Posted: 7/23/12 at 10:15am
Taking a break from the news of our troubled age I indulged in an Hercule Poirot/Miss Marple marathon this weekend.
While the Internet, penicillin and Grindr are all well and good in their way, I believe the greatest gift of being alive at this moment in Time is to have been able to enjoy--simultaneously--what History will surely judge as the definitive embodiment of Dame Agatha Christie's two iconic sleuths.
From the fussy poetry of the way he places a handkerchief on a public bench before sitting to the sublime precision of his posture and gait, David Suchet is a joy to watch.
Joan Hickson's Miss Marple is so thoroughly pitch-perfect that one feels compelled to extend a hand of sympathy to any performer who attempts the role in her wake. I am a long-time fan of Geraldine McEwan, but her Miss Marple falls so far short of Hickson's mark that I cannot bear to watch.
