Poirot - The mysterious affair at Styles

 Absolutely one of the best, for how they wrote both the story and the characters, this is one of the most faithfuls. I liked it ^_^

It’s set in June 1917, lieutenant Hastings meets old friend John Cavendish and accepts his invitation home.  There he meets again John’s mother Emily and his brother Lawrence. Mary is John’s wife. Plus there’s Evie the personal maid, and Cynthia. Emily took her in and she lives there now. There’s also the old servant Dorcas and Emily’s new husband Alfred, that nobody likes. So much that Evie quarrells with Emily about him and then decides to leave the house.

Hastings tells them all that his great aspiration is to become an investigator, that he once met a funny man, a real investigator, a real dandy, and he uses the same investigative methods, only improved…

Hastings and Poirot meet in the village to both their surprises. Poirot came here with a few other Belgians thanks to Ms Emily who helped them and gave them a place to stay, He says that Belgium is no safe place to stay, with the war.

It’s easy to see then that when Emily dies, Hastings immediately thinks of him and asks John’s permission to contact him and have him look into it.

How it went: at night, they hear distressed yelling, John tries to open the door but it’s locked; Mary is in Cynthia’s room and says that the little door joining the two rooms is closed. 

John and Hastings shouldered the door open and found Emily clearly hurting, yelling and thrashing in the bed, until she dies. Lawrence comes and doesn’t say anything about seeing the door to Cynthia’s room open. Everyone is in shock and nobody knows where Alfred is.

Evie comes back of course, and immediately starts telling everyone that for sure Alfred did it, and what is everybody waiting for, just arrest him!

Poirot accepts to help, of course, and promises confidentiality. Alfred offers no alibis whatsoever, but he was seen going to buy the poison (I think it was strichnine, I’m not sure I remember right, but it’s a good guess, it was a favourite of Agatha’s :D ). He denies it, of course, but won’t say anything more. 

Hastings doesn’t know Japp yet, but Poirot does, and approaches him as soon as he sees him. Japp has total confidence in Poirot’s ability, but his boss doesn’t know him and is more inclined to go on with what they have and know. Poirot insists they should not arrest Alfred, and when it looks like they’re going to do it anyway, he reveals Alfred’s alibi, or something like that, and that he did not buy the strichnine. 

Then they try another route and arrest John… so Poirot hurries to find the missing piece to the whole thing, and he gets it through a comment made by Hastings: Poirot was making a cards castle, but he doesn’t go far this time because he’s not totally calm, and Hastings says that the only other time he saw his hands tremble was when he was arranging the things on the fireplace in Emily’s room (he likes everything in order, symmetrical, tidy…)

The solution is as it should be: Alfred did it, with Evie’s help, because they’re in love and planned it from the start to get Emily’s money. Evie bought the strichnine wearing a false beard to implicate Alfred and insisted he get arrested right away so that they could easily free him revealing he could not have bought it, and by the English law he could never be retried later for the same crime… had the police arrested him before Poirot had a chance to intervene , he would have been free forever.

Lawrence insisted Emily must have died of natural causes because he saw the door to Cynthia’s room was open, and he also remembered that the last person to see Emily alive had been Cynthia when she brought her a coffee, and he wanted to protect her, that’s why he smashed the coffee cup into dust.

John had nothing to do with the murder, and also I don’t think he cheated on his wife, he was just helping a woman in town, he gave her some money, officially as a loan, not sure if he really expected her to pay him back… but thinking about it now, I’m really not sure about the cheating part… well, let me keep on thinking he didn’t… so,the fight Dorcas had overheard had not been between Emily and her husband, it was with John, because Emily found out about the money and was angry about it, about his behaviour (not unreasonably, he was not behaving nicely). Mary was insanely jealous of him, sure that he was cheating on her, but she still lied to the police to protect him because she still loves him. That night, she had entered  Emily’s room at night searching the room for what she believed would have been the proof of John’s infidelity, but it wasn’t. When the whole trouble started, she bolted for Cynthia’s room, who kept on sleeping having taken a pill to sleep.

The definite proof is a letter. Alfred started writing it to his dear Evelyn, meaning Evie, but didn’t finish it, probably someone came into the room, so he locked it inside his writing desk. Later on, after her fight with John, Emily wrote a new will leaving all the money to Alfred, but she didn’t have any more stamps so she unlocked Alfred’s desk to search for one, and instead she found that letter… in which Alfred talked about planning to kill her. That night, Emily asked for her fireplace to be lighted: it had been a very hot day but she needed the fire to burn the new will. Later on, after her death, someone entered the room (well, it had to be Alfred because Evie didn’t know about the letter) and forced oped the little safe box that Emily used to lock away all the important documents, and took the letter… but then Poirot and John arrived and there was little time to think of what to do, and so he teared the letter into three stripes and put them over the fireplace, among the other pieces used to light it. 

Poirot realized that someone had touched those objects because he remembered having straightened them again. He had already done it the first time he entered that room, after the death, and then again when they found out that the little box had been forced open. So he went in there (this time the room was kept locked at all times) and found the pieces of paper that made up the letter, so he could read it and prove it all.

How they did it: they add something to her usual medicine, like blomuro or something, because her medicine already contained strichnine in acceptable doses, but with what they added, the strichnine remained all on the bottom, so that she finally ingested all of it all at once.

I think I covered everything.

But the funny parts: Hasitngs thinking he’s some great detective (lol, he thought that in the books too, but he could never be an investigator of any kind, he thinks all the nice ones are innocent and the unpleasant ones are guilty… well, this one actually is on circumstance where that is correct, but normally it’s not)

— when Cynthia cries that Emily forgot to take care of her in her will, so her fuure in unknown, and she’s cared and she also thinks that in that house nobody likes her… and so Hastings propooses to her! Just like that, he turns, takes her hand and asks her to become his wife, and he’s a bit offended when she tells him to not be silly, and very put out when she starts laughing at the idea, she thinks he only did it to guarantee her a safe future, and she thanks him but also warns him to be careful, that someone else might accept him next time… 

And then at the end he’s totally surprised when he learns that she got engaged to Lawrence, and he tells Poirot that he really can’t understand women… and Poirot promises that one day, he’ll teach him all about it…    :-)

The mysterious affair at Styles Court by Agatha Christie

 

Hastings writes about what happened in “the Styles case” after being asked to by Poirot and by the family too. Back from the front, he had a month’