Acorn has gathered together some of the various programs
based on the works of Agatha Christie in two volumes for fans. If you know
Christie’s works then you know she is the premier mystery novelist of all time.
Her stories hold your attention providing plenty of clues and suspects in each
case. A suggestion if you read one of her books: don’t read the last few pages.
She always provided the solutions to her mysteries in those last pages if not
always the very last page.
So what has Acorn gathered together here? They being the
first volume with AND THEN THERE WERE NONE. While most of us might recall the
first version of this story made in 1945 with Barry Fitzgerald the story was
filmed numerous times over the years. In this one things are offered quite
differently than in the past.
The same story holds here, a group of strangers receiving an
invitation for a weekend away on a remote island. Some are offered a pleasant
weekend and others employment. None are acquainted with one another. When they
arrive they find a butler and cook on hand but their hosts have yet to arrive.
As they talk they find that none of them has met their hosts. Eventually they
hear a voice over speakers citing each as a murderer with a past. They discover
it was a recording and demand an explanation.
The butler informs them he was instructed to play the record
at a certain time but insists he never met their hosts either. Around the house
are posted copies of a poem about ten little soldiers as well as a centerpiece
on the dining room table of 10 figures. When one of the 8 guests is poisoned,
one of the 10 figures is missing. Included in the accusations were the butler
and cook. Now 1 of 10 is dead and no one knows who is responsible. The body
count continues as one by one each of the guests is murdered. Just who is
responsible isn’t revealed until the final moments of the program.
Having seen several other of the various versions of this
story I wasn’t thrilled with this one. Still set in the same time period of the
book hints of one murder due to the killer being a rejected lesbian,
insinuations that another was anti-gay were not things I recall from the book
and seemed added here to stir controversy. The film also tends to be dismal and
dark from the first moments forward with a foreboding score that runs start to
finish. The original story didn’t turn dark until the murders begin and here it
feels as if a sense of dread begins things.
In the end I wasn’t thrilled with the film even though the
production was well made. The acting was for the most part well done. My
biggest concern here lay with one of the main protagonists/guests, Vera. As
played by Maeve Dermody she is constantly secretive and suspicious making her
the most likely suspect when it never seemed so in previous incarnations of the
story. For me it hurt the production here.
The other two movies included in this set both feature David
Suchet as the famed Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. First up is FIVE LITTLE
PIGS in which Poirot is hired by an heiress to discover who framed her mother
for the murder of her husband that sent her to the gallows.
The story involves a number of guests at a summer party, all
of which who could have been the murderer. An artists, his wife, his mistress,
the man who loves the wife in secret, the man who loves the mistress in secret
and more all have motives. Their stories of that fateful weekend when the
husband was poisoned alter slightly from one another. But Poirot is able to
decipher the clues presented and find the solution to the mystery.
Lastly is DEATH ON THE NILE, another Christie story that’s
been told in feature length before and was just announced as a follow up to
Kenneth Branaugh’s film MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS. This time around Poirot
is aboard a boat cruising up the Nile when one of the guests onboard is
murdered. Once more we have a select group of suspects all located in a small
area, the boat, as Poirot filters his way through the clues that he comes
across. As the group travels down the river attempts on various members lives
are made and follow up murders occur. Secrets about the different guests are
revealed and soon it appears that more than one person had a motive for murder.
But once more Poirot is able to figure out just whodunit.
These last two items were taken from the British series that
ran here in the states on PBS. While a collection of the series is available
their inclusion here provides something extra for Christie fans who might not
be willing or able to buy the entire series. It also provides a way for those
unexposed to them a chance to see what they were like.
I’ve seen a number of people play Poirot starting with Tony
Randall in THE ALPHABET MURDERS back in the sixties. Next came Albert Finney’s
portrayal of him in 1974’s MUDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS, a much acclaimed
performance and film. Then Peter Ustinov played the sleuth in 3 feature films
and 3 more made-for-TV films. Lastly there was the most recent portrayal by
Kenneth Branaugh in the newest MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS. Between Ustinov
and Branaugh though was Suchet’s performance as Poirot from 1989 through 2013.
Suchet provided a more serious Poirot than we’d seen in the
past. Randall’s was played for comedic moments, Finney more serious but
reserved, Ustinov a combination of both and Branaugh now as a bit more active
detective. Suchet provided a classier approach to the character, a cerebral
detective who listens and observes to sift through the clues provided and come
up with the solution to finding the guilty party. His Poirot is a bit more
above it all than the others and displays that self-assured attitude of always
being right. He captures the character brilliantly.
Fans of mysteries will want to add this to their collection
and Christie fans will find it a must have. The production values are above and
beyond what one would expect and help make for a top quality offering. Acorn
has done a fine job of bringing these together for the novice Christie fan as
well as the die hards.
Click here to order.
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