GOOD NEW MOVIE: A HAUNTING IN VENICE

A HAUNTING IN VENICE (2023). Director: Kenneth Branagh.

Tina Fey and Kenneth Branagh

Now living in Venice after WW2, Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh) is importuned by old friend, the writer Ariadne Oliver (Tina Fey), to attend a seance in a supposedly haunted palazzo. Ariadne dares Hercule to expose the medium, a woman named Joyce Reynolds (Michelle Yeoh). The resident of the palazzo is a famous opera soprano, Rowena Drake (Kelly Reilly), whose grown daughter apparently committed suicide by throwing herself into the canal. Poirot is a bit disoriented by strange sights and sounds, but absolutely does not believe in the supernatural. More than one murder occurs, and Poirot himself is nearly drowned bobbing for apples (although it is highly unlikely that the fastidious and germ-phobic Poirot would ever dunk his noggin in a tub where other people have already done the same). Suspects include Dr.  Ferrier (Jamie Donan); the housekeeper Olga (Camille Cottin); the dead daughter's former fiance Maxime Gerard (Kyle Allen); and several others, even Ariadne. Eventually, Poirot will figure out the solution and ferret out the murderer. 

Agatha Christie purists may have a problem with A Haunting in Venice -- which is very loosely based on Hallowe'en Party, (the only real similarity is that a Halloween party does indeed take place) -- but I found the movie quite enjoyable. While Branagh, who does a good job directing the picture, can't compare to David Suchet (or even Peter Ustinov) as Poirot, the movie is handsomely produced, well-photographed, and generally well-acted. Tina Fey is good as the novelist, although she doesn't even attempt a British accent. One cast member I was impressed by was little Jude Hill as the precocious Leopold, son of the good doctor. Michelle Yeoh also scores as the medium, who talks right up to the great Poirot in their absorbing scenes together. I think people who disliked this movie were put off by its old-fashioned tone -- just right for this kind of story -- but I found the mystery to be compelling and the solution quite clever. 

Verdict: So far the best of the Branagh-Poirot movies. ***. 

ENDLESS NIGHT

Hywel Bennett and Hayley Mills

ENDLESS NIGHT (1972). Director: Sidney Gilliat. 

Michael Rogers (Hywel Bennett) drives wealthy people across Europe but wants a better life for himself. He greatly admires a piece of property called Gypsy's Acre in a small English village, and dreams of having his dying architect friend, Santonix (Per Oscarsson), design a house for him there. Dreams do come true after Michael meets and falls for Ellie Thomson (Hayley Mills), a lovely young woman who turns out to be an American heiress. Michael is disturbed by the discrepancy in their incomes, but Ellie is determined to marry him, despite her family's and advisors' objections. She is helped in her goal by her friend, Greta (Britt Ekland), who becomes an unwelcome presence in the couple's lives after they tie the knot. Santonix does design a magnificent house for them on the desired property, but events occur which make them feel ill at ease. Then there's a death ... 

Bennett with George Sanders

Endless Night is based on the novel by Agatha Christie, one of the author's personal favorites, and it is a suspenseful and especially well-written book which is told, as in the film version, from the point of view of Michael. Endless Night is quite well-acted by all the participants -- George Sanders adds a touch of class as a deceptively friendly lawyer -- the house is something to see (particularly the inside of it), and the viewer may or may not catch on to the twist that occurs at the finale. 

Britt Ekland with Mills

The trouble is that Endless Night is just blah. There's only one possible twist, not a lot of serious suspects, and the whole production just comes off as second-rate. Even Bernard Herrmann's score seems to consist of snatches from other and better movies. Bennett and Mills first worked together in The Family Way, then reunited for Twisted Nerve and then this film. Hayley Mills married Roy Boulting, who was 33 years older than her, and it is said that his choices for her all but ruined her career. Mills is still acting although her profile is comparatively low today. Bennett passed away in 2017. Britt Ekland's [The Wicker Man] last credit was in 2006. 

Verdict: Read the novel instead. **1/2.

FILMS I JUST COULDN'T FINISH ROUND FIVE

FILMS I JUST COULDN'T FINISH ROUND FIVE. 

As noted previously, these are not reviews, per se, but notes on films that I watched or suffered through until I just gave up on them for one reason or another. Sometimes I skipped to different sections just to get a sense of what was going on or to see if the film became more entertaining. Not all of these pictures are necessarily bad, they just didn't hold my attention. If you see one on the list that you think deserves another look, let me know.

The Spider's Web (1960) is based on a play by Agatha Christie but I could hardly finish a quarter of it when I turned it off. Glynis Johns is irritating and the whole flick comes off as a witless sitcom. I couldn't care less who murdered the man found in a closet.  

FX-18 (1964) is a poor Eurospy film with Ken Clark of Attack of the Giant Leeches playing a womanizing agent sent to Majorca to smash a spy ring that operates out of a yacht. Clark is okay in the part but the picture's pace is too slow and there is no style whatsoever. 

