The Agatha Christie Collection (4 Disc Box Set) [DVD]

‘The Agatha Christie Collection’ consists of 4 DVDs – three featuring Hercule Poirot and one featuring Miss Marple. They have become the classic cinematic treatment of the doyen of the detective story and for good reason. They all appeared in less than a decade so why haven’t there been more? The 4 DVDs come into a compact & elegant box. I will deal with the contents individually.‘EVIL UNDER THE SUN’(1982)In this film the audience is presented with two apparently unrelated crimes (the first involves image of a murdered wife and a running witness and the second with the loss of a diamond which leading to an investigation by Poirot well played by Peter Ustinov – although physically he really ISN’T the ‘Belgian sleuth’. The location has been switched from England to the Mediterranean for obvious reasons. The cast are general competent or above – Maggie Smith, Jane Birkin, Diana Rigg and Roddy McDonald being in the latter category. Add into that category Emily Hone for adding ‘life’ to a character which so easily could disappear into ‘the woodwork’. I enjoyed the scenery (enhanced by the camera work) and even more the background music (so fitting for the period – especially the roguish performance of ‘You’re The Tops’). The plot is up to Agatha Christie’s standard and, as one might say, ‘the clues are there’ for the discerning viewer. 5 stars‘THE MIRROR CRACKED’(1980)This film is, in my opinion, the weakest of the four and that largely comes from my impression of Angela Lansbury as Miss Marple, She is far too overwhelming, dominating her scenes, and almost as far from Christie’s creation as possible – I say almost because Margaret Rutherford was worse. Miss Marple, especially as played by Joan Hickson, is a ‘nosy old cat’ well deserving to be styled ‘Nemesis’. She’s at home with her knitting while her brain ferrets away. Angela Lansbury proves incapable of such a performance.Rock Hudson and Elizabeth Taylor put in their standardised ‘star’ performances; both Edward Fox and Tony Curtis are better than usual and Kim Novak the best I’ve seen her. The plot, for Agatha Christie, is quite straightforward and there’s a reasonable attempt to recreate Coronation Year England. 3 stars‘MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS’(1974)The actual murder in this film is so ridiculous that I’ll try not to spoil your discovery of whodunit. However, the film itself is streets ahead of the book itself. Why? The cast and the screen-writing – but is that another chicken-and-egg puzzle? I think it is.The cast is such a ‘galaxy of stars’ that you’ll be dazzled. Albert Finney is outstanding – although my opinion is that David Suchet better captures the idiosyncratic caricature created by Christie. Equally Lauren Bacall, Ingrid Bergman and John Gielguid produce characterisations which persist in the memory – I still laugh over Bergman’s ‘little brown babies born more backwards than I was’’(the line is there anyway but it’s her delivery!). Anthony Perkins is a delightful ‘rabbit’ and Wendy Hillier personifies a creaking relic. Again with Christie the clues are there and Finney’s excitable ‘assistants’ (Balsam and Coularis) delight in leading the audience up a series of garden paths. I’m not quite enraptured by the ending but it’s true to the original, leaving Poirot to do battle with his conscience. 5 stars‘DEATH ON THE NILE’(1978)This film always has a special place for me because of my love of Egypt and its treasures. The acting is superb – the sadistic Bette Davis (matched by her victim, Maggie Smith), the over-the-top Angela Lansbury, the persistent Mia Farrow while the others may well deliberately underplay in order to be suitable ‘foils’ (e.g. Lois Chiles, Olivia Hussey and David Niven). There are no weaknesses in the cast and the screenplay can be both witty and ambiguous (but see my comments below re’ locations). The camera work is brilliant, capturing Egypt of 80 years ago. I think this is probably the best introduction to Agatha Christie on film.However, I only award it 4 stars. Why? Because the storyline treats the steamship ‘Karnak’ like a yo-yo on the Nile. Here’s what I mean. The travellers are first at Gizeh just outside Cairo and then it goes crazy with the itinerary (distances are km SOUTH of Cairo). They are next seen at the Cataracts Hotel at Aswan (843 km), then the Karnak Temple at Luxor (503 km), then Abu Simbel (854 km) and there’s talk of going on to Wadi Halfa (1225 km). Incidentally note they approach Luxor from the NORTH although coming from Aswan. Of course, the reason is the desire to use the most famous locations but it really mucks up the sense of reality.Overall I give the Collection 4 stars

Where does one begin when doing a critique of such superb Agatha Christie films ? The settings are very attractive and the writing is both true to the novels while giving the cast some freedom to develop their characters . We are reminded of the brilliance of Albert Finney , Sir Peter Ustinov , Angela Lansbury not to mention Sean Connery , Vanessa Regrave , Ingrid Bergman , Lauren Bacall , Maggie Smith , Bettie Davis , Jane Birkin , Michael York , George Kennedy , Sir John Gielguld , David Niven , Rock Hudson , Tony Curtice and of course Elizabeth Taylor . If you love great quality drama that is edited , produced & directed to a high standard then these are certainly films for you . Unlike the so called stars that have been in Poirot & Marple over the last few years the acting legends that I have just listed can act to perfection , they connect with each other as well as with the audience and are true to the characters in the books . Murder On The Orient Express , Evil Under The Sun and Death On The Nile are a fine way of showing that an unsolved murder not only sows the seeds of the case in question but can lead to it's being solved thanks to the little grey cells of Hercule Poirot . Evil Under The Sun & Death On The Nile by virtue of being cinematic productions rather than TV movies ( as the David Suchet versions have been ) are long enough to include much of what is in the novel and allows the characters to have the time to become known by the viewer rather than just being single dimensional wall flowers as has happened in ITV's Poirot since 2003 . The Mirror Cracked stays true to that fine novel and shows that Angela Lansbury could play a sleuth rather well - it is a lovely little foretaste of what was to come with Murder She Wrote . All in all these are splendid DVD's to own & it is to the credit of Amazon.co.uk that we can buy them in region 2 format at a jolly reasonoble price .

These four Agatha Christie cinematic adaptations really set the template for countless television versions to follow, with star-studded casts, exotic locations and sumptuous attention to detail. While I believe that it was the small screen that eventually gave us the definitive portrayals of Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple in the form of David Suchet and Joan Hickson respectively, the two characters are played quite compellingly here, and are aided by a dazzling array of guest stars. Murder on the Orient Express, with Albert Finney as Poirot, is perhaps the true classic amongst them, though Peter Ustinov is most amusing in the role in Death on the Nile and Evil Under the Sun. While Angela Lansbury's portrayal of Miss Marple may not be completely convincing (the make-up used to 'age' her is quite distracting, for instance), The Mirror Crack'd is an entertaining adaptation that swaps some of the plot strands of the original story for some genuinely funny quips delivered by the film-making suspects. All four films are beautifully presented, both on-screen and in their high-quality packaging. The 'making of' featurettes for the Ustinov films are a welcome bonus, and overall this is terrific value for money. I've deducted a point for the excruciating Studio Canal 'ident' that plays twice before viewing each film!