Agatha Christie's Miss Marple Movie Collection (DVD, 2006, 4-Disc Set)

As long time fans of Agatha Christie, we was excited to see that the 4 original Miss Marple movies made back in the early 1960's were finally available on DVD. Our 20 plus year old VHS copies of these movies were showing their age from all the years of viewing. The movies are in glorious black and white, just the way traditional British murder mysteries should be viewed. Dame Margaret Rutherford is perfect in the role of Miss Marple. She was already in her 70's at the time and brings her long time acting skills to the screen. Continuous roles of Jim Stringer (played by her real life husband, Stringer Davis) and Inspector Craddock (played by Australian actor, Charles Tingwell) brings enjoyable wit and humor to each of the movies.

We find these movies light hearted and extremely entertaining, great for watching over and over again. However, for the die hard Agatha Christie fans, looking for precise interpretations of the original books, these may not be the movies for them. Adapting books into screen plays is always challenging, but these movies are very loosely based indeed. “Murder at The Gallop” is based on the Poirot novel, “After The Funeral” and “Murder Most Foul” is based on another Poirot novel “Mrs. McGinty’s Dead”. “Murder Ahoy” was an original screenplay, not based on any specific Christie novel, although it does include references and plots from her works.

A bit of ironic trivia is that Joan Hickson, who played Miss Marple in the long running BBC TV series was also in the movie “Murder She Said” as Mrs. Kidder, the housekeeper.

The quality of the DVD set is excellent and we like the fact that each is individually packaged in it’s own case. However, it would have been nice to have had some special features included like we see in many of the DVD’s today. Bios on Agatha Christie, director George Pollock, and the actors would have been enjoyable. Robert Morley did an excellent performance in “Murder At The Gallop” and Lionel Jeffries was outstanding as the ship’s captain in “Murder Ahoy”.

Our only disappointment is that only 4 of these old Miss Marple movies were made. They are enjoyment at it’s best.

Like many, I started watching Agatha Christie's movies on television with Miss Joan Hickson playing Miss Marple and David Suchet and Peter Ustinov playing Hercule Poirot. Later, I started reading Agatha Christies books (about two dozen so far) and found another perspective to the characters. I had seen this set in catalogs before but i never ordered it. I later found it on Ebay and decided to finally buy it. Margaret Rutherford gives a slightly comical air to Miss Marple in contrast to the more serious portrayal by Joan Hickson. The set contains four episodes one of which has a cameo role by Joan Hickson. An interesting trend followed later by David Suchet playing Inspector Japp to Peter Ustinov's Poirot. Agatha Christie fans should surely appreciate Margaret Rutherford's performances as Miss Jane Marple in this early 1960's set.

I am an Old Movie Buff. I love the old black and white (who-done-it) movies. Besides reading the books I like viewing the movies too! Agatha Christie's movies and books were the next step for me from Nancy Drew to Charlie Chan to The Thin Man. And to find that Miss Marple was available on DVD was a very exciting deal. Especially the price and how quickly I received it. Plus was easier to find thru Ebay than any where else. Now with this purchase I can take my time and watch them at my own convience and share with other family and friends who enjoy the old movies at home. Will shop again thru Ebay.

I suppose that I am a little biased when it comes to this movie collection, as I knew that I would love it even before I paid for it. I can remember watching these movie classics years ago and I have taken every opportunity since to enjoy them again.

Margaret Rutherford is terrific as Miss Marple and the fact that they are in black and white adds to the atmosphere. It could be said that these hark back to a simpler time when serious crime was something of a rarity and the village policeman still walked the beat and knew everyone.

Personally, I can't think of a better way of enjoying a rainy afternoon than sitting down with a cup of tea and indulging in a little nostalgia.

These movies would be forgettable where it not for Margaret Rutherford and her wonderful interpretation of Miss Marple. Filmed in the 60's in black and white and probably a low budget, how insightful and fortunate they were to have Miss Rutherford, a superb comic and actress, in the part. These films are English classics and will appeal to young and old viewers alike, on many levels. A must see for Christie and Rutherford fans.