Tuesday 15 January 2008

"In Admiration"


Last week we were discussing the allegedly "hot" actor Brad, someone or other... mind like a sieve... em, oh yes Pitt (any relation to the famous "Pitt" family, I wonder?). Today I'd like to mention someone who was famous for being at the other end of the scale from Aimilia.

Dame Margaret Rutherford was brilliant as the eccentric "medium" in Blithe Spirit, and also starred as Miss Marple in a series of adaptations of Agatha Christie books. She was in her 70s when she made the films, and stars in them alongside her husband, Stringer Davis, who played the specially written character of "Mr Stringer".

Her Miss Marple is a very determined woman who doesn't let her age stop her participating in a variety of daring and energetic escapades, all, of course, with the aim of finding the murderer.

She was never considered to be an attractive woman, so throughout her career played mainly comic roles. She was proudly eccentric, something many of us Brits aspire to.

It's nice to have good-looking actresses in films. Nevertheless, most of them wouldn't be able to compete with MR in terms of character. It's difficult to imagine, say, Rachel "airhead" Weisz playing Miss Marple, even when she's old enough.

Her Miss Marple films do not follow the books very closely, and the character is not at all the same. Nevertheless, they are wonderfully entertaining. They were made in Agatha Christie's lifetime, and afterwards she dedicated one of her books: "To Margaret Rutherford. In admiration."

14 comments:

Bee said...

Why would you say she's not attractive? I think she's HOT!
In a wrinkly kind of way.

Bee said...

You know what other role she should have played? Ebeneezer Scrooge. I think she would have been marvelous!

Bee said...

And there's nothing alleged about Brad Pitt's hotness. He just is.

Brian o vretanos said...

Bee:

You've got a lousy taste in women ;-)

As far as Scrooge is concerned, you might be right. I've a feeling that she disguises herself as a man in one of the films, perhaps "Murder Ahoy!".

Brian o vretanos said...

BP:

But is he related to the other Pitts?

Anonymous said...

I swear she looks just like my sons 3rd grade teacher. *shiver*

And yes, Brad Pitt is hot. Not as hot as John Cusack or Sean Connery...but he is Hot.

Brian o vretanos said...

Chris:

I remember seeing John Cusack in "Being John Malkovich" - that was a very strange film...

Anonymous said...

He was in that movie, and yes..that one was very strange. But other ones like High Fidelity, Must Love Dogs, Serendipity, are all amazing!! And he's just so hot :-D

Bee said...

Taste in women:
It's probably because she looks like a man that I find her so attractive.
I met John Cusack and his sister (Joan) at a charity in Chicago. They're very nice.

Brian o vretanos said...

Chris:

I've not seen any of those. Too many films. Too little time...

Bee:

Living in the sticks I don't get the chance to meet celebrities, but it's good to know that you found some nice ones - a lot of them give the impression of being pretty obnoxious in "real life".

Jean Knee said...

I have man hair on one side

Jean Knee said...

I didn't wet the bed last night

Bee said...

Well there's always tonight, jean knee. I'll keep my fingers crossed!

Brian o vretanos said...

Jean Knee:

Hello!

Hair on one side reminds me of when Helena was about 4 or 5, she was talking about a boy in her class who had "hair all round". Over his eyes? No. in a circle? No. Did he have a beard? No. And so on. After several days of repeated questions she eventually explained "like a rainbow".