Proirot experiences 'Evil Under the Sun'

Evil Under the Sun (1981)
Starring: Peter Ustinov, Diana Rigg, Jane Birkin, Maggie Smith, Roddy McDowall, and James Mason
Director: Guy Hamilton
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

When master detective Hercule Poirot (Ustinov) is hired by an insurance company to trace the path of a phony diamond, the assignment comes with an all-expense-paid trip to an exclusive resort island--just one of those hardships a detective must endure! Soon, however, Proirot finds himself in the midst of a murder myster that he must solve if he is protect his reputation: Famed actress Arlena Marshall (Rigg) is murdered right under his nose, and, while just about everyone on the island had a motive to kill her, everyone also has solid alibis.


"Evil Under the Sun" is another one of those great, all-star Agatha Christie mysteries from the 70s and 80s. I understand from a friend who's read the original book that this is a pretty loose adaptation, but she said that she felt the movie is actually superior to the book.

From Ustinov as Poirot, through McDowall as a effeminate theater critic, the cast gives excellent performances and everyone lives up to their star status, even those in fairly small parts, like James Mason. Diana Rigg and Maggie Smith were particuarly fun to watch, as they go through catty routines with one another. The film also takes full advantage of the gorgeous Mediterranean setting, offering some particularly beautiful shots as the characters move about the island. Another strong point is that the filmmakers actually paid attention to the time period in which the film is set; no 1970s-style hairdos and other silly slip-ups that were common in movies of this type.

One thing that is both a plus and a minus in "Evil Under the Sun" is the soundtrack music. It's all Cole Porter music that's been orchestrated for the film, and sometimes it works--the "Anything Goes" cue for when the hotel guests are frolicking, for example--but other times the orchestration is just too bombastic and intrusive to serve the film properly. At too many times--with a scene where James Mason's character is lurking in some bushes--the music calls attention to itself instead of supporting and enhancing what's unfolding in the film.

"Evil in the Sun" is a fine mystery movie--a great entry in the "cozy" genre--and it's made even better by the fact it plays fair with the audience. (I identified the killer even before all the evidence was presented, based on a scene the character shared with Proirot... and, to me, that makes for the best kind of mystery. I love being able to play along!)

Could the detective be the killer?

Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
Starring: Albert Finney, Martin Balsam, Lauren Bacall, Richard Widmark, Anthony Perkins, Sean Connery, Ingrid Bergman, John Gielgud, Wendy Hiller, Jean Pierre Cassel, Michael York, Jacqueline Bisset, and Vanessa Redgrave
Director: Sidney Lumet
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

While traveling westward on the Orient Express, celebrated detective Hercule Poirot (Finney) must solve the murder of an unpleasant passenger as the train is halted by a mudslide. The case is complicated by the fact that virtually none of his fellow passengers are telling the truth or are who they appear to be, and that Poirot is apparently the only person without an iron-clad alibi.


"Murder on the Orient Express" is an excellent adaptation of one of Agatha Christie's best mystery tales. It manages to streamline a very complex and tangled scenario while keeping Christie's original narraive mostly intact. It also features an excellent cast giving great performances, with Albert Finney as the Great Detective, Lauren Bacall as an annoying American widow, and John Gielgud as an acid-tongued gentleman's gentleman being particularly noteworthy.

The weakness of the film is that it's slow in getting underway and that when it's finally got a good head of steam going, the mystery is solved and the movie ends. It causes the viewer to swing from a "get on with it!" sensibility to a "wait... that's all?" mindset. I think that if the movie had been more carefully edited, losing perhaps as little as five or ten minutes of running time during its first act, the film would have carried alot more tension.

That's not to say that what's here isn't good... it's very good and it's definately worth seeing for fans of period films and "cozy" mysteries. (On a personal note, the solution to the mystery in this film really creeped me out as a child, and I partially watched it again to see if it had remained as impactful. I didn't have quite the reaction I remember, but it is well delivered.)

Star-filled Christie adaptation is worth looking into

The Mirror Crack'd (1980)
Starring: Angela Lansbury, Geraldine Chaplin, Rock Hudson, and Elizabeth Taylor
Director: Guy Hamilton
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

When a harmless local from the English village of St. Mary Mead is murdered at a reception held in the honor of visiting Hollywood celebrities (Hudson and Taylor), only the keen mind of spinster detective Miss Marple (Lansbury) can separate the innocent from the guilty and solve a murder mystery with a motive rooted in the hazy past.


