Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

Overrated

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

In this story Agatha Christie is stepping in Conan Doyle's footsteps with a mystery that revolves around some colonial strife, or rivalry and vengeance. But at the same time she keeps her naiveté and her nursery simplicity with a whole murder case based on a nursery rhyme, a common and popular nursery rhyme: the repetitiveness becomes the key to the series of murders. And yet there is something ugly in the fact that the criminal looks for the simplest mind in the lot to use that simple mind to his own ends. And this time it is both poignant and disquieting: he uses an orphan who has found some peace of mind and some stability as a maid in a wealthy home. "Sing a Song of Sixpence, A bag full of Rye, Four and twenty Blackbirds, Bak'd in a Pye." We can't avoid thinking of the ten little n*****s, killed one by one and one after the other. Then Miss Marple is just some kind of inner voice that tells us how true and vicious life can be: from vice to evil there is only one little step.Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne, University Paris 8 Saint Denis, University Paris 12 Créteil, CEGID

I absolutely love the Joan Hickson Miss Marple mysteries. They are clever and well made, and Joan Hickson is for me the definitive Miss Marple. A Pocket Full of Rye is a wonderful adaptation, and my second favourite of the Miss Marple adaptations after A Murder is Announced. The photography, scenery and costumes are truly lovely, and the music is superb. The script is often thought-provoking and the story is faithful, well paced and clever. My only minor criticism is that they could have developed Gladys a little more, but this is very minor. The acting across the board is of high calibre, Joan Hickson coming of best being absolutely terrific as Miss Marple. Overall, wonderful and one of my favourites. 10/10 Bethany Cox

JOAN HICKSON was an excellent Jane Marple and this is definitely one of the better TV works of Agatha Christie's A POCKET FULL OF RYE. The clever plotting uses a nursery rhyme (one of Christie's favorite ways of linking a complex set of clues to a murder), and gives a nice assortment of suspicious characters a chance to make the perfect sort of red herrings.The mystery gets underway as soon as Rex Fortescue is killed. He's a rich, nasty old man who has a fortune tied to some nasty business in his past, and enough enemies to make everyone a likely suspect. Crisply acted and played in elegant British fashion by an assortment of reliable British supporting players, it keeps you interested in solving the crime along with the baffled inspector, who is no match for Miss Marple.Hickson is perfectly cast as the wise old lady and makes the character seem as though Christie had her in mind for the role.

Probably the least interesting of the BBC TV adaptions; and one of the few unavailable on DVD for some reason. The only really entertaining parts come from the formidable elderly actress Fabia Drake, who plays "Miss Henderson". She wanders around making stern condemning comments; the best comes when the ditzy young blonde wife makes a comment about going to the Clubhouse (located on a nearby golf-course as I recall). Miss Henderson gives a loud sniff, and mutters "Clubhouse! .... WHOREhouse!" which always leaves me in stitches. Otherwise its not that memorable; I can't recall if the book itself was very interesting to begin with. Its fun to see Tom Wilkinson in a younger role.