Nobody could possibly be a bigger Margaret Rutherford fan than me: she's my magic third granny. So when got the chance to watch all of the old Miss Marple movies recently, thanks to my postal DVD rental service, I was surprised by how, well, boring they were. Pedestrian pacing, ludicrous plots, four-square, dull cinematography and editing. I could hardly believe these were the same films that had kept me glued to the telly as a child. No criticism of Rutherford herself, mind: immune to bad scripts and bad direction, she is never anything but delightful to watch.
And the other factor that has not lost any of its sparkle is, of course, Ron Goodwin's fabulous theme tune.
Here it is: go, on stick it on your iPod and walk down the street in shuffle mode: when it comes on, you'll find the gritty urban desolation around you (I'm absolutely convinced that EVERYONE who reads this blog lives in a sprawling, dangerous, crime-ridden ghetto) will suddenly become a grainy black and white home counties village in 1964: particularly when the harpischord bit comes in. Try it.
Listen:
Download Ron Goodwin and his Orchestra – Miss Marple Theme MP3 (rapidshare)
1 comment:
Thanks for this - a classic bit of music if ever there was one! And of course the wonderful Margaret R is a relative of the equally wonderful Tony Benn!!
Any chance of the fabulous cover version by Fun Boy 3??
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