A Caribbean Mystery

In the time of "CORONAVIRUS WORLD WAR - 3" in 2020 when your own life is at the hands of a invisible pandemic it's cinema that breaks all barriers and provides solace and entertainment in the confines of the house,I haven't read this book but have seen all of Agatha Christie's "Movies" based on her bestsellers. Have also seen the play "THE MOUSETRAP" at the St Martins theatre in London.Excellent suspense with subtle murders is the secret that keeps the viewer totally engrossed in the movie.The signature played down style of Miss Marpyle ,the harmless looking old lady is what also adds spice to this who-dun-it which has its villain exposed in the end, a totally non-suspect among the group of suspects.

Most people read a good book when they are on holiday, preferably a tense thriller or a captivating murder whodunit. Not Miss Marple, though. She experiences a live murder whodunit, and solves it while at it! "A Caribbean Mystery" is one of the best Miss Marple stories, and one of the best entries in the ITV-series since actress Julia McKenzie took over the titular lead role. It's somewhat odd to see Miss Marple in an exotic setting, since she's so irreversibly linked to British small-town country life, but it provided Agatha Christie with the opportunity to insert a couple of unusual but fascinating themes, like voodoo. Our brilliant writer was a fervent traveler, and spent quite some time in places like Hawaii and Haiti, where she undoubtedly found lots of inspiration for this story and others.

Apart from the sunny beach setting and the occasional margherita-cocktail, all the traditional ingredients are well-represented. There's a holiday resort full of potential suspects, guests as well as servants, clever murders disguised as natural deaths, incompetent police officers, more murders, and a denouement so ingenious that only Miss Marple can explain it in a logical fashion. Great fun.

The most remarkable moment in the film is actually irrelevant to the plot! During an evening lecture, Miss Marple meets a writer who presents himself as Ian Fleming and he tells her he has trouble finding a suitable name for the protagonist of his book. Then the lecturer comes on stage and opens with: "My name is Bond... James Bond". Well, what do you know! James Bond is an ornithologist!

Back in 1989, "Miss Marple" made a dandy version of "A Caribbean Mystery"...leaving little for me to complain about and I scored it a 9. As for this newer installment on "Marple", I didn't like it nearly as much...and it's mostly because of several unwanted things which were added to the story that were not in the original Agatha Christie story...such as voodoo and the addition of Ian Fleming and James Bond to the story.

The story begins on a Caribbean island where Miss Marple is vacationing. One of the guests of the hotel who has monopolized Marple's time is the Major...a bit of a blowhard who most of the hotel's guests tend to ignore. However, when talking with Marple, he does pique her interest when he talks about some murderer he knew long ago who got away with it. But he is soon distracted...possibly because he sees this murderer at the hotel! But he never has a chance to finish his story, as soon he's found dead in his room. Unfortunately, the local police don't take it seriously despite Miss Marple's and Mr. Rafiel's insistence that the death MIGHT be murder. More murders occur and the police finally take it seriously.

What there is of the original story is quite good...but the voodoo and Ian Fleming/James Bond bit are just distractions and do nothing to help the story. My feeling is that the older 1989 version is significantly better...see it first.

It wasn't too long ago that I watched the Joan Hickson version of this same tale and, while I enjoyed the color of it, I did feel that that version dawdled a bit too much and lacked forward motion, lingering in the characters and losing momentum the more it went on. So with the new ITV version I was pleased to find that the thing I usually dislike about them actually worked in its favor – the color, the liveliness and the pace. The mystery kicks in very quickly indeed and apart from a few sidesteps it more or less keeps things coming so that I felt engaged with the story. As is normal for me, I wasn't right there with the characters when the resolution was revealed, but I did feel like I was at least going with it.

The one exception is an odd moment where James Bond and Ian Fleming make it into the story; it is amusing perhaps but it served no purpose other than, if you're cynical, getting the writer a trip to the location for the sake of a few minutes of screen time. Higson probably deserved it though as he has done a good job as writer, making the story flow and having the material match the heat and color of the setting. The cast mostly get this too. McKenzie is still not really someone I like as Marple, but she is good here and in particular works very well with Antony Sher. The rest of the cast isn't quite that famous but has good turns from Webb, Brown, Wakefield and others.

Overall an enjoyable and lively piece of Sunday night mystery; it has color and energy and comes together pretty well.

I have a huge fondness for the Joan Hickson version and a surprisingly soft spot for the one with Helen Hayes, this one I thought really came up to the mark, they managed to reinvent it but maintain the essence of it.

It starts off brilliantly, it's visually stunning, Andre Toussaint's 'Calypso Island' sets the tone. It's a total contrast to other episodes in the series, it's very bright and colourful, but this story needed to be. The location is utterly stunning, surprisingly it was South Africa. The costumes are a visual feast, the designers were bang on the money.

Talk of voodoo in a Marple, shouldn't work, but it does, it helps add a smokescreen to the story. It certainly differentiates it from previous versions.

I disagree with those that think the novel was one of her weakest, it's one I really like, it's a perfect holiday read. This production manages to breath life into some of the characters that in the book are a little flat, Lucky seems way more interesting, or possibly it's just the way Myanna Buring played her (brilliantly.)

The acting as always if first rate, I think Julia is the standout once again, her performance seems effortless. Hermione Norris is especially good as Evelyn, she made her as cold as ice, she doesn't overplay it. Charity Wakefield gives us a very fragile and timid Molly, very much in character to the book. Anthony Sher is excellent as Rafiel. I suppose my only slight bugbear would have been Robert Webb's Tim Kendall, he was fair, but I feel he could have been better cast

The Ian Fleming bit apart it's brilliant 9/10