Secret Agent FX-18 /aka The Exterminators/1965)-- not to be confused with the just plain FX-18 -- stars Richard Wyler as another Eurospy who deals with sinister Egyptian agents, a French rocket, assorted thugs and the like, but the picture never amounts to much in spite of a lot of running around in different locales. 

Fireball 500  (1966) teams Frankie Avalon and Fabian Forte as rival race car drivers with songs, giggling gals, romance, and the like thrown into the mix but after awhile you realize there really isn't much to this picture. 

The Spy with Ten Faces (1966) stars Paul Hubschmid ("Paul Christian" in The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms) as "UpperSeven," a super-spy who wears so many masks that his enemies don't really know what he looks like. This device, borrowed from old pulp stories and serials, might be the only really interesting element of this mediocre eurospy flick, directed by super-hack Alberto De Martino. Although Hubschmid is fine in the lead and there are some good scenes, this is not a contender. 

I gave up on The Man from O.R.G.Y.  (1970) rather quickly, although I did try to stick it out for my customary quarter of the running time. This stars Robert Walker (Jr.) as a weird agent for a sex-based organization called O.R.G.Y. Walker is assigned to find three young heiresses who have a strange tattoo and gets involved in ludicrous, allegedly kinky scenarios. A complete waste of celluloid. 

I had wanted to see the strangely-titled Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things about Me?  (1971) for decades but was sorry when I did. With a poor and silly script by Herb Gardner, and an off-putting style from director Ulu Grosbard, this movie about a singer (Dustin Hoffman) who is supposedly bedeviled by a person saying bad things about him to his friends, never becomes remotely compelling. Leading Lady Barbara Harris shows up very late in the film but although she was inexplicably nominated for a supporting actress Oscar for this stinker, she's hardly enough to save this mess. 

The Sender (1982) is about a strange young man who tries to drown himself and winds up in a mental hospital where a woman tries to treat him despite his odd, almost supernatural, abilities. Despite the presence of Shirley Knight and the talented Zeljko Ivanek in his first starring role, this movie is so slowww and dull that I gave up on it halfway through. 

Fatal Instinct (1993) was meant to be a spoof of Fatal Attraction and Basic Instinct, and I must say Armand Assante, Kate Nelligan, and Sean Young are right on-target in their performances, but this is basically a Carol Burnett Show spoof stretched out to over an hour and a half  -- after awhile this Carl Reiner-directed comedy begins to wear very thin. 

The Nurse (1997) stars Lisa Zane as a woman who comes to care for a paralyzed man she feels is responsible for the death of her father. No one in the movie seems to realize how awful the situation is for the patient, who can't move or speak but is able to think constantly about his horrible predicament. Eventually this whole situation becomes irritating, but in any case the movie doesn't grip.

The Woods (2006) has a young lady being sent to an exclusive girls' school where she has to contend with bitchy classmates, weird teachers, and the possibility of witches in the woods. This horror film may have been intended for a teen audience, but it just didn't hold the interest of this adult viewer. 

Triangle (2009) features a young woman with an autistic son who goes on a yachting party with a guy she's dating and his friends. They wind up on a deserted ocean liner where someone appears to be killing them off. Instead of a linear and tense suspense film, which this could easily have been, writer-director Christopher Smith gets metaphysical, silly, and unoriginal -- and creates a mess, The movie is professionally shot, acted, and directed -- quite well made, in fact -- but seeing the same scenes from multiple points of view quickly becomes tedious. The movie attempts to add some depth and poignancy relating to the little boy, but the screenplay is awkward, and all told, poor. After an hour I skipped to the end.

Nerve (2013) concerns a man who learns his wife is having an affair shortly before she is killed in a car crash. He becomes friends with a hooker and visits his psychiatrist regularly after having a nervous breakdown. I gave this alleged thriller more than twenty dull minutes waiting for something of interest to happen, but the placid style and slow pacing was so off-putting that I found myself longing to switch to anything, even an umpteenth rerun of Dr. Phil. I skipped ahead to see what the "alleged" twist was all about and am glad I didn't waste another full hour actually sitting through this.

The Last Days on Mars (2013) has astronauts planning to leave the "red planet" when they come across some kind of dangerous contagion. When the actors began foaming at the mouth and attacking everyone like something out of Night of the Living Dead I figured this was another trip to the well I didn't need and switched it off. 

78/52 Hitchcock's Shower Scene (2017) is a documentary about Psycho, especially the famous shower murder sequence. Well after about fifteen minutes I gave up on this. I mean, there was some pretentious film journalist babbling on about the movie along with minor celebrities like Elijah Wood and Bret Easton Ellis offering their opinions and whose observations were neither insightful nor interesting  -- who cares? 

Normally I love monster movies but I quit Rampage (2018), despite some good FX work, about a quarter of the way in because it came off like just another "Rock/Duane Johnson" action movie that I felt I had seen once too often. Just had no great desire to see it to the end. 

