Agatha Christie's Miss Marple - Collection 1

Starring:Joan Hickson, Donald Pleasence, Adrian Lukis, Sophie Ward, T.P. McKenna, Michael Feast, Sheila Ruskin, Frank Middlemass, Robert Swan, Sue Lloyd, Barbara Barnes (II), Stephen Bent, Joseph Mydell, Valerie Buchanan, Isabelle Lucas, Shaughan Seymour, T.R. Bowen, James Curran, Gregory Munroe
Director: Christopher Petit, Norman Stone, Martyn Friend
Studio: A&E Home Video
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Product Description
Agatha Christie's most popular character--prim and proper Miss Jane Marple--is adored worldwide by mystery fans for her razor-sharp mind, intuitive understanding of criminal behavior and trademark knitting needles. A&E Home Video proudly presents the DVD premiere of four feature-length mysteries from the BBC's beloved MISS MARPLE series. Starring the unwavering Joan Hickson as Miss Marple, these films present hours of great whodunits for all ages!A CARIBBEAN MYSTERY: In a tropical paradise, Miss Marple lines up the weird and wonderful guests of the Golden Palm Hotel to solve a murder, then another and another THE MIRROR CRACKED FROM SIDE TO SIDE: Excitement abounds at the little village of St. Mary Mead when an American movie star arrives to shoot a new film. But when a poisoned cocktail revises the script, Miss Marple must quickly uncover hidden jealousies before the assailant acts again.SLEEPING MURDER: Giles and Gwenda Reed move into a dream house only to be haunted by visions of a dead body. To put the nightmares to rest, Miss Marple will have to awaken a killer.4:50 FROM PADDINGTON: A murder witnessed in a few brief seconds aboard a passing train lures Miss Marple into a web of family intrigue.

Format: DVD MOVIE
Amazon.com
One of Agatha Christie's most popular characters, the beloved Miss Marple, is brought to life in these classic BBC and A&E Home Video mysteries. Included in the boxed set are 4:50 from Paddington, Sleeping Murder, The Mirror Cracked from Side to Side, and A Caribbean Mystery. The delightful Joan Hickson is always entertaining as the prim and proper Miss Marple, complete with her elderly woman charm and perpetually clicking knitting needles.

Product Description

Agatha Christie's most popular character--prim and proper Miss Jane Marple--is adored worldwide by mystery fans for her razor-sharp mind, intuitive understanding of criminal behavior and trademark knitting needles. A&E Home Video proudly presents the DVD premiere of four feature-length mysteries from the BBC's beloved MISS MARPLE series. Starring the unwavering Joan Hickson as Miss Marple, these films present hours of great whodunits for all ages!A CARIBBEAN MYSTERY: In a tropical paradise, Miss Marple lines up the weird and wonderful guests of the Golden Palm Hotel to solve a murder, then another and another THE MIRROR CRACKED FROM SIDE TO SIDE: Excitement abounds at the little village of St. Mary Mead when an American movie star arrives to shoot a new film. But when a poisoned cocktail revises the script, Miss Marple must quickly uncover hidden jealousies before the assailant acts again.SLEEPING MURDER: Giles and Gwenda Reed move into a dream house only to be haunted by visions of a dead body. To put the nightmares to rest, Miss Marple will have to awaken a killer.4:50 FROM PADDINGTON: A murder witnessed in a few brief seconds aboard a passing train lures Miss Marple into a web of family intrigue.

Format: DVD MOVIE

Amazon.com

One of Agatha Christie's most popular characters, the beloved Miss Marple, is brought to life in these classic BBC and A&E Home Video mysteries. Included in the boxed set are 4:50 from Paddington, Sleeping Murder, The Mirror Cracked from Side to Side, and A Caribbean Mystery. The delightful Joan Hickson is always entertaining as the prim and proper Miss Marple, complete with her elderly woman charm and perpetually clicking knitting needles.

