The Pale Horse

I'm not one of those to bash the film just because it doesn't completely and exactly mirror the book. I didn't read it anyway, so judging from what we actually saw in the movie, it's safe to say that gloomy, dark whodunits go very well with the rural, romantic landscapes of English countryside. The production is on its usual high level with Julia McKenzie in the role of Jane Marple, and she actually manages to pull it rather well off. I never really liked Joan Hutchingson, so McKenzie fit the bill much better. The Pale Horse is a small town inn where Marple stays to inquire into the murder of her friend, father German, who dies the same day she received his the letter,after tending to a dying woman who gives it to him, with a list of names. What follows is a series of murders all of which are somehow linked to the The Pale inn, whose owners present themselves as witches with special powers able to control other people's psyche. Eventually, Marple discovers that there's nothing surreal about the murders and lures the culprit into the light by one of the most impressive twists I've seen in the Marple series. The downside is that it takes a bit of time until you work out the connections between the characters and their motives, and it's somehow clear from the very start that the inn owner is up to no good. There are certain echoes of "The Ninth Gate" here, albeit probably unconscious. All in all, good Sunday fun in spite of a few rough spots along the way.

Okay, it isn't easy finding enough Miss Marple stories in the Christie canon to create a full-fledged series. But the producers have done a nice job of wedging her into one of Christie's most ingenious tales. Like "The Mirror Crack'd," "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd" and "Murder on the Orient Express," the tale features a wonderfully original plot device -- in this case, a whole new approach to contract killing. Throw in a kind of British take on re-creating the Salem witch trials and you have a mordantly murky and entertaining mystery. Purists may take umbrage at Miss Marple wandering off her own turf to solve a series of seemingly occult murders. But if it's a well-told mystery (as this one is) and doesn't otherwise twist Dame Agatha's story, why not?

The Pale Horse has some fine actors and performances, albeit a few chosen for popularity rather than their acting prowess. The production value is without fault and Julia McKenzie delivers another strong turn as Miss Marple.

As another long-term fan of Agatha Christie - I was introduced at a young age by my mother, and as someone with a reading difficulty, having me watch the televised version first helped me develop my reading skills - I get upset when people attack these versions of the stories, just because there are changes to suit the storyline. It's like criticizing art that has come from a school of a great painter. While some elements of the stories haven't been handled with the greatest of care, these new updated versions are bringing the world of Jane Marple to a younger audience. I like to take each tele movie as a story on its own - I can see the distinct differences, but can appreciate why sometimes it is necessary to adapt the stories to meet the needs of modern set of viewers, whose attention span and ability to read between the lines might not be as astute. I personally have watched Margaret Rutherford, Helen Hayes, Joan Hickson, Angela Lansbury, Geraldine McEwan and Julia McKenzie all play the role, and for my generation I prefer Joan Hickson onwards. Watching Margaret Rutherford as Marple puts me to sleep as those productions are slow and plodding. For the purist out there, these stories were not aimed at you, but rather at a cross sectional transcontinental audience. Considering the many levels they have to appeal to, I think they do very well.

If Ms. Christie's books are to appeal to the next generation, the stories will have to adapt slightly to appeal to them.

I like this Pale Horse better than the 1997 one which did not have a Miss Marple character. This one with Julie McKenzie as Miss Marple was very different than the 1997 version. There were a lot of surprises and intrigue.

As always in Miss Marple and the police work together and spend a lot of time at the end of the movie with all the characters explaining who did what and how they came to their conclusion of who committed the crime.

At the end it was a big surprise ending for me. I just did not expect the way it turned out. This movie had a lot of unexpected surprises and it made it very interesting.

It's been years since I read the Agatha Christie canon -- and I read every one -- but I don't remember all of them well enough to do a comparison with the book to the movie.

"The Pale Horse" is a Christie book that does not feature Jane Marple, and yet, here she is. Before I go on, I need to say one thing. I don't know why the producers of this series decided to change Christie's stories. However, Acorn Media owns something like 67% of the Christie estate, and apparently, in the negotiations, Christie's relative, Mathew Pritchard, who heads the estate, put no restrictions on the sale. So all of this is okay with the estate. In other words - if they don't care, why should we?

In this story, Miss Marple receives a letter from an old friend, Father Gorman, with a list of names and a Biblical quote. The same day she receives the letter, she reads that Gorman was murdered right after attending to a dying woman.

Miss Marple is right on it, traveling to the area where Mrs. Davis lived and checking out her room. There, she finds the same list. On tracking down the names, she finds out that all of the people have recently died. She also discovers a reference to the Pale Horse Inn, which ties in with the Bible quote. She stays at the inn and begins to investigate.

I found this particular movie a little confusing and hard to follow. The subplots were not woven in together as well as they should have been, making it a little disjointed. I did like Julia McKenzie, who is a fine actress.

I wouldn't say this is one of the best of the series, but it's okay.