Although I did like Inglourious Basterds (with reservations), I still don't count myself among the fans of Quentin Tarantino. Nevertheless I checked out Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood  (2019) because people I know and whose opinions I generally trust recommended the film, so I gave this tedious and meandering movie a try. Everyone said that the ending was a knock out, and that may be the case, but I just couldn't stick around until it got there -- there were too many other films I really wanted to look it. I may return to this some day, but for now ... Besides, even if the ending is good that may not justify how long it takes to arrive there. 

Other pictures I stopped watching or skimmed through include: I'm From Arkansas with Bruce Bennett; Carnival Lady (1933); and the "eurospy" pictures Red Dragon with Stewart Granger; Secret Agent Fireball with Ray Danton; Agent OO3: Operation Atlantis with John Ericson; Dick Smart 2.007 with Richard Wyler;, The Big Blackout; Kommissar X: Death Trip; and Kommissar X: Operation Pakistan.

TEN LITTLE INDIANS (1965)

Hugh O'Brian and Shirley Eaton

TEN LITTLE INDIANS (1965). Director: George Pollock. 

Ten people, including two servants, are given invitations to work or play at an isolated estate located high atop a mountain and accessible only by cable car. They discover the strange nursery rhyme about "ten little Indians" in each of their rooms The mysterious voice (Christopher Lee) of their unseen host declares that they have each gotten away with killing someone, and now it is time to pay the piper. The first to go is singer Mike Raven (Fabian), who ran over two people and barely got a slap on the wrist -- he dies by arsenic -- and then more murders occur, somehow each corresponding to the method of death mentioned in the rhyme. Will anyone be left alive? 

Leon Genn and most of the group

George Pollock had previously directed four Agatha Christie "Miss Marple" adaptations, and he does a good job adapting her "And Then There Were None/Ten Little Indians" to the screen. While I might have preferred a little more tension, this is not quite as "cutesy" -- for lack of a better word -- as the forties film And Then There Were None. Hugh O'Brian pretty much smirks his way through the movie, as if he were above it all (which he isn't), but his performance is adequate, although the other cast members are more on target. Stanley Holloway, Shirley Eaton, Dennis Price, Leo Genn, and Mario Adorf (as the houseman) deliver adept performances, while Fabian gets an "A" for effort and Wilfrid Hyde White seems to think he's back in that forties adaptation and can best be described as annoyingly impish. Surprisingly Daliah Lavi has a very good turn as the high-maintenance actress Ilona Bergen, and comes through in her scene when she admits all about her past. As the cook and housekeeper Marianne Hoppe is, perhaps, a bit too hysterical. 

Dennis Price and Wilfrid Hyde White

This version transplants the story from an island to a mountaintop and two of the murders center on falls from great heights, one in a cable car whose cable snaps, and the other while a character attempts a climb down the mountain to get help; these are well-handled, and the film has genuine suspense. O'Brian and Eaton are given a love scene that seems a bit out of place. Malcolm Lockyer's jazzy score does little for the picture, but the lensing is sharp thanks to cinematographer Ernest Stewart. This was George Pollock's last theatrical feature. 

Verdict: Very entertaining Christie picture with some fine performances. ***, 

MURDER SHE SAID

 MURDER SHE SAID (1961). Director: George Pollock. 

Jane Marple (Agatha Christie) is on a train when she happens to glance out the window and see a couple on another train passing by. She witnesses the man strangling the lady just before the train moves on ahead and is lost to view! Miss Marple can't convince the authorities that anyone has actually been killed -- there's no body, for instance -- so she decides the corpse must have been thrown off the train at a certain point and may be secreted at a nearby estate. The plucky oldster decides to get employment as a maid at this estate, find the dead body, and figure out which of the people associated with the estate could be responsible for the murder. We have crusty old Ackenthorpse (James Robertson Justice), his daughter Emma (Muriel Pavlow), his sons Cedric (Thorley Walters) and Harold (Conrad Phillips), and son-in-law Eastley (Ronald Howard). Others involved with the family include the creepy hand Albert (Gerald Cross); the cook, Mrs. Kidder (Joan Hickson, who later played Miss Marple herself and probably offered the best interpertation of the character); the family doctor, Quimper (Arthur Kennedy); and Eastley's strange son, Alexander (Ronnie Raymond; dubbed by Martin Stephens). Inspector Craddock (Charles Tingwell) doesn't appreciate Miss Marple's poking her nose into things, and she has a couple of nasty moments -- and more murders -- before she uncovers the truth. 

Margaret Rutherford with husband Stringer Davis

Murder She Said was the first of four films starring Rutherford as Miss Marple. Agatha Christie did not approve of the casting and didn't especially care for the movie, but she eventually became an admirer and friend of Rutherford's. Rutherford cast her husband, Stringer Davis, as Miss Marple's friend and romantic interest Mr. Stringer in all four of the movies, three of which were based on Christie novels. This film was based on "4:50 from Paddington." The American title was "What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw," as it was this character, an old friend of Jane's, who actually sees the murder on the train. 

