Miss Marple: At Bertram's Hotel

It is not easy comparing movies to books, especially Agatha Christie's novels. However, this one has the feel and just the right actors. There is great attention to detail.

If you have the nagging feeling that you saw Chief Inspector Fred Davy (George Baker) before it may be that he has been in at least 100 movies and shows, recently as Detective Chief Inspector Wexford in Ruth Rendell Mysteries.

Bertram's Hotel is just how Jane remembered it as a child. She soon concludes that it is too good to be true. The Chief Inspector agrees. This film has several overlying plots. However, just being in the hotel will distract you from them.

So get out your muffins, sit up in bed and watch "At Bertram's Hotel."

I haven't read the book for a long time, but I do remember finding it rather slow and somewhat unexciting. Maybe I am being unfair because I remembered getting chills from reading A Murder is Announced and Sleeping Murder, so maybe my expectations of the book were a little too high. This adaptation I think manages to be better than the book, and actually respects it while forgivably condensing it. Some parts are a little slow and the first twenty minutes take a bit of time to get going, but the acting and the filming compensated hugely. Bertram's Hotel is very well made, with beautiful photography, crisp editing and a very nice looking hotel. Above this the directing is detailed and the scripting is intelligent. Joan Hickson is once again wonderful as Miss Marple, and while starting off a little dull George Baker is amusing as Inspector Davy. Caroline Blakiston is delightful as Bess Sedgewick, while Helena Michell is suitably cold as Elvira and Joan Greenwood effective as Selina. Overall, a superior adaptation, that is well made and well performed. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Miss Marple checks into lavish London hotel, 'Bertam's,' a place she stayed as a young girl. However, beneath the facade, Bertram's isn't all it appears, it's the setting for deception, intrigue and murder.

It's such a faithful and warm production. When winter breaks and the nights draw in, I can think of nothing nicer than putting on the fire, pouring a brandy, and curling up to watch Bertram's.

I will say that some elements of the story are a little far-fetched and require a stretch of the imagination, such as some of the robberies, but the production is so velvety that I didn't even give them a second thought.

Caroline Blakiston deserves a huge level of applause for bringing the character of Bess Sedgwick to life. When you read the book, she is the standout character, the interest and focus; Caroline makes her seem wealthy, edgy, and wild. To see what I mean, please check Polly Walker's performance in the poor remake. She is a great actress but doesn't bring the character to life. 'Bigamy, trigamy, what's the difference, scotch?'

Bertram's itself looks so believable. When I read the book, this is exactly how I picture it: sleepy, subtly lavish, and full of rich and retired gentlefolk, eccentric in their ways and style, suitably conservative in their appearance.

The main reason that Bess works so well, is that she stands out, she's so stylish, so dynamic, she wears some stunning clothes, that outfit she wears at the end is beautiful. The music as always is spot on, melodic and non obtrusive.

I've commented before on Hickson's superior performances, so I won't bore you with more comments, however, her scenes with Blakiston and Greenwood are tremendous. I was so sad to see Lady Selina leaving the hotel.

The ending is wonderfully done, so exciting, dare I sat it manages to out-do even the final few pages of the book.

10/10.

Very faithful to the book and a joy to watch. Aspects of the plot of "At Bertram's Hotel" admittedly are far-fetched, but the theme and setting are among Christie's best. We also see a highly active and reflective Miss Marple, functioning as a superb amateur detective and not just dithering. Hickson is great as always, and the supporting cast is uniformly good, including a sadly aged but still delicious Joan Greenwood in one of her last performances, Carolina Blakiston as the madcap aristocrat Lady Selina Blakiston, Helena Mitchell as her daughter Elvira and George Baker as a marvelous Chief Inspector Fred Davy (one of Christie's best policemen). A wonderful show, one deserving of a far better transfer than the one avaailable in America currently.

From 1984 thru 1992, the delightful British actress Joan Hickson took on the role of Agatha Christie's amateur detective, the beloved Miss Marple, and made a dozen made-for-TV British movies. Every entry in this golden dozen has its own particular delights, but "At Bertram's Hotel" towers above them all and is by far the best of this 24-hour treat (each film runs a bit under two hours, and each one could easily have been given a theatrical release). The fact that "At Bertram's Hotel" rises above all the others is indeed peculiar, in that it was one of Ms. Christie's final books, and the book is--to put it bluntly--a deadly bore. In contrast, the movie is a luscious, witty, suspenseful treat. Credit is due to Jill Hyem, who wrote the cunning script, shrewdly discarding the flotsam of the novel and embellishing its virtues; Mary McMurray's delectable direction; John Walker's gorgeous burnished cinematography of Production Designer Paul Munting's luxurious sets. And, of course, Joan Hickson's crafty portrayal of the elderly spinster Miss Marple, abetted by a first-rate cast (including Joan Greenwood in one of her last performances). There have been three actresses I know of who have essayed the role of Miss Marple: the full-sized, hilarious Margaret Rutherford in 4 films released in the early 1960s (if you've never seen these jewels or Ms. Rutherford's glorious jowls, check TCM's listings and tape them; you'll cherish them forever); Angela Lansbury in the 1980 theatrical release "The Mirror Cracked," yet another treat co-starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, Tony Curtis and the ravishing Kim Novak (I've always considered this film as Ms. Lansbury's dress rehearsal for her forthcoming TV-series as Jessica Fletcher in "Murder, She Wrote"); and then this sunburst of expensively mounted TV productions from 1984-1992. Most critics prefer Miss Hickson's interpretation of the role, feeling she was the perfect embodiment of the Miss Marple of Ms. Christie's creation--a prim, prissy, nosey (but utterly humorless) spinster. To me, all three actresses are equally amazing, each making the role her own (though I do have a soft spot for the rambunctuous, sheer hilarity the indomitable Margaret Rutherford brought to the role). Comparisons aside, "At Bertram's Hotel" is probably the slyest and most enjoyable of ALL the Miss Marple films. Set at an exclusive hotel, the plot twists and turns as, first of all, the doorman is murdered; secondly, the elderly vicar who has resided at the opulent establishment mysteriously vanishes; and, thirdly, what do these have in common with a series of jewel robberies that have been going on for several months? Don't drive yourself crazy trying to figure things out. The sprightly 80-year-old (at the time of filming) Miss Hickson will do the job for you; and watching her in action, in lavish settings peopled with a superb cast of British actors, is a memorable treat the likes of which we'll probably never see again. (Incidentally, Ms. Hickson had a supporting role in the first Margaret Rutherford/Miss Marple outing, the outrageously funny and suspenseful "Murder, She Said." At the time, who would have guessed . ..