Geraldine McEwan’s syrupy voice and firm delivery could make an eccentric character distinctly unsettling. We rate her precision with language and comedy, though the skittishness of her Miss Marple may be too much for those seeking a quieter performance.
Fi1m perspective
With Geraldine McEwan, even a syrupy voice could sound rather firm. She favoured eccentric characters and gave them a forthright manner. We rate the precision of her comedy, and the way that firmness could become disquieting without requiring much noise. Her delivery made the choice of a word worth attending to.
Her stage work helps explain the precision, particularly her fastidious handling of language as Mrs Malaprop in The Rivals (1983). Television gave that firmness a harsher use in Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (1990), where she played Mother. Her quiet menace unsettled us; she did not need to sound excitable to seem threatening.
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) gives her a more extravagant role as Mortianna, the witch who advises the Sheriff. The film is a decent adventure that takes too long, pulled between Kevin Costner’s solemnity and Alan Rickman’s mischief. The supporting cast and Michael Kamen’s score help, but they cannot make the film shorter. There is a danger in remembering McEwan only for such eccentric parts. Her cruel Mother Superior, Sister Bridget, in The Magdalene Sisters (2002) gives a better indication of how hard she could be.
Nick Park and Steve Box’s Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005), with McEwan voicing Miss Thripp, is the more satisfying film. Its affectionate monster comedy is precise about small gestures, a sensibility well suited to an actor with her comic timing. That does not make her its principal attraction: Gromit’s silent exasperation would justify a good deal of our time. Allow for a plot stretched to feature length, and it is an easy film to recommend.
Her Agatha Christie’s Marple (2004–08) makes the caveat about her acting clearest. Across twelve films, she brought steel, skittishness and an outspoken manner to Miss Marple, qualities that divided opinion. We can see why the restlessness might irritate: an emphatic performance gives us less chance to notice things for ourselves. For a quieter use of that firmness, start with Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit.
Biography
Geraldine McEwan (9 May 1932 – 30 January 2015) was an English actress with a career spanning theatre, television and film. She made her stage debut at the age of 14 at the Theatre Royal in Windsor and appeared in London's West End by 18. She worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company from 1961 and later with the Royal National Theatre.
Her film roles include Mortianna in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), Alice in Henry V (1989), Holofernia in Love's Labour's Lost (2000), Sister Bridget in The Magdalene Sisters (2002) and Lady Southdown in Vanity Fair (2004). On television she played Miss Marple in the ITV series Agatha Christie's Marple (2004–2007) and appeared in Red Dwarf (1999) as Cassandra. She received a BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (1990) and two Evening Standard Awards for Best Actress. She was married to theatre director and teacher Hugh Cruttwell from 1953 until his death in 2002.