Joan Hickson later played Miss Marple to great effect

Murder She Said is an entertaining, well-played picture and it doesn't stray that far from Christie's novel (except Miss Marple has a helpmate take the position on the estate, reporting to her, instead of doing it herself, and there's an additional murder). While not as good as Christie's book, it is a worthwhile picture, and may offer up a surprise or two for those unfamiliar with the original. While not the perfect representation of Miss Marple, Rutherford is still marvelous. The novel was more of a black comedy than anything else, so it makes sense that the tone of this picture is similar. 

Verdict: Fun! ***

GOOD NEW MOVIE: CROOKED HOUSE

CROOKED HOUSE (2017). Director: Gilles Paquet-Brenner.

When the wealthy and elderly Aristide Leonides is found dead in his bed, his grand-daughter, Sophia (Stefanie Martini), importunes old boyfriend and private eye Charles Hayward (Max Irons) to look into things and discovers the man was poisoned. Suspicion immediately falls upon Brenda (Christina Hendricks), Leonides' much, much younger wife, who was having an affair with the tutor, Laurence (John Heffernan), but there are other suspects as well: Leonides' sons Philip (Julian Sands) and Roger (Christian McKay), and his grandson Eustace (Preston Nyman); their respective wives Magda, the actress (Gillian Anderson), and Clemency (Amanda Abbington); and the spinster aunt, Lady Edith (Glenn Close). Trying to assist Charles as he interviews everyone in the house is young Josephine (Honor Kneafsey), who is keeping a journal as she tries to find out "who-dun-it" before Charles does, but her efforts may get her into trouble -- or worse.

Glenn Close

Crooked House is a good adaptation of an excellent 1949 novel by Agatha Christie, and it builds in suspense and power as it goes along. The actors who make the best impression are the best-known: Terence Stamp [Superman II] in the small role of a Scotland Yard inspector; Glenn Close as the somewhat eccentric but likable aunt; and Gillian Anderson [The X Files] as the flighty tippling actress who isn't much of a mother to her three children. Close and Anderson's characterizations border on caricature at times, but they are both fun, although there are times Close seems to be channeling Cruella de Vil. Max Irons, son of Jeremy Irons, is competent enough, but his performance lacks charisma and intensity. Most of the other performers are quite good. The film is handsomely mounted, with especially striking art direction, although sometimes the players seem rather lost in the very wide-screen photography. Apparently the story takes place in the 1950's, which explains the rock 'n' roll, but the atmosphere and fashions are very thirties. Paquet-Brenner also directed Dark Places.

Verdict: Creditable Agatha Christie adaptation is not as good as the book, but worth viewing in any case. ***. 

HALLOWE'EN PARTY

The Perfect Poirot: David Suchet

HALLOWE'EN PARTY (2011). Director: Charlie Palmer. (This is episode 2 of season 12 of Agatha Christie's Poirot.)

Mystery writer Ariadne Oliver (Zoe Wanamaker of Mrs. McGinty's Dead) contacts her friend, Belgian detective Hercule Poirot (David Suchet), when a murder occurs in a village where she is visiting. The victim is a young girl who was drowned in a tub meant for the bobbing of apples at a Halloween party. Shortly before she was killed, the child, Joyce (Macy Nyman), was telling people that she had once witnessed a murder. Poirot investigates any past occurrences and accidents that may have been homicides, and uncovers a number of village secrets. Along with Ariadne, Poirot is a guest of widowed Judith Butler (Amelia Bullmore), who has a daughter named Miranda (Mary Higgins). Joyce's brother, Leopold (Richard Breislin) confides that he never much liked his sister. Other characters include Rowena Drake (Deborah Findlay), whose home was the sight of the Halloween party; Michael Garfield (Julian Rhind-Tutt), who designs fabulous gardens for wealthy clients; the town gossip Miss Whittaker (Fenella Woolgar); and others. David Suchet is simply superb as Poirot, the only actor to ever completely capture the character as Christie describes him. All of the performances are good (although Wanamaker seems bored through much of the telefilm and doesn't remind one at all of Christie's character), but Findlay and Rhind-Tutt are especially notable. This adaptation makes it explicit that a certain character is a sympathetically-drawn lesbian. This is one of the rare occasions when a Christie adaptation (written by Mark Gatiss) may be even better than the original novel. Christian Henson's score is suitably eerie and effective.

Verdict: Clever, suspenseful, and very well-acted. ***.

