Jacomedi A Surprisingly Unforgettable Movie!

Aubrey Hackett While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Patience Watson One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.

Lachlan Coulson This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU This is a quasi perfect murder that turns sour because of completely secondary moralistic considerations that should never have come up in the minds of two criminals. But it is the feminine touch of Miss Marple and Agatha Christie. They cannot admit the viciousness of a woman, at least to that point. It is also the presence of the vicar and his vicarage that makes the tale more moral than it should be. A criminal is far beyond redemption when he or she starts planning and preparing, especially when he or she is not alone in the business. A crime of passion can lead to a guilty conscience, but not a premeditated crime with a plotting accomplice. But once again Miss Marple targets people who are living in at least divided circumstances. The main victim is a colonel who has a daughter from an earlier wife and is re-married to a quite younger woman. He is wealthy for sure but he has a very bad character, if not temper, and that makes him a difficult person to live with in private and public life, which provides him with a lot of enemies.

TheLittleSongbird I really enjoyed this adaptation of "The Murder at the Vicarage". It is not as good as the delightful "A Murder is Announced" but it is very enjoyable, and not only one of the better Joan Hickson adaptations, but a considerable improvement over the Geraldine McEwan version(though that was one of the better adaptations of that series I feel). The pace is solid, the pace was a problem I had with "They Do it With Mirrors" which is my least favourite of the series, and the story is well structured. There is a nice witty script and lovely production values. The acting is very good in general, the only weaknesses for me being that James Hazeldine underplaying his role of Lawrence Redding and Polly Adams a little too stiff as Anne. Joan Hickson really makes this work though, with a simple charm and wisdom she is for me the best Miss Marple, and out of the supporting cast I loved Cheryl Campbell as Griselda, a delightful performance from a great actress. I liked the music too, really pleasant to listen to. Overall, I really enjoyed this adaptation. 9/10 Bethany Cox

filoshagrat Quote 'hbs': "Hickson is by far the best Miss Marple on screen"Ooooh! there's a debatable point. Though I accept heartily ones opinions, I can't help thinking that's got the members of the Margaret Rutherford fan club ruffling their pillows in a disgruntled manner. Joan Hickson just doesn't do it. I don't know what it is, but she comes over leaving me thinking 'no wonder your a spinster. SMILE for gods sake'. MR I could have happily passed off as my eccentric grandmother and liked. JH does it her way, but I can't help wonder if she had her beady-eyes on this role while filming with MR in 'Murder, She Said'. Unconvincing seems to be a word that, although harsh, crops up every time JH plays this role. Watchable, for sure, but not eager for more. I also consider that I am a victim of choice here. The plots and plans are all immovable if adapting Agatha Christie. This film is no exception, so the only real ways in adapting to difference are the choice of the actor/actress, or time shift it, as with the recent 'Romeo Must Die'. JH is a superb actress I have seen many times and her talents are so easily on show here as a 'tight' Miss Marple, by which I mean non-expressive. MR was more full-on and in yer' face. 'Filo doth compare too much'. As I said, it's choice.

Glyn Treharne It is difficult to understand ITV's decision to remake the Miss Marple series, because in Joan Hickson we have the definitive interpretation of Agatha Christie's amateur sleuth. This particular story, Miss Marple's first fictional outing,dates from 1930, but the writer, T.R. Bowen has skilfully updated it to the 1950s. The script is witty and the cast is endowed with such acting stalwarts as Paul Eddington and Rosalie Crutchley. If the plot does not seem so original now it is because Christie's work was so often copied, and what must have seemed innovative in 1930 now appears to be hackneyed. All that said it is a story well told and worth a couple of hours of anyone's time.