Sybil Bruncheon's “A Few of My Favorite Things”… Agatha Christie's "Jane Marple"...

Agatha Christie's "Jane Marple"... fortunately, the character is so extraordinary a creation that she is almost "actor-proof". It's nearly impossible to do her badly... or should I say, VERY badly?...

IMO; These are the best portrayals of Agatha Christie's iconic character Jane Marple... and each has her strong points and entertaining nuances...

Julia McKenzie is suitably fretful and self-deprecating as the clues (and murders!) pile up. But she keeps letting us know how “in the dark” she is, until, of course, she’s not!

And when I want a fluttering parakeet with a sharp little beak and tiny claws, it's Geraldine McEwan. Her lemony bite and snarky side-glances are perfect if you want your Miss Marple with an edge.

I can sometimes enjoy Angela Lansbury, if I don't mind stammering, squawking, and dithering. But her Marple is a bit like Mrs. Lovett… without the cannibalism...

…and Helen Hayes would be perfect if I wanted a busy-body granny from next door who smelled of gingerbread and Prince Matchabelli's "Wind Song"...

But I DO have my favorites; when I want comedy, I choose Margaret Rutherford. I love the way she chews everything on camera; the scenery, the dialogue, her fellow actors... nothing is safe from her ham-bone mugging, and every moment with her is a master class in how to mug shamelessly and still merit accolades as a genius. She delights me so much that I can actually binge-watch her "Murder Most-" series of 1960s again and again.

AND, drum roll please!... when I want to revel in my very favorite Jane Marple of all time, it's none other than Joan Hickson, the actress that Christie herself hoped would one day play the sleuth. She never embroiders or accessorizes Marple. There are no arbitrary vocal or physical tricks... no clutter. As a matter of fact, Hickson's Marple is almost a study in Method Acting, as if Marlon Brando or James Dean were doing her. She whispers and mumbles many of her lines, often as if she's not actually speaking to other characters onscreen with her. Her line deliveries are almost introspective meditations... I sometimes think we're reading her mind. Her silences are wonderful, and her glances at foolish people or at liars are the gold, nay, the platinum standard of stillness. She is the dead opposite of Rutherford, and only elicits laughter from me when I am gobsmacked by her acting brilliance. She has light literally pouring out of her... without the pyrotechnics! Rutherford has the fireworks... and for me, the others are cowbells, kazoos, caterwaulings, and whoopie cushions. Again, just my opinion...

(Counterclockwise from left: Joan Hickson, Angela Lansbury, Margaret Rutherford, Julia McKenzie, Geraldine McEwan, and in the center, Helen Hayes)

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Sybil Bruncheon's “A Few of My Favorite Things”… The Good Wife and Archie Punjabi...

Apropos of my advice every week on being "present, mindful, and grateful", I'm starting a new series called Sybil Bruncheon's My Favorite Things! In this world of so much angst and anguish, and "calling out" all those things and people we DON'T approve of or value, I want to make a point of saying what DOES give me pleasure, lights up my world, and fills all my senses, my heart, and my head with joy. These are a few of my favorite things; people, objects, works of art, food, animals, wonders of Nature… you get the idea! Stay tuned...

I watched THE GOOD WIFE when it was aired originally from 2009 to 2016, and then, thanks to technology, I binge watched it again and again as the years passed. It remains one of my very favorite TV shows ever, and, more than being just another TV show, I think it may become an iconic piece of art over the next decades and an artifact representative of American urban life at the opening of the 21st century. Rarely do actors get cast in roles that "no one else could play" so to speak, but this show, season after season, used both its core cast and all of its guest and cameo actors brilliantly. Although we've seen all its stars in many other great projects (Julianna Margulies on ER, Christopher Noth in LAW & ORDER and SEX AND THE CITY, Christine Baranski, Nathan Lane, and Alan Cumming in theatre and films, etc.), their roles on THE GOOD WIFE have become their individual touchstones; something that they can be particularly proud of. And I admire and celebrate them all.

But for me, it’s Archie Punjabi as the enigmatic Kalinda Sharma who dazzles! Throughout the entire series, she never raises her voice, never erupts, never explodes or loses control. Indeed, even when she kicks, punches, or shoots, she does so almost placidly, as if breaking a thug's nose or kneeing him in the crotch is a matter of course. She has none of the fireworks or emotional pyrotechnics that every other character gets. As an actress, she has only her personal beauty (stunning!) and an equally stunning wardrobe a la a 21st century Emma Peel to embellish her character. But the writers capitalized on Punjabi's imploded method-acting style of mumbles, shrugs, and askance-glances to create something rare in all fiction; a soft-spoken, gentle-mannered, highly sophisticated but implacable force of Nature… as a woman! It's Kalinda who becomes the weekly fixer of everyone's dilemmas, tip-toeing her way into homes and psyches to find the weak point, the missed detail, the subtle clue, and often the ultimate solution.

After five seasons of close calls, narrow escapes, and happy hour cocktails with Cary, Alicia, and unwitting adversaries, including her violent and psychotic ex-husband Nick, Kalinda finally had to solve a life-and-death situation by turning in an infamous drug dealer to save her coworkers. And in an unrelated situation in that same episode, she had to dispose of Nick, once and for all. She arranges for the drug dealer and his cohorts to be caught by the Feds, and she confronts her ex in a scene that ends vaguely, leaving the resolution up to the audience's imagination. But when I see her reactions and interactions with Nick, and when I think of all that she's seen and gone through throughout the whole series, there's nothing vague about it to me. I'm convinced that she settled on the "final solution" to her violent and uncontrollable ex. It explains her rye farewell to Alicia. Somehow or other, she managed to kill Nick and dispose of him without a trace. She ends up being her own fixer, solving her own dilemma as she strolls out of the show that final time. Nick is "gone... permanently"! And it explains that wonderful enigmatic smile in the last shot. For me, she will always be one of the most beautiful, mysterious, and alluring characters in ALL fiction... and additionally one of the most perfectly written and inhabited by one of the most wonderful actors... ever. Thank you for being one of my favorite things, Archie Punjabi.

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