Miss Marple: Volume Three [Blu-ray[

DVD Wholesale Quick Overview:

Oh Frabjous Day! The last set of the remastered Miss Marples starring Joan Hickson is available to order. I have all her Marples on the 2000 DVD issues. But I’ve watched them so many times I decided to buy Volume One of the remastered sets, just to see if it would be worth it. It was! Now I have Volumes One & Two and the colors are bright and beautiful, the viewing sharp, the sound cleaned up, and the mysteries and personalities as wonderful as ever.

Volume Three has four episodes and one bonus extra on the last disc. The bonus is Part 3 of Dr. Lucy Worsley’s 3-part TV series “A Very British Murder”. (Parts 1 and 2 of Worsley’s fun look at murder in England appears on the Miss Marple remasterings’ Volume One & Two.)

Following Volumes One & Two, the Volume 3 episodes are presented in the original 4:3 aspect ratio. Sound is still mono, but it has been cleaned up. English subtitles are available. There’s a total 450 minutes of excellent mystery viewing.

Episode 1 “A Caribbean Mystery”
Miss Marple has had a bout of bronchitis. Her nephew Raymond sends her on a holiday to Barbados for recovery, a restful time at the Golden Palm Hotel. She’s brought her knitting, which she finds useful when Major Palgrave begins telling his interminable stories. She doesn’t even pay attention when he asks her, “Like to see the picture of a killer, hey?” Unfortunately, somebody else does hear him, and he is murdered that night. Given the cast of characters staying at the hotel, Miss Marple has her work cut out for her fingering the killer.

Episode 2 “At Bertram’s Hotel” (Parts 1 & 2)
People are converging on Bertram’s Hotel, tucked away in London. Miss Marple arrives for a visit and is most surprised to see that it hasn’t changed at all from how she remembers it decades before. You and I would go with the flow, happy for service no longer offered in your average hotel. Miss Marple, however, is suspicious.
As arranged, Jane is joined by her friend, Lady Selena, who points out another guest: “Bess Sedgwick. Of all places!” All places, indeed. What is a vibrant adventurer such as Sedgwick doing in an old-fashioned hotel?
More characters show up. Canon Pennygather, a gentle man who’s memory seems to leave him stranded as if it were a cat. Ladislaus Malinowski, a race-car driver leaving mysterious messages. Elvira Blake, young, beautiful and impatient. Michael Gorman, the doorman with a history.
There are several threads in this great episode, and the murder doesn’t happen until well into it. Clues are given and the ending is magnificent, not the least due to Caroline Blakiston’s outstanding acting as Bess Sedgwick.

Episode 3 “Nemesis” (Parts 1 & 2)
Self-made millionaire Jason Rafiel knows he is dying. He sits in his shaded conservatory, in his fine mansion, on his private island. His secretary has completed a last task for him. He tells her, in almost his last breath: “It’s up to her now. Thousands of years ago, she had a measuring yard, a sword and a whip, yes, called a scourge. She rode about in a chariot pulled by gryphons. Nemesis! Last time I saw her, she was wearing a pink wooly shawl.”
From beyond the grave, Rafiel summons Miss Marple as “the inescapable agent of someone’s or something’s downfall.” But he doesn’t tell her why or even who. She takes up the challenge. He wouldn’t have willed her £20,000 if it wasn’t important.

Episode 4 “The Sleeping Murder” (Parts 1 & 2)
After 3 years in New Zealand, Giles Reed has returned to England with a wife, the 20 year-old Gwenda. They’ve spent the day apartment hunting in Devon, and are about to call it a day. Driving down a hedge-lined road, Gwenda cries out, asking Giles to stop. Through the overgrown roadside plants, they see Hillside, a large house overlooking the road. That’s the house for her. Giles laughs, “Darling, you can’t buy a house when you’re just married. People retire to Dillmouth.” But it’s what she unaccountably wants.
Raymond West is Gile’s cousin, and invites them to visit in London. As Miss Marple is Raymond’s aunt, she gets to meet the Reeds, too. They all troop to see the play, “The Duchess of Malfi”, and in the middle of the show, Gwenda starts screamingin terror. Fortunately for her, the piercingly perceptive Miss Marple is there, to solve a murder that has been sleeping for 18 years.
Hear one of Miss Marple’s most famous lines in this episode: “It’s very dangerous to believe people. I haven’t for years.”

-Happy Reader

DVD Wholesale Main Features:

Actors: Joan Hickson, George Gallaccio, Guy Slater
Directors: Various
Format: Blu-ray, NTSC
Language: English
Region: Region A/1
Number of discs: 2
Rated: NR – Not Rated
Studio: BBC Home Entertainment
DVD Release Date: June 9, 2015
Run Time: 425 minutes
ASIN: B00U0R1RGE