Lord Peter Wimsey - Murder Must Advertise
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DVD details
Actor: Fiona Walker, Ian Carmichael, Mark Eden, Peter Pratt, Rachel HerbertEditor: Chris Wimble
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Box set, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 200 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-01-07
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Acorn Media
DVD Reviews of Lord Peter Wimsey - Murder Must Advertise
DVD Review: A Staircase Murder, Cocaine, and Lord Peter Wimsey
Summary: 3 Stars
Dorothy L. Sayers (1893-1957) wrote comparatively few mystery novels, but they were more than sufficient to make her as widely admired as the more prolific Agatha Christie and Ngaio Marsh. MURDER MUST ADVERTISE was published in 1933; fifty years later it at last reached the television screen with a 1973 BBC production. The series starred Ian Carmichael as Lord Peter Wimsey, Sayer's titled sleuth, which he played in several BBC adaptations of Sayers novels.
Now, there will no doubt be the pulling of hair and gnashing of teeth when I say this, but Sayers was what you might call a very literary writer, by which I mean that her way of telling a story was more important than the details of the story itself, and her sharp humor, her clever plots, and her intriguing characters have never translated to the screen very well. This is as true of this series and these actors as they are the other attempts to put the novels on screen. It doesn't work well because what usually emerges on film is a lot of people sitting around drinking tea and chatting, and few things can be more dull than that.
MURDER MUST ADVERTISE isn't quite that bad, but the simple fact of it is that you probably won't be able to follow it unless you've read the novel first. And make no mistake: although she herself was a little ify about it, this is one of Sayers' best works, the tale of a young man working for an advertising agency who suddenly falls to his death down a spiral staircase. Was it accident? The office would like to think so. Was it murder? Well, there is a suggestive letter he was writing not long before his death. The agency soon calls in Lord Peter Wimsey, who disguises himself as working man Death Bredon, takes a job as a copywriter, and soon finds himself up to his monocle in a drug trafficing scheme that is somehow worked out the ad agency's office. But how? And by who? And what does all this have to do with the murdered man any way?
The whole thing is very, very BBC series of the period, if you know what I mean: everything is quickly done, and it is easy to spot where they really should have done a re-take or two; everything is very inexpensive, and the costumes and sets are never entirely convincing. But we must give the show its due. Director Rodney Bennett keeps it moving at a fast clip, and writer Rodney Bennett has done as good a job possible adapting the story for the screen--fans of the novel will recognize large chunks of the dialogue and many of Sayers most memorable zingers lifted directly from book to script. Although he lacks Wimsey's icy quality, Ian Carmichael isn't bad as Lord Peter, but on the whole I would describe the actors as expert instead of gifted. The DVD has little in the way of extras, but it does offer an interview with Carmichael that is rather fun.
When all is said and done, this really is probably as good as a film adaptation of a Sayers novel can be--and although the 1987 series starring Edward Petherbridge had its own charms and failings, this series comes out slightly ahead on the cast, writing, and direction. Recommended, yes, but only for those who are already fans of Sayers novels.
GFT, Amazon Reviewer
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