Assassinato na Casa do Pastor

"Murder at the Vicarage" is another of the Geraldine McEwan Miss Marple mysteries. These films have several things in common: 1) they are beautifully produced, with great attention paid to photography, costumes, etc.; 2) they cast very good actors; 3) they don't pay a heck of a lot of attention to the original novel.

As I've said a million times previously, it's been ages since I've read these books, so the details are lost on me. I do know one thing: Agatha Christie never gave Jane Marple a past with a married soldier. There is a reference to someone named Lionel in the books and apparently Mummy put a stop to it. We can assume, I think, that Jane Marple had suitors, the most serious of which was Lionel, but she never had an affair with a married soldier. It just shows how little the writers know about such a famous character.

Everyone goes on and on about Joan Hickson. Okay, those adaptations were terrific, and she was a wonderful actress. But when I read the Miss Marple books, I pictured her as a sweet old lady. For me Hickson was very dry in the role. I go on record here (again) - I liked Helen Hayes and Julia McKenzie in the role. McEwan, who is a fabulous actress, is not quite right in her interpretation. She's too sophisticated and too much in peoples' faces. Miss Marple was a keen observer of human nature, having watched the citizens of St. Mary Mead. When murder occurred, some of the behavior would remind her of Mr. so and so and Miss so and so - and she'd put the thing together. It's just not that way in these scripts.

Anyway, Murder at the Vicarage is a strong story, about the death of Colonel Lucius Protheroe, a very hated gentleman in St. Mary Mead. His wife, Ann, is having an affair with a local artist, known for his somewhat risqué work. His daughter wasn't happy with his rules concerning her behavior. Pretheroe thought the vicar's assistant was stealing from the church. Jane has a sprained ankle and does a lot of observing from her window. And she very cleverly solves the mystery.

This film is a treat for baby boomers in that it features Jane Asher, Paul McCartney's old girlfriend. And talk about names - Derek Jacobi as Colonel Pretheroe and Janet McTeer as Anne - two huge stars of theater, and of course Jacobi has had quite the film career as well. The producers don't spare any expense, obviously. And Herbert Lom? Fantastic.

Despite some of its adaptation problems - I mean if it's not broke why are you fixing it - I guiltily admit this was a treat to watch. One way to enjoy these is just forget it's supposed to be Miss Marple and based on an Agatha Christie book.

I find this a fairly faithful production, not too many liberties with the book (compared to some.) What I particularly liked was the way they managed to create village life, St Mary Mead is set as light, rather innocent, comfortable and rather sleepy. So when the murder occurs it rocks the village. The tone changes brilliantly, it ends in a very dark way.

I'm one of the fans of McEwan's Marple, of course Joan will always be number one, but I didn't want a direct copy, Geraldine played her with a sparkle in the eye, a worldly toughness, it was beautifully realised, I liked how she was given a history, it's a bit of a shame it wasn't looked at in a few more episodes, why shouldn't Miss Marple have a history. Her costumes are just lovely too. It's hard to pick out a key performance, there are so many noted thespians in it, and each deliver. I find Janet McTeer so watchable, she's such an underrated actress, she gives such a lovely and believable performance as Anne, her final conversation with Geraldine is brilliant. Tim McInnerny, Derek Jacobi and Rachael Stirling all give great performances, as does everyone, but I can't help but love the combo of Angela Pleasance and Miriam Margolyes, two more eccentric and dotty characters you'd struggle to find, they work brilliantly.

Worth pointing out too that this was the last on screen performance from Herbert Lom, he'd done a few Agatha Christies, remarkably he was 90 in this.

Great scenery, the houses are spot on, and the costumes look lovely, I like the element of humour too.

Here is correspondence between myself and Granada regarding their placement of St Mary Mead in Oxfordshire. If a real county had to be guessed at it would almost certainly be Hampshire.

From: Stuart Fanning To: Timmer, Damien - Granada

Subject: Miss Marple

Hallo Mr Timmer

I hope you do not mind my emailing you directly regarding the Miss Marple series currently being shown on ITV1. Having just watched the second one: Murder at the Vicarage, I am finding them very enjoyable.

However there was one thing in the episode tonight which I found very surprising. This was the placing of St Mary Mead in Oxfordshire. The address of the Vicarage was shown on screen in a couple of the scenes.

As you will know in the books themselves, Agatha Christie does not place the village in a real life county. However clues in the books would suggest that if you placed St Mary Mead in a real county it would be in Hampshire.

So I am wondering how and why the decision was made to place St Mary Mead in Oxfordshire for this Miss Maple series?

Regards,

Stuart Fanning

Hello Stuart

Thank you for your enquiry. St Mary Mead is still very much set in a non-specific county. However for shooting purposes we wanted to find a village that was both similar to how Christie had described it, but also one that had not been modernised too much. After a great deal of searching we went for the village we did, and rather than create a mythical county, stuck with where the location actually was.

Hope that clears things up.

Matthew Read - Producer

There's only one thing I enjoy more than reading a good Agatha Christie novel, and that is watching a terrific Agatha Christie book-adaptation, preferably with an all-star cast and prestigious production values. There are several good adaptations of Mrs. Christie's work, notably the famous Hercule Poirot blockbusters ("Murder on the Orient Express", "Death on the Nile", ...) and the comical Miss. Marple series from the sixties starring Margaret Rutherford ("Murder She Said", "Murder at the Gallop"...), but there exist also a ton of TV-films that are worth seeking out if you are - like me - a devoted fan of history's most brilliant fiction writer.

Of this series, starring the lovely Geraldine McEwen as Miss Marple, I particularly wanted to see "Murder at the Vicarage". It was the novel in which Agatha Christie introduced her brilliant female protagonist. Miss Marple is an elderly and lovable lady, living in the small parish-community St. Mary Mead, where she uses her shrewd intelligence to solve all sort of mysteries varying from town gossip to first-degree murder. She's a die-hard spinster, or at least she that's what she is Christie's novels, because in this TV-film it is suddenly revealed that Miss Marple had an affair with a married man prior to World War I. What a shock! I would refer to it as blasphemy, but the writers processed the little sub plot very sophisticated and plausible into the plot of "Murder at the Vicarage". Apart from the naughty addition of Miss Marple's dubious past, the script follows the excellent novel very closely.

The loathsome Colonel Protheroe is the most hated man in St. Mary Mead. The elderly magistrate is cruel and merciless, and he shouts ridiculously loud because he himself is practically deaf. When the Colonel is found shot and killed in the library of Reverend Clement's vicarage, there isn't any mourning but nevertheless a lot of speculating. After all, half of the town had motives to kill him, including his closest relatives and numerous of people who felt mistreated by him. The police inspector in charge is initially reluctant to listen to Miss Marple's clever deductions, but he quickly turns to her for more advise, since her observations and theories are so wise and helpful.

Although I read the novel and already saw a different adaptation of the same story, I still find the plot very captivating and puzzling. Furthermore, this series also hugely benefices from delightful photography and a splendid recreation of the post WWII period. McEwan is a marvelous Miss Marple, and the ensemble cast of this TV-film is simply stellar, with supportive roles for Derek Jacobi, Angela Pleasance, Robert Powell, Herbert Lom, Jason Flemying and many more.

Welcome to the village of St Mary Mead. There's the vicar, Leonard Clement, his son Dennis and his young wife Griselda; Colonel Protheroe, his younger wife Anne and his daughter Lettice; the young artist, Lawrence Redding; Mrs Lester, a woman busybody-like person with a mysterious agenda...and Miss Jane Marple. Colonel Protheroe is a loud, bullying, intrusive, obnoxious man and is universally disliked, even by his family. His wife is having an affair with Mr Redding. One evening he is murdered while visiting the vicarage. Miss Marple investigates.

Quite engaging - the characters are given depth and we get to see the dynamics of the village before the crime is committed. Intriguing - a few red herrings, and just when you think you know who did it, your theories are debunked.

Reasonably emotional too, as we revisit a relationship from Miss Marple's past and how it relates to the case.

Some big names in the supporting cast: Janet McTeer, Derek Jacobi, Tim McInnerny (of Blackadder fame), Jane Asher, Jason Flemyng and Herbert Lom.