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Binding: DVD
EAN: 5027180610381
Format: PAL
Number Of Discs: 1
Sales Rank: 221782
Theatrical Release Date: December 26, 1984
Editorial Review:
Amazon.com:
The suspense of Miss Marple: The Body in the Library isn't of the edge-of-your-seat variety; instead it's like a perplexing puzzle that keeps niggling at the back of your mind. Just as one piece of the puzzle falls into place, another gap opens up, thanks to one of Agatha Christie's most intricate plots. Considering what a long movie this is (150 minutes, lengthier than most Christie adaptations), it's impressive how tightly the mystery grips the viewer's attention. And not a second of Joan Hickson's marvelous performance as Miss Marple should be missed (the other performances fall short--except for Gwen Watford as Dolly Bantry, in whose library the body is found). To people meeting her for the first time, Jane Marple appears to be a sweet but possibly senile old dear, whose comments on the murder investigation are more likely to involve an obscure recollection of a frog jumping out of someone's coat than to have any direct bearing on the case. But as Christie fans know, beneath that dithery exterior lies one of the shrewdest minds in England. Hickson's understated portrayal reveals the humor in her character without ever making a mockery of Miss Marple, and the results are delightful to watch. --Larisa Lomacky Moore
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating: - It boils down in the end to fingernails and Mozart
THE BODY IN THE LIBRARY is one of the best-known titles in Agatha Christie's series of novels starring Miss Jane Marple, who as a Christie sleuth is second in popularity only to Hercule Poirot. The TV adaptation, made by the BBC in 1987, is indeed "superbly staged." As it opens, the dead body of a flashily dressed platinum blonde girl is found lying in the library of the home of a Colonel and Mrs. Bantry, friends of Miss Marple's. This unlikely circumstance sparks off a complex tale of greed, ... Read More
Rating: - A great tape
When the body of a murdered young woman is found in their library, the Bantry's bring in their old friend, Jane Marple (played by Joan Hickson). There's a mystery within a mystery here: who is the murdered girl, and how did she get from where she was last seen to the Bantry's library? There are suspects galore, but only one person can possible get to the truth - Miss Marple! [Color, released in 1984, with a running time of 2:31.]
Every once in a while, an actor comes along who not only ... Read More
Rating: - A Murder Case Involving Mozart!!
+++++
I watched this movie without reading the 1942 Dame Agatha Christie novel that it was based on. (Christie wrote twelve Miss Marple murder mysteries altogether.) I'm glad I did this! Why? Because it forced me to really watch the movie in order to try and deduce who the murderer was.
A maid discovers a body in the library of an estate called "Gossington Hall." The wife of the owner of this estate calls Miss Marple (the late Joan Hickson) in to investigate unofficially. ... Read More
Rating: - "There she sits: an elderly spinster; sweet, placid ...
... so you'd think," retired Scotland Yard chief Sir Henry Clithering (Raymond Francis) says when describing Miss Marple to his friend, paraplegic wealthy Conway Jefferson (Andrew Cruickshank). "Yet," he continues, "her mind has plummed the depths of human iniquity, and taken all in a day's work." And Vicar Clement, the narrator of Agatha Christie's first Miss Marple story, 1930's "Murder at the Vicarage," couldn't agree more: "Miss Marple is a white-haired old lady with a gentle, appealing manner - ... Read More
Rating: - Could this happen here?
Mrs. Dolly Bantry (Gwen Watford) tries to inform her husband of the reported body and is accused of imagining the report due to reading trashy books in bead at night. As usual Jane is always in the right place to view the potential suspects. Clues are everywhere yet who would mix body's and books?
Speaking about night I would not start this film to late, as it seems to go on forever at 151 minutes. As it was a made for TV (1984), I suspect that this video is a composite of a series. And there are ... Read More
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