"The Mirror Crack'd" in one of the many star-filled Agatha Christie adaptations that were produced during the Sixties, Seventies, and Eighties... and this one has enough stars in it that even Carl Sagan would have been astonished. Even the supporting cast is made up of well-established actors, such as Tony Curtis, Kim Novak, Edward Fox, and Charles Gray.

The amazing collection of talent is supported by a well-written script, and the 105-minute running time of this very excellent example of a cozy mystery movie breezes by in what seems like no time. The spoofing of Hollywood stereotypes is well done in the film, with Taylor, Novak, and Curtis being particularly funny.

On the downside I don't think Lansbury made the best Miss Marple, but that's not so much a negative critique of her performance but a reflection of the fact I don't think she's right for the part; Lansbury simply doesn't have the sort of disarming and completely unassuming aura that a Miss Marple must excude. Lansbury isn't bad in the part, she's just miscast and therefore is doing as well as can be expected.

If you like these sorts of movies--be they Christie adaptations or originals--you'll find that "The Mirror Crack'd" is one of the better of its kind. The only truly bad part of the film is the musical soundtrack. I think the composer mistook St. Mary Mead for Chicago, and no one had the heart to tell him.

All-star cast presents 'Death on the Nile'

Death on the Nile (1978)
Starring: Peter Ustinov, Mia Farrow, Olivia Hussey, Simon MacCorkindal, Maggie Smith, Jane Birkin,Angela Lansbury, Jack Warden, Bette Davis, David Niven, and George Kennedy
Director: John Guillermin
Rating: Nine of Ten Stars

When the very rich and very obnoxious Louise Bourget (Birken) is murdered while on her honeymoon cruise on the River Nile, master detective Hercule Poirot (Ustinov) must pick through a ship full of clues (and suspects, each with solid motives for murdering Louise). But what are the motives for the other murder that soon follows? Is is even connected to the first? Will the great detective finally be stumped?


"Death of the Nile" is one of the very best Agatha Christie adaptations to ever be filmed. It's beautifully filmed, with an all-star cast who are all excellent in the roles--with Ustinov as Poirot and Mia Farrow as a one-time best friend of the victim, now turned stalker of her and her husband (MacCorkindale) giving particularly fine performances.

The film is also noteworthy for its shocking violence. It's not that the movie is gory, but it's the fact that nearly every violent act comes without warning and is bound to make the viewer jump, even if you're intimately familiar with the novel upon which the film is based.

It's a film worth checking out by anyone who enjoys a good murder mystery.

Thirteen remains an unlucky number

Thirteen at Dinner (1986)
Starring: Peter Ustinov, Jonathan Cecil, Faye Dunaway, David Suchet, Bill Nighy, Lee Horsely and Diane Keen
Director: Lou Antonio
Rating: Six of Ten Stars

When Lord Edgeware is found stabbed to death, Belgian detective Hercule Poirot (Ustinov) has to solve a case where the most likely suspect, the victim's wife (Dunaway) has an unshakeable alibi. What's more, Proirot himself insured that she doesn't have a clear motive either.


"Thirteen at Dinner" sees the actor to best capture Agatha Christie's most fussy detective portray him in an adaptation of "Lord Edgware Dies" that's been been updated to the mid-1980s, with the film starting with Poirot making a guest appearance on television talk show where he first encounters some of those who will play central roles in the multiple murders that will be committed within short order.

This is a high quality production that takes a story originally set during the late 1920s and early 1930s and seamlessly updates it to the 1980s. With a cast of extremely talented British actors and the look and feel of a cinematic release, only the obvious "dramatic pauses" where the commercial breaks and occassional, super-brief recaps of what late-comers may have missed (through characters reviewing what they about the case with each other) give away the fact that the movie originated on American television.

Peter Ustinov is excellent as always in the role of Poirot and his interplay with Jonathan Cecil as Hastings adds great humor to the film (although Cecil's overly fey portrayal of Hastings leads one to wonder if perhaps the two are a different sort of longtime companions). Another remarkable castmember is David Suchet who will start playing Poirot in the long-running ITV/KBGH series in the 1990s, who is here seen as Inspector Japp.

The only noteworthy complaint I have about "Thirteen for Dinner" is that I had the entire mystery even before the first murder had actually occured. I was made the same wrong deduction regarding one of the characters that Poirot did, but I figured out everything else. I don't know if I knew the answer to the mystery because I've read "Lord Edgware Dies" at some point, or perhaps seen the version starring David Suchet, or whetherthe plot is really that obvious, but having figured it all out early on did make the movie a little less fun for me than it could have been.

Still, I recommend it for those who enjoy Agatha Christie mysteries (and similar type detective literature and shows.)