APPOINTMENT WITH DEATH

Carrie Fisher and Nicholas Guest

APPOINTMENT WITH DEATH (1988). Producer/director: Michael Winner

In 1937 Emily Boynton (Piper Laurie), a former prison wardress, rules over her family after her husband's death with an iron fist. The American family consists of two attractive stepdaughters, Carol (Valerie Richards) and Ginevra (Amber Bezer), and two strikingly good-looking stepsons, Raymond (John Terlesky), who is single, and Lennox (Nicholas Guest), who is married to Nadine (Carrie Fisher). Vacationing in the Holy Land with the rest of his family, Raymond finds himself attracted to Dr. Sarah King (Jenny Seagrove), who is appalled by the domineering behavior of his stepmother. Then there's a murder, and Hercule Poirot (Peter Ustinov) is conveniently on the scene to  ferret out the killer  ... Appointment with Death is a mediocre adaptation of one of Agatha Christie's best murder mysteries, though the film does boast some interesting settings and decent performances. Piper Laurie [Dario Argento's Trauma] is probably the cast standout, and we've also got Lauren Bacall in a superficial turn as Lady Westholme; Sir John Gielgud wasted as an elderly colonel; Michael Craig barely putting in an appearance as Lord Peel; Hayley Mills [The Family Way] fine as a traveling companion of Lady Westholme's; and David Soul [The Disappearance of Flight 412] effective enough as Jefferson Cope, the family lawyer with a shady past. More or less faithful to the novel, the screenwriters invent some stuff but director Winner fails to give the film very much suspense. Ustinov's performance is too fussy by far.

Verdict: Okay, but stick with the book if you love Christie. **1/2.

DEATH ON THE NILE

Bette Davis, David Niven, Peter Ustinov

DEATH ON THE NILE 

(1978). Director: John Guillermin.

"It's been my experience that men are least attracted to women who treat them well."

Following the success of the first screen adaptation of Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express, it was decided to do another big-scale, star-studded, somewhat overblown adaptation of a Christie novel with Peter Ustinov taking over the role of the great Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. This has an interesting hook: Having stolen away her friend Jacqueline's (Mia Farrow) boyfriend, Simon (Simon MacCorkindale of Jaws 3-D), Linnet Ridgeway (Lois Chiles) finds herself and her new spouse being followed everywhere by Jackie while on their Egyptian honeymoon. Poirot, also on the same tour, warns Jacqueline that she may be heading for disaster, and indeed there's foul play afoot and more than one murder. In her modest and entertaining novel, Christie was wise enough not to make virtually everyone on board the ship a suspect, but screenwriter Anthony Shaffer makes the mistake of giving almost everyone a motive, as unlikely as that sounds. Death on the Nile is way too long, but it is handsomely produced, well-photographed by Jack Cardiff, and has a very nice score by Nino Rota. Ustinov is not the perfect Poirot, but he is acceptable. Among the very large cast, the stand-outs are Maggie Smith [Clash of the Titans], as Bette Davis' put-upon nurse-servant, and Angela Lansbury as the soused authoress, Salome Otterbourne. Everyone else is competent enough, but unremarkable. Bette Davis doesn't so much give a performance, but play "Grand Lady," one suspects as much for the cast and crew as for the audience. One could argue that Mia Farrow seems to give better performances in Woody Allen movies than in ones she makes with other directors. Christie later used a certain similar plot device in Evil Under the Sun. NOTE: A remake of this film is scheduled for 2019.

Verdict: Quite entertaining mystery is good to look at with a few fun performances and humor. ***.  

EVIL UNDER THE SUN

Peter Ustinov and Maggie Smith

EVIL UNDER THE SUN (1982). Director: Guy Hamilton.

"Even in the old days she would throw her legs up higher than anyone -- and wider." Daphne referring to Arlena.

At a resort run by former showgirl Daphne Castle (Maggie Smith), one of the guests is a former colleague and now star, Arlena Marshall (Diana Rigg of The Avengers). Although married, Arlena is fooling around with Patrick Redfern (Nicholas Clay), who is also married, to the plain-Jane Christine (Jane Birkin of Seven Deaths in the Cats Eye). When Arlena is strangled in an isolated cove, the suspects also include her wannabee biographer Rex Brewster (Roddy McDowall), and the producing team of Myra and Odell Gardener (Sylvia Miles and James Mason). Then there's Arlena's husband, Kenneth (Denis Quilley) and his obnoxious young daughter, Linda (Emily Hone). It is up to the famous Belgian detective Hercule Poirot (Peter Ustinov) to find out who the true murderer is. Evil Under the Sun is another over-produced, not quite "all-star" Agatha Christie adaptation, with a script by Anthony Shaffer that makes some changes but doesn't do too much damage to the novel. Overlong, the movie is very slow-paced and often dull, although some of the actors, especially Maggie Smith [Downton Abbey] and James Mason, do their best to keep things interesting with their performances. Mason and Sylvia Miles certainly make a very odd pair, and Miles is vivid if typically vulgar. McDowall does his usual middle-aged fop act. Ustinov is not the perfect Poirot, but he is amusing at times, and indeed the movie often plays like a parody. The picture only really picks up in the final quarter when Poirot assembles the suspects and reveals the clever solution, which (as usual) works better on the printed page than spelled out in wide screen and TechniColor. Still, it sends the audience out possibly fooled into thinking they've seen a better movie than they actually have. The film has absolutely none of the suspense of the novel, and you probably won't even care who killed Arlena. Rigg is excellent as the victim, and Clay and Birkin also make their mark as her lover and his discarded spouse. Smith's character refers to McDowall's with a stupid comment about "cherchez la fruit." The score consists of adaptations of the songs of Cole Porter. Since Porter's bouncy music is hardly appropriate for an alleged movie of suspense and intrigue, it almost kills the movie, lovely tunes notwithstanding, right there. Ustinov also played Poirot in Dead Man's Folly, which was a better Christie adaptation than this.

Verdict: Read Christie's book instead for a much more entertaining experience. **1/2.

AND THEN THERE WERE NONE (1945)

Walter Huston and Barry Fitzgerald

AND THEN THERE WERE NONE (1945). Director: Rene Clair.

Several people receive invitations to the very isolated Indian island, and find themselves accused of murder and of escaping justice. One by one, in accordance with a nursery rhyme on "Ten Little Indians," the members of the party are killed as the diminishing survivors become increasingly paranoid. This somewhat light-hearted version of Agatha Christie's classic novel has perhaps too much humor, and changes the grim and uncompromising ending of the book, but it manages to work up considerable suspense along with atmosphere and a certain tension. The actors are generally good, with Barry Fitzgerald as a judge, Walter Huston as a doctor, Louis Hayward as an adventurer, June Duprez [The Brighton Strangler] as a secretary, and Judith Anderson [Rebecca] as a prim and proper if rather heartless middle-aged woman. Richard Haydn [Dear Wife], C. Aubrey Smith, and Roland Young also have important roles. Most of the actors have been directed to play it rather "cute," but for the large part Clair's direction is quite adroit. Christie created her own little sub-genre with this very influential book, which was filmed several times both as "And Then There Were None" and "Ten Little Indians." Most of these were pretty bad. There was a creditable British mini-series in 2015.

Verdict: The fascinating and macabre situation carries this along. ***.

POIROT: CARDS ON THE TABLE

David Suchet and the rest of the cast

POIROT: CARDS ON THE TABLE (2006 telefilm). Director: Sarah Harding.

The enigmatic Shaitana (Alexander Siddig) invites three detectives, including Hercule Poirot (David Suchet) and the mystery writer Ariadne Oliver (Zoe Wanamaker) to dinner along with four individuals -- two men and two women -- whom Shaitana suspects of murder. Later on they divide into two groups to play bridge, and during one of the rubbers the host is quietly murdered. Now Poirot and the other sleuths must investigate the background of the guests to determine who may have killed in the past, and who then presumably killed Shaitana to protect themselves. This adaptation of Agatha Christie's excellent novel suffers because screenwriter Nick Dear thinks he is more clever than the Grand Dame of Mystery, making stupid changes in the story that only weaken the whole project. Like many others, Dear thinks introducing a homoerotic element will make the story seem more "modern" [thankfully it's a period piece, taking place more or less at the same time as the novel], but in this case it only makes it distinctly more dated, even homophobic. Worse, some of Dear's changes make nonsense out of some of the sequences that remain [for instance, without giving too much away, we're supposed to believe that a woman who detests her doctor and wants him brought up on charges will actually go to him to get her inoculations for traveling out of the country! When she probably wouldn't even want to be in the same room with him? Did no one involved in the production ever protest this development?] Dear also makes two of the characters related to one another, as they were not in the novel, in hindsight making their scenes together ridiculous, and also switches the character traits of two other characters for no good purpose. [Changes are fine if they improve a piece or make it more cinematic, but this is sheer arrogant stupidity.] At least the production is smooth and Suchet is as wonderful as ever as Poirot; the rest of the cast is also excellent with Siddig as Shaitana and Alex Jennings as Dr. Roberts especially notable. Zoe Wanamaker seems a little bit closer to Christie's alter ego Ariadne Oliver in this outing, but is still not quite right. Like most of these Poirot episodes this one is entertaining enough but the smarmy changes to the story were certainly ill-advised.

Verdict: Stick with the novel. **.

THE MIRROR CRACK'D

Novak, Hudson and Taylor

THE MIRROR CRACK'D (1980).  Director: Guy Hamilton.  Based on "The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side" by Agatha Christie.

"Chin up, darling -- both of them!"

Move star Marina Gregg (Elizabeth Taylor) and her director husband Jason Rudd (Rock Hudson) have taken over a British country estate while in England to film Marina's comeback film when during a party a young fan (Maureen Bennett) talking to Marina is given a poisoned drink and dies. It isn't long before it is determined that Marina was the true target of the poison -- or was she?  Miss Marple (Angela Lansbury) asks questions while her nephew, an Inspector (Edward Fox), investigates, but it's sure bet who'll solve the case first. Agatha Christie got the germ of her idea from an actual tragic incident that happened to actress Gene Tierney, although Marina does not seem otherwise based on that particular movie star. Taylor is perfect casting as the difficult, whiny, needy fading actress going to fat, but that is not to say her performance is any more than passable. Kim Novak is better and much more fun as a movie rival of Marina's who trades bitchy remarks with her. Hudson is okay, if a bit dour and superficial, and Tony Curtis is fun enough as a vulgar producer.  Geraldine Chaplin is Rudd's suspicious secretary, and Charles Gray is his butler. This is better than another adaptation done on Masterpiece Mystery in 2010. Lansbury looks more like Miss Marple than Margaret Rutherford did, but she's not as funny nor meant to be.