In 4:50 from Paddington, Miss Marple's good friend Elspeth McGillicuddy witnesses a man strangle a woman on a passing train, and it's up to Miss Marple to uncover the mystery. In Sleeping Murder, the Reeds move into their dream house, where Mrs. Reed is plagued by the vision of a body in the hall. In turn they call upon Miss Marple to help them uncover this strange phenomenon. When the American movie star Marina Gregg in The Mirror Cracked from Side to Side is almost murdered while filming her new picture, she's fortunate to have the help of Miss Marple to sniff out the evil culprit. A Caribbean Mystery has Miss Marple, who's in need of rest and relaxation, deciding to holiday in the West Indies. Her holiday soon turns into a working vacation when it's time for her to gather the usual suspects. This boxed set is a must-have for the video libraries of all whodunit enthusiasts and Miss Marple admirers. --Samantha Allen Storey

Customer Reviews:

UNBOX is unreliable and unsatisfactory.......2007-02-10

Enter commentI rented Miss M along with 2 other videos a week ago. I WAS able to download one purchase but UNABLE to download this & 1 other. I have emailed Amazon 3 times. The first 2 times I received replies re: ways to fix the problem so that I might receive the others. (I had no problem downloading the 1st purchase on the same computer with same settings.) The 3rd email I sent several days ago & have received no response. I have requested a credit to no avail. The UNBOX is UNSATISFACTORY

Outstanding.......2007-01-21

I bought this for my mother for Christmas. She loved it. Joan Hickson, IS Miss Marple. Very well done.

One of My Favorites.......2005-08-25

I agree with Miss Christie's choice for Miss Marple, actor Jane Hickson.

While I feel more than happy..........2005-06-14

...with more recent versions of Miss Marple, it is with resounding strength that I say that the late Joan Hickson was the definitive Marple. Understated, plodding and unassumming yet ultimately razor sharp, insightful and with a clarity of thought that is breathtaking. Christie herself loved Hickson and if you like the stories represented in a pure form then these are the selections for you. Cracking stuff and highly engaging, the dawning realisation of crimes unravelled always leaves one astounded and amazed.

The BEST Marple --Image Quality is FINE - MYSTERY SOLVED!!.......2005-04-27

Joan Hickson gives THE definitive portrayal of Miss Marple in this series ... what more can one say?

The image quality of this series is excellent. The previous reviewer who cites image problems must have
received a defective disc set or have TV problems. (Likely, the contrast is set way too high
on his TV, a common problem). After receiving my DVDs I specifically searched the
"At Bertram's Hotel" episode for the "dark" problems he cites, and could find NO such problems at all. The
image quality is beautiful.

It is true that in the "Bertram's" episode there are some warm color effects, but those are purposefully done as
part of the cinematography, and none of them are "dark" anyway. The only "dark" scenes are night scenes
which are supposed to be dark. I could find no place at which the image was difficult to discern, or at
which there was any technical problem.

Technical note-- Being a filmmaker myself, I will add this technical note, in layman's terms: This series was made in the 1980s (for the most part), and
during that time it was still customary to edit filmed programs on *film* (not video). That is, the camera negative was actually edited, and a positive film *print* was made from that. This positive film print was then transferred to video for broadcast transmission.

Today, however, the process is different. Today, the camera negative itself is first transferred to video, and then
the program is edited using that *video*. Once edited, a digital master is made, **skipping entirely the
positive print stage**. This results in the slightly (and I emphasize SLIGHTLY) sharper image of modern
programs, and the modern "look" that viewers have come to expect out of today's programs.

However, it does NOT mean that anything was "wrong" with the way they did things in the 80s. It just results
in a different "look" or perhaps "feel" to the image. Today, post production processes have evolved to the point where it is no longer necessary to make a
positive print, thus the video comes straight off of the negative, and is just a bit sharper for that reason.

For a series that was produced on 16mm during the 1980s, these Hickson Marple shows look just fine, and are comparable (image-wise) with any other prime time 16mm material from that period.

In short, there is nothing wrong with the image quality on these DVD sets.

The newer Geraldine McEwen series is (as one would expect) transferred straight off of the camera negative,
and therefore looks more "modern". However, the McEwen series just does not hold a candle to the writing, production, and performances in the classic Joan Hickson programs.

By all means, grab these Hickson programs while you can!

Ms. Hickson continues to hold top honors as THE definitive filmic Miss Marple.

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