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Good News, Bad News and Worse News

12 Apr 11 11:31AM

Written by Chris Chan

In terms of adaptations of Agatha Christie mysteries, this is both the best of times and the worst of times.  Filmmakers have been making adaptations of Christie’s work since 1928, but since the late 1980’s, there have been no big-screen film version of Christie stories in the English language.  While movie theatres haven’t seen much of Christie for the last two decades, television sets have actually been a fine home for Christie adaptations, with the superlative David Suchet Poirot series, the superb Joan Hickson Miss Marple series, and the uneven but still notable Marple series starring Geraldine McEwan and Julia McKenzie.

Given Christie’s prodigious output of high-quality mysteries, her massive and loyal fan base, and the possibility for numerous star turns, it’s not surprising that the adaptations keep on coming.  Fans of the Poirot series have had their emotions toyed with recently.  After some talk of canceling the series, there was an announcement that another season would be filmed, and then another announcement that the series would be cancelled after all, and recently another announcement that negotiations were continuing.  Though as a staunch fan of the series I feel like my nerves cannot take the strain of uncertainty, I can only pray that all of the remaining episodes are filmed.  Though no news of a sixth season of Marple has been announced yet, if and when there is another series I hope that they continue to adapt and expand the Miss Marple short stories. At this point, all we as fans can do is wait and hope.

The last few weeks have seen the greenlighting of the first two English-language Agatha Christie movies in decades.  The first of these projects is a screen adaptation of Christie’s personal favorite of her own novels: Crooked House.  The movie will be directed by Neil Labute and scripted by Julian Fellowes.  When I first heard this news, my immediate reaction was something along the lines of… “This… is… GREAT!”  If I had to pick a screenwriter for this project, Fellowes would have been my first choice, thanks to his acclaimed work with Gosford Park, A Most Mysterious Murder, and Downton Abbey.  I would love to see one of Christie’s darkest and most intriguing novels get the prestige film treatment.  I am waiting to see the cast list, but right now I have extraordinarily high hopes for Crooked House.

Unfortunately, the delight that the Crooked House news gave me was unceremoniously tempered by news of a second movie based on Agatha Christie’s work.  Or perhaps, inspired by Agatha Christie’s work.  Or possibly some screenwriter’s original script for which a studio has bought the rights to use Agatha Christie’s name and characters.  Recently, Disney Studios announced that they intended to produce a new movie starring Miss Marple.  Disney made a number of other announcements, each of which seemed to sink my very soul deeper and deeper into a pit of despair.  They declared that the movie would be updated to the present day.  They then declared that the setting would be moved to America.  And finally, they declared that in this version, Miss Marple would be in her thirties.  Jennifer Garner was to play the part.

I freely admit that I was numbed by all of this.  Updating or Americanization was bad enough, but… casting a glamorous young actress in the part is enough to give me the dry heaves.  I have nothing against Ms. Garner.  If she wants to play Miss Marple, I would be happy to let her… in about three decades, which ought to be long enough to practice a passable English accent.  One of the central charms of Miss Marple is that she’s a fluffy old lady whom no one takes seriously as a detective, until she unravels the murder that stumps everyone else.  Miss Marple’s disarming and surprising shrewd nature cannot be separated from the fact that society at large rarely suspects that a little old lady could have such penetrating insight into human nature.  The essence of the character is based on how her age and social position connect her to the rest of society.  Transplant her into a beautiful thirty-something’s body and the whole effect of the character vanishes.

The idea of making Christie’s detectives younger (perhaps I should call the process “youthanizing”) is unfortunately not new.  When Michael Morton adapted The Murder of Roger Ackroyd for the stage in the 1920’s and renamed it Alibi, he suggested that Poirot be made twenty years younger, dubbed “Beau Poirot,” and be a heartthrob that made all the women swoon.  Christie prevented this makeover, but as a compromise the character of Caroline Sheppard, often viewed as a precursor for Miss Marple, was “youthanized” into a gorgeous young woman with whom Poirot was infatuated.

Every Miss Marple novel has been adapted at least twice, some as many as four times.  I realize that if you’re going to keep making adaptations, it’s best not to make exactly the same movie over and over again.  In my previous article on the Murder on the Orient Express adaptations (http://www.agathachristie.com/blog/2011/02/10/one-train-two-very-different-journeys/), I noted that one way to make new adaptations different and worthwhile is to make the stories darker, and plumb into the psychological make-ups of the characters.  However, I realize that while this could be artistically successful, many fans simply don’t want their Agatha Christie stories to be darker.  They want these movies to entertain them while diverting their attention from everyday worries and problems, and for them to be entertaining while not devolving into mere camp.