Verdict: At least it has an interesting cast and Novak looks sensational. ***.

BY THE PRICKING OF MY THUMBS

BY THE PRICKING OF MY THUMBS (2006 telefilm). Director: Peter Medak. Shown on Mystery on PBS.

"It wasn't your poor child?"

Presented as part of the "Miss Marple" series, this is actually based on Agatha Christie's novel of the same name -- in which Miss Marple does not appear. Pricking was actually a mystery in which the protagonists, included in the telefilm along with the old gal, were Tommy and Tuppence Beresford, who had previously appeared in other Christie works. The pair visit a grouchy aunt in a nursing home when another woman asks Tuppence about a "child" and intimates that one was murdered long ago. When this woman disappears, Tuppence becomes concerned about her and asks Miss Marple for her help in tracking her down. From then on the story only bears a passing resemblance to the far superior one in Christie's clever novel, although screenwriter Stewart Harcourt retains some elements and has added some depth to the characterizations [he's also made Tuppence a closet drinker]. The story has been pushed back to war time, making it a period piece, which the novel definitely wasn't. However, this is an entertaining alternate version that is reasonably satisfying as a mystery. Anthony Edwards plays Tommy, but he appears very little. Geraldine McEwan is quite good as Marple, as is Greta Scacchi as a middle-aged Tuppence. Charles Dance nearly walks off with the movie as the minister Septimus Bligh. I didn't even realize that was Claire Bloom playing Aunt Ada until I saw the cast list.

Verdict: Not genuine Christie, but entertaining on its own terms. ***.

THE MIRROR CRACK'D FROM SIDE TO SIDE -- MISS MARPLE

MISS MARPLE: THE MIRROR CRACK'D FROM SIDE TO SIDE (2010/Masterpiece Mystery). Director: Tom Shankland.

"I wouldn't hold my breath for a sequel."

This is the third adaptation of Agatha Christie's 1962 Miss Marple novel that was inspired by an incident in the life of actress Gene Tierney [there have been two television adaptations and one theatrical film]. Film star Marina Gregg (Lindsay Duncan), fresh from a nervous breakdown, is starting a new film in England and has just moved into the former home of Dolly Bantry (Joanna Lumley). At an elegant affair that Gregg gives in her new home, the comparatively dowdy Heather Badcock (Caroline Quentin) tells her that she left a sick bed just to see her years ago, and a few minutes afterward is dead by poison. Who want want to murder the self-absorbed if inoffensive Mrs. Badcock -- or was the real target Marina Gregg as she insists? Miss Marple (Julia McKenzie, who only seems slightly over middle age and not that "elderly") investigates and seems to come up with a solution without hardly ever leaving her home. Despite a clever and entertaining premise, the novel was not necessarily one of Christie's better ones [the writer couldn't resist one last twist that defied credibility and is generally left out of the adaptations, as it is in this one] but this adaptation is much worse, and isn't even especially entertaining. McKenzie makes an acceptable Miss Marple, Duncan is more than acceptable as Marina, and an overblown Lumley acts as if she thinks that she's still appearing in her series Absolutely Fabulous or that she's playing the movie star. [She certainly doesn't come off as Dolly Bantry, who appeared in more than one Christie novel.] Although Marina's husband is described as being ugly and clown-like in the novel, he's played in this by handsome Nigel Harman. Samuel Barnett makes an impression as Sgt. Tiddler, as does Quentin as the unfortunate Heather Badcock. The whole thing seems disjointed and poorly put together.

Verdict: An unfortunate Christie adaptation that won't garner her any more fans. **.

DEAD MAN'S FOLLY

DEAD MAN'S FOLLY (1986 telefilm). Director: Clive Donner.

"Hattie is a completely self-absorbed person. She wouldn't think of sending cough drops to Camille."

Hercule Poirot (Peter Ustinov) is invited by mystery writer Ariadne Oliver (Jean Stapleton) to a fete with a murder game at the estate of Sir George Stubbs (Tim Pigott-Smith) and his dumb, decorative wife Hattie (Nicolette Sheridan), plus a variety of suspicious guests and staff. When the "victim" of the murder game is actually murdered, Inspector Bland (Kenneth Cranham) is called in -- but of course he's no match for Poirot when it comes to solving homicides. Cherubic Ustinov is not as perfect for the role as is David Suchet, but he's still quite good and very entertaining as the Belgian detective. About to get into a boat, he tells Arthur Hastings (Jonathan Cecil) to "Get in first -- Tell me if it's dangerous!" Jean Stapleton is also fine as Oliver, who is turned into an American author ("Ariadne Oliver" was actually an in-joke by Christie meant to be very British Agatha Christie herself). Constance Cummings scores as Mrs. Folliat, who used to own the estate and now lives in (a pretty luxurious) guest cottage. The rest of the large cast is more than competent. This adaptation of one of Christie's best mysteries is at times much too comic in tone, but it is absorbing and generally well-made. In the novel Christie withheld the solution practically until the last paragraph; there was no scene with Poirot gathering together all the suspects, which this telefilm includes for dramatic purposes. Good score by John Addison.

