I had to tear myself away from the ever-so-suspenseful yet jiggly third episode of the new "V.I.P. — The Complete First Season" (Columbia-TriStar), starring Pam Anderson as a saucy celebrity bodyguard, and turn my attention to a real dame — Margaret Rutherford.

Rutherford's career began in earnest in 1925, when she was invited to join London's Old Vic. Great acclaim followed with her starring roles in the stage and film versions of Noel Coward's "Blithe Spirit." But our relationship began much later, when I first saw 1961's "Murder, She Said" at my neighborhood theater.

It was the first film in which she was cast as Agatha Christie's amateur sleuth Miss Marple.

The movie's success led to three more outings for Rutherford as Miss Marple, and now all have been collected on "The Agatha Christie Miss Marple Movie Collection" (Warner). "Murder, She Said" was followed by the even more entertaining "Murder at the Gallop" in 1963, based on Christie's "After the Funeral." Then came 1964's "Murder Ahoy," an original screenplay that put Marple on a naval training ship to get to the bottom of the death of cadet; and 1964's "Murder Most Foul," the final film in which Rutherford played Marple. It was adapted from "Mrs. McGinty's Dead" and had Marple as a jury holdout determined to discover who really did the deed.

All four films co-starred Charles Tingwell as the Scotland Yard inspector who was annoyed and amazed by Marple's powers of deduction, and Stringer Davis as the chum who tags along for conversation and to keep Marple from getting into stickier wickets than she does. In real life, Davis played a similar role as Rutherford's husband.

Directed by George Pollack with brisk efficiency — the longest is 93 minutes — the black-and-white films have a period charm that serves them well. They look and sound surprisingly good in remastered editions, though the box contains no extras.

MORE SLEUTHING

By coincidence, "Murder She Wrote — The Complete Third Season" (Universal), starring Angela Lansbury as the Miss Marple-inspired Jessica Fletcher, has been released, too.

The rumpled male version of Marple, played by Peter Falk, shuffles around in "Columbo — The Complete Third Season" (Universal), doing little to strike fear in the hearts of guest stars Dick Van Dyke, Patrick McGoohan and Robert Vaughn.

'GOOD NIGHT'

Though George Clooney won his first Oscar this year, it was for acting in "Syriana," and not for co-writing and directing best-picture nominee "Good Night, and Good Luck," his perfectly pitched account of the decision by TV newsman Edward R. Murrow (David Stathairn) and producer Fred Friendly (Clooney) to take on red-baiting Sen. Joe McCarthy.

Beautifully shot in black-and-white and given the digital transfer it deserved, the DVD version of "Good Night" (Warner) contains commentary by Clooney and co-writer Grant Heslov.

'A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE'

Woefully overlooked on Oscar night was one of the best films of 2005. "A History of Violence" should have merited nominations for director David Cronenberg and actor Viggo Mortensen at the very minimum. Cronenberg contributes a fine commentary explaining how he came to film the graphic novel about a man who becomes a hero by foiling a robbery-murder, but turns out to have a past he thought he had left behind.

'THE PRIZEWINNER'

"The Prizewinner of Defiance, Ohio," a true-life story, stars Julianne Moore as a housewife who keeps her struggling family afloat by winning advertising contests. Note: it's far more entertaining than at least half the films that made it into theaters last year.