Miss Marple: 4.50 from Paddington

Many actresses in the twilight of their careers have taken on the role of Miss Marple, including Margaret Rutherford, Helen Hayes and the seemingly immortal Angela Landsbury. However, I believe the one actress whose claim to being closest to Christie's original vision was Joan Hickson. Joan Hickson in the 1980's literally was Miss Marple, not unlike Vivian Leigh who was Scarlett O'Hara. These two actresses were nearly born to play these roles, and whenever I read a Marple mystery, I imagine the likes of Hickson. Marple was probably Christie's most interesting creation, simmultaneously polite and sweet yet irritating and needling. She was always helping out on cases where Scotland Yard felt it was none of her business, which makes her quite an enigma. The little old spinster with the mind of an Einstein, Marple is the female equivalent of Sherlock Holmes.

These BBC productions are still some of the best adaptations of the Miss Marple cases written by Agatha Christie. Some viewers have criticized them for being rather plodding and slow. Ever read a Christie novel? These books were written deliberately in a rather slow and detailed manner because they were meant as literary puzzles. Christie's novels were not so much about insight into the human condition, such as in the work of P.D. James. Rather, Christie's books were specifically designed to offer the reader all the facts of the case, and the reader could try to solve the puzzle before the solution is revealed at the end.

"4:50 from Paddington" involves a friend of Miss Marple, Mrs McGillicuddy, who is traveling on a train from Paddington. At one point, her train passes another going the other direction. For a split second, she sees a murder being committed on the other train before it disappears. McGillicuddy just happens to be on her way to Miss Marple's hometown, St. Mary Mead. Mrs McGillicuddy visits Miss Marple and describes what she saw. While there have been no reports of any murder, Miss Marple believes her, begins to investigate, and pieces together the case.

One of the best Joan Hickson performances, and one of the better Miss Marple mysteries in general. If you've not seen Hickson as Marple, you have yet to see Miss Jane Marple in the flesh. I also have to give honorable mention to the sweet music which opens and closes these Marple mysteries. The oboe melody seems to be a perfect musical portrayal of one of the most memorable characters in the Mystery genre.

A friend of Miss Marple's, Mrs. McGillicuddy, is travelling on the 4.50 from Paddington when she sees a man strangling a woman on a neighbouring train. The police turn up nothing and don't believe her but Miss Marple does. She believes the answer to the mystery lies at nearby Rutherford Hall. She enlists the help of her resourceful, energetic niece Lucy Eyelesbarrow, who investigates Rutherford Hall by working there as a housekeeper.

A great instalment of the Miss Marple series. A return to the earlier episodes in that the characters and the character-based sub-plots are much more interesting making this episode very engaging.

The mystery is excellent too: we initially don't even have a body! Slowly things are revealed before we finally have our murderer.

Quite the mystery.

Elspeth McGillicuddy is taking the 4:50 from Paddington (a train) to visit a friend and falls asleep. She awakens to see another train on a set of tracks parallel to hers. Suddenly, a window shade zips up and Mrs. McGillicuddy sees a woman being strangled by a man whose back is to her. The train moves on and Mrs. McGillicuddy is left is significant distress. The person she was visiting? Miss Marple, of course. And we're off to the races.

Miss Marple's investigations bring her to the doorstep of the eccentric Crackenthorpe family and she hires a formidable assistant in the guise of the lovely and efficient Lucy Eyelesbarrow (Jill Meager) who infiltrates the household in the guise of a housekeeper. She becomes Miss Marple's eyes and ears.

It's arguably one of the best of the Marple mysteries. In part because when I read the book, I was completely surprised by who the murderer was (some excellent literary misdirection here) but also because the story contains a series of characters who are, for the most part, fairly sympathetic (unlike the detestable Fortescues in "Pocketful of Rye"). And the hint of romance between Lucy and one of the suspects is a nice addition.

Miss Marple's best friend, Elspeth McGillicuddy (Mona Bruce), witnesses a man strangling a woman on a passing train. When nobody believes her, Miss Marple (Joan Hickson), conducts her own investigation in order to bring the culprit to justice.

Carefully constructed adaptation of Agatha Christie's 1957 mystery of the same name. It was filmed twenty-seven years earlier as MURDER SHE SAID (1962) with Margaret Rutherford playing Miss Marple. Interestingly Joan Hickson appeared in the latter film as the Crackenthorpe's housekeeper Mrs Kidder. Rutherford wasn't exactly faithful to Christie's original character, but she made the part entirely her own and she was always a joy to watch. Hickson makes a convincing Miss Marple and she is more to the letter of the book than Rutherford, but alongside each other they are still the best two actresses to have played the character. This film moves at a good pace and Hickson is most ably assisted by a first rate supporting cast including Maurice Denham as Luther Crackenthorpe, Joanna David as Emma Crackenthorpe, Jill Meager as Lucy Eyelesbarrow and John Hallam as Cedric Crackenthorpe. The only slight weakness in the film is that it sometimes tends towards the stodginess of an old drawing room play, which was quite common with so many of the BBC's dramas at this time. Still there is a good feeling for period detail and this is streets ahead of ITV's latest attempt to bring Miss Marple to television. See Agatha Christie's Miss Marple: The Body In The Library (2004).

I really like the book, it is very clever and the characters are memorable, and as far as the Geraldine McEwan while not perfect by all means was one of the better ones, at least in my opinion. This version is superior though, and is very well done not only as an adaptation but on its own merits. I will say my only real problem with this film was the pacing. While not as sluggish as They Do it With Mirrors, for me this is one of the slower moving Hickson-Marple adaptations. However, so much compensates. 4:50 From Paddington is rather slow and perhaps a tad too long as well, but it still has the clever story and memorable characters. As usual, the production values are wonderful, and the music is very atmospheric here. The dialogue is well written, the story is easy to follow and I loved the build-up to the finding of the body which was genuinely creepy. The direction is solid and the cast is excellent. Miss Marple doesn't have as much to do here, but Joan Hickson still plays her marvellously, and I was very impressed with Joanna David. Overall, while not a favourite I do recommend 4:50 From Paddington. 8/10 Bethany Cox