Miss Marple: 4.50 from Paddington

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).

Whilst traveling by train to visit her friend Jane Marple, Elspeth McGillicuddy wakes from her slumber and witnesses a man strangling a woman on a passing train. With no other witnesses and no trace of a body, the police don't believe her story, so Miss Marple engages Lucy Eyelesbarrow to help uncover the mystery.

It's a very faithful, beautifully made version; production values are incredibly high. The music is lovely and melodic; it's never invasive, and it helps generate atmosphere.

Some totally iconic scenes too; the whole sequence of Lucy discovering the body is one of the most memorable bits of TV from my childhood. It's beautifully filmed, and the music is superb; it adds to the tension. The set and props are wonderful.

Beautifully acted with some wonderful performances, my favorite being Joanna David's; she is superb as Emma, making her downtrodden and meek but wonderfully believable. Maurice Denham is wonderful as always, and Jean Boht's cameo as Madame Jolie is delightful. Jill Meager puts in a great performance, be it it's a little surprising how she has men falling at her feet, she's so prim and proper. (Is that Bertram's Hotel I spy for their first meeting?)

The ending is nicely staged and suitably dramatic. It seemed at the time like she was always using Somerset House.

It's an excellent production, a little doddery in parts, but very faithful to the book. Hickson is excellent as always but somewhat takes a back seat in this one, she's very much an observer.

This one makes for perfect Sunday teatime viewing.

8/10.

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

A great rendition of a classic tale. Naturally, the Margaret Rutherford version is fabulous in its own way, but this version offers viewers colorful landscapes and colorful characterizations to go along with the totally old-fashioned old-school formality of the characters. Much of the acting is subtle and unforced, as is typical of British productions, with Inspector Slack a real study in irony, a decent man masked in a facade of tough-guy impoliteness and impatience. The story unwinds in a dignified manner, never boring and never rushed. As a bonus, the somewhat intricate plotting gets explicated in a way that even I could follow and understand (Inspector Morse offers a contrasting technique, almost always baffling, while Midsomer Murders at least wraps its illogic in humorous tongue-in-cheek mischief). Overall, a superb production for fans of mystery and rich atmospheric production.