Now, though I am an avowed Christie purist and a staunch defender of her literary and cinematic legacy, I would not be wholly adverse to a film crew taking a different approach to familiar material.  The problems with the 1965, 1974, and 1989 versions of Ten Little Indians were not that the action was transported to a snowy mountaintop, the Iranian Desert, and the African jungle, respectively.  The problems lay in poor screenwriting choices and a reluctance to delve into the psychology of the characters.  Personally, I look forward to seeing the film versions of The Mirror Crack’d transported to India (Shubho Mahurat) and the Japanese version of The Hollow (Dangerous Women).

Indeed, I would not complain about a massive re-imagination of Christie’s work if the creative could only do a first-rate job of it.  I have frequently expressed my wholehearted approval of the recent series Sherlock starring Benedict Cumberbatch, where Holmes and Watson are transported to modern London.  The screenwriters’ affection and respect for the source material is obvious, and the characters remain perfectly recognizable, albeit modernized.  Yet Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s dangerous streets of London in 1885 have a contemporary equivalent a hundred and twenty-five years later that the country houses of Agatha Christie do not, and it’s somehow more challenging to bring Christie’s world into the twenty-first century without losing the charm than it is to take Holmes and Watson to today.

Here is an example of a re-imagining that I could accept.  Suppose that a filmmaking crew wanted to do a series based on the Poirot mysteries that is set in central Africa during the days of colonization.  Here, Poirot would be played by a black actor, and the character would consider himself a Belgian (being a resident of the Belgian Congo, later Zaire, and presently the Democratic Republic of the Congo).  His father would be European Belgian, while his mother was Congolese.  However, his adoption of Western dress (like a suit and bowler hat) and the style of his moustaches would alienate him from some of his fellow countrymen, who might therefore see him as a sellout to European imperialism.  This version of Poirot would therefore be an outsider from both worlds, neither really accepted by the native people, nor by the Belgian colonizers.  His only real friend would be Captain Hastings, liaison to the United Kingdom military presence in British Kenya.  In these mysteries, Poirot’s investigations would be intertwined with real historical events, like the mercenary management of the concessionary companies (Hercule Poirot’s Christmas’s Simeon Lee could be the head of one such company), the development of a system of train transportation (a perfect place to adapt Murder on the Orient Express or The Mystery of the Blue Train), and Congolese anti-colonialism (the political themes of One, Two, Buckle My Shoe would fit in here).  Issues of apartheid, the morality of colonization and war, and questions regarding the extent one has the right and ability to connect oneself to different cultures would run throughout the series. It would be a combination of Poirot, Foyle’s War, and The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency. I could support a reimagining like this even if I hadn’t come up with it myself, although I wouldn’t actually push for something like this to be made.

I can be flexible.  If Disney absolutely must modernize and Americanize Miss Marple, I could take it if Miss Marple were played by an actress like Betty White.  Indeed, if the studio is determined to cast Jennifer Garner in this production, I would accept a new version of 4:50 From Paddington, with Ms. Garner playing Lucy Eyelesbarrow.  That might actually work.  But you can’t shave off half of Miss Marple’s age.  That’s just wrong.

I can’t stop thinking of Anthony Boucher’s book The Case of the Baker Street Irregulars, where a Hollywood studio plans to take major liberties with a film adaptation of a Sherlock Holmes story, and fans around the world start protesting the screenwriter’s disrespect for the source material, refusing to call the sneering scribe anything else but “that rat.”  Boucher, incidentally, was a prominent American crime writer and one of the founders of fandom as we know it.  Based on his work adapting Sherlock Holmes for radio, Boucher knew how to make changes to an adaptation in order to suit a new medium, but he always let his love for the material show.  Right now, the fans are having their say, and overwhelmingly they are opposed to the youthanized Marple, as evidenced by the message boards on this website and new Facebook fan complaint pages like Christa McLauthlin’s “Keep Agatha’s Characters & Stories As Originally (Wonderfully) Written!”  Ms. McLauthlin refers to the proposed film as “the ol' Miss Marple Wears Leather Pants & Knee High Boots While Crocheting Movie.”  Now, I am as big a fan of movies starring stunning, martial-arts proficient young female detectives who like to wear leather pants and knee high boots as the next man, and if they also like to crochet, all the more power to them.  But Miss Marple should never, ever be portrayed as such a woman.  When Hollywood has a very, very bad idea, all peoples and nations of the world  ought to band together and inform the film industry that they’re making a mistake, and this is such a case.

Words cannot express how much I want to see David Suchet play Poirot in all of the remaining stories, and I hope that Labute and Fellowes make Crooked House both a box-office success and a critical and awards darling.  Indeed, I want to see Mr. Suchet take home a few trophies of his own before he finishes the series.  But if the new Miss Marple movie proceeds as planned, I think that the Golden Raspberry Awards (for the worst in filmmaking) have a definite contender.

The last word should go to Christie herself.  Though she adored Margaret Rutherford as an actress and a human being; the crack-shot, fencing champion, equestrian film version of Miss Marple was so far from her original creation that Christie fumed, “Why don’t they just invent a new character?  Then they can have their cheap fun and leave me and my creations alone.”

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11 comments

ensey59 31 Jul 11 at 3:10a.m.

The scripts for the new Christies are not very well written.  Miss Marple is put into stories where she never belonged...the writers decided more characters should be gay than in the original stories...and the characterization for Miss Marple is off by quite a bit.  McEwan does a creditable job for the goods she is given but the writers NEED TO BE FIRED!!!  I bought some of the other series (Joan Hickson) but will NOT be purchasing these.  Too bad someone didn't keep the scripts in line with the stories as written by Agatha Christie.

Judy45432 31 May 11 at 2:30a.m.

I am so looking forward to seeing "Crooked House" on screen. I do hope that this movie is faithful to Agatha Christie's book. I live in the States, but I do not like seeing Ms. Christie's wonderful novels Americanized. Part of the charm is going back in time to visit England, enjoying the landscapes and wonderful teas with "scones" (which, I found out are not "pancakes," but what we call biscuits (not "cookies" or "dog biscuits," but fluffy, light rolls we eat with eggs and grits or fried chicken). I even started to drink dark tea instead of coffee sometimes. Equally wonderful are Ms. Christie's descriptions of her characters, bringing out human nature at its best and worst.
Joan Hickson brought Miss Marple right out of the book - exactly as I pictured her. How dare the screenwriters try to make her a young woman! What about Ms. Christie's family? Can't they sue the screenwriters who mutilate the wonderful stories?
Agatha Christie's stories should not be modernized, but left in the time and place they were written, like "Foyle's war."
Sorry - I talk too much.

Michaelc68 25 Apr 11 at 11:40p.m.

I completely agree with you Chris, great article.

Hercules_Parrot 25 Apr 11 at 1:23p.m.

Just wanted to say that I felt the two recent prodcutions of "Miss Marple", starring Geraldine McEwan and Julia McKenzie were completely ansd absolutely ruined for me by the pervasive intrusive music that usually accompanied the dialogue. Now and then out of curiosity and "courage" I give it another try, but I always have to turn it off fairly quickly - usuually within afew minutes - as a rsult of the unnecessary and irritating music.

Now and then some music is of course very appropriate. BUT BUT BUT, NOT NOT NOT so blinking often. What on earth were the producers thinking of? Pathetic.

Nothing like that featured in the great Joan Hickson series, which have not yet been surpassed, even though they were a little laborious and a little dated now. But I still love them very much. They were years ahead for atmosphere and the gradual natural development of the storyline.

One day, some clever producuer will return to making Miss Marple using The Hickson model as the best blueprint, perhaps with some variations, and without using redundant and really annoying intrusive music.

To make my point clear: The intrusive music ruins it. Get it?

hannahdennison 15 Apr 11 at 10:38p.m.

Great article! As a British mystery writer who now lives in Los Angeles - I am all too familiar with the "youthanizing" necessary to appeal to the American audience. Your last line uttered by the wonderful AC summed it all up for me too!

TXRed 13 Apr 11 at 6:05a.m.

But aren't you looking forward to seeing the new, younger American Miss Marple singing and dancing to the cutesy Disney tunes in the movie? And think of the marketing...the Miss Marple collection of dolls, The St. Mary Mead Miniature Porcelain collection of village houses and markets, little china tea sets with the likeness of the new Miss Marple, and even Miss Marple fashions - tweed mini-skirts and sensible platform tall leather boots.

concentrate 12 Apr 11 at 6:04p.m.

I just cringed when I read about this. Leave Miss Marple alone!

I love "Pride and Prejudice" and went forth ready to do battle when I finally read "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies." Well, heck, I ended up loving it. So I'm not against updates and take-offs. It can be done with doing damage.

But entirely changing a character, especially one that I love so much, is wrong. Shows a real lack of creativity too.

Your suggestion about having Garner play Lucy Eyelesbarrow is a good choice. It would add to that character. With Miss Marple, it just plays havoc with a much loved, well created, well established character.

Mary

onesh 12 Apr 11 at 4:29p.m.

I'll give it a chance; she is an excellent actress and I hope she brings good to the role. My biggest worry is the Americans trying to do middle England; oh dear. I'll watch it before I pass complete judgement.

Holly 12 Apr 11 at 1:02p.m.

Thank you, indeed. An excellent article, and Agatha Christie's own words sum up very nicely how I feel about a lot of adaptations that have been made of her work.

Roger_Ackroyd1926 12 Apr 11 at 12:25p.m.

Very well said, and thank you for doing so.

MissQuin 12 Apr 11 at 12:18p.m.

Superb article, humorous but straight to the point. I'm equally upset over the whole idea of a Disney Miss Marple. I don't see how it could possibly work. Miss Marple will end up as some bizarre chimera- I kind of mash up of different Christie heroines, with a bit of Amercian Disney thrown in.


One small note- I think it's Julia McKenzie not Janet McKenzie who plays the current Miss Marple.