twitching as though she were still breathing but this did not subtract from the brilliance of the acting. Elizabeth Counsell portrays a very loath-able character, providing a motive for any of the characters due to sheer hatred. Despite this, the murderer appeared rather obvious in my opinion, but that may be because I have read the book. Some may be disappointed at the very basic solution. Instead of calling the characters into the room and giving a fifteen minute monologue (with the help of flashbacks), here Joan Hickson explains it briefly in a few minutes with little ingenuity. Nevertheless, this film will impress those looking for a simple straightforward murder mystery because it has all the basic ingredients - clues, suspects, red herrings (such as the comment that the sender of the poison-pen letters is a woman) and the murderer caught trying to kill at the end. Overall this adaptation is hard to find but it is worth it. It is not too long and provides for a pleasurable night (just beware of Beatrice in the cupboard soon after the first murder, which may give nightmares). 'The Moving Finger' is not the most thrilling or clever Agatha Christie film but it is still well done.
Review of Miss Marple: The Moving Finger