Verdict: The book is better but this is creditable. ***.

MISS MARPLE: A POCKET FULL OF RYE

MISS MARPLE: A POCKET FULL OF RYE (2008). Director: Charles Palmer. Shown on Masterpiece Mystery/PBS. Teleplay by Kevin Elyot.

Miss Marple (Julia McKenzie) investigates when a young lady who once worked for her, Gladys (the unfortunately named Rose Heiney), is found murdered in an uppercrust British household. But Gladys' murder isn't even the first one. Businessman Rex Fortescue is poisoned, found with rye in his pocket, beginning a series of strange and unfortunate events which the police and Miss Marple try to solve (guess who comes up with the solution?) This is a good, pretty faithful adaptation of a very interesting and satisfying Agatha Christie mystery novel. McKenzie plays a somewhat younger and sharper Marple than usual, and is very good in the role. Housekeeper Mrs. Crump is played by Wendy Richard, who once was the "dead common" Shirley in Are You Being Served? The British actors in the cast all know how to play this period piece with the right snap and style.

Verdict: Good show! ***.

POIROT: MRS. MCGINTY'S DEAD

POIROT: MRS MCGINTY'S DEAD (2008). Director: Ashley Pearce. Masterpiece Mystery/PBS.

David Suchet is again marvelous in the role of Agatha Christie's Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, in this fair-to-middling adaptation of one of Christie's best novels. Poirot investigates when a policeman friend confides in him that he doesn't think a man about to be hanged is guilty of the murder he was convicted of, even though the evidence against him seems overwhelming. The case ties in with famous murderesses of the past, and centers on several couples living in the small town where Mrs. McGinty was murdered. Sort of helping Poirot in his efforts is Ariadne Oliver, a mystery writer who was meant to be a parody of Christie herself, only her fictional detective is a Finn. Oliver is played by Zoe Wanamaker, who is kind of gross, at least in this part. Paul Rhys acquits himself nicely as one of the suspects, Robin Upward. This is much more faithful to the novel than the British film Murder Most Foul, but it still can't compare to the book.

Verdict: Mediocre adaptation. **.

MURDER MOST FOUL

MURDER MOST FOUL (1964). Director: George Pollock. 

Although Agatha Christie's excellent mystery novel Mrs. McGinty's Dead featured her Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, for some reason it was decided to turn it into a Miss Marple mystery for the films. Christie herself was not happy with the casting of Margaret Rutherford as the slender Miss Marple [Christie also hated the title], but as a comic variation on the character the lovable Rutherford -- a true original if ever there were one -- is excellent. The film takes only the barest premise from the novel and pretty much comes up with a new -- but not a better -- storyline. Miss Marple is the one hold out on the jury when a man is put on trial for the murder of Mrs. McGinty, who was apparently up to a bit of blackmail. Marple decides to investigate on her own while the police just wish she'd disappear. Instead she joins a small theatrical company where there are a couple more murders. Eventually she reveals the dastardly plot while nearly coming to an end more than once. Charles Tingwell is the handsome and exasperated Inspector Craddock, and Marple's friend and assistant Jim Stringer is played by Stringer (sic) Davis. Ron Moody is the single-minded head of the Cosgood Players. This was the third out of four Rutherford/Marple features. 

Verdict: Pleasant but a far cry from -- and much less interesting than -- the novel. **1/2.

POIROT: CAT AMONG THE PIGEONS

POIROT: CAT AMONG THE PIGEONS (2008). Director: James Kent. Shown on Masterpiece Mystery on PBS.

The brilliant David Suchet is back as Belgian detective Hercule Poirot in this entertaining adaptation of Agatha Christie's excellent mystery Cat Among the Pigeons. In the novel Poirot doesn't show up until the story is practically over, but in this teleplay he turns out to be a friend of one of the major characters and is in for the whole show. The story takes place at a famous British school for girls, where a series of teachers are being brutally murdered. (A javelin is substituted for a gun in one instance.) Harriet Walter is the head of the venerable institution, Miss Bulstrode, and Susan Wooldridge is her able assistant, Miss Chadwick. One of the students comes from a country where there was a revolution and fears she may be a target of assassination, but it's the adults who seem to be dropping like flies all around her. Like most Christie adaptations, this isn't nearly as good as the book, but it does have its moments. Whereas the book had some shuddery sequences, this makes no attempt at creating an eerie atmosphere.

Verdict: Who let the cat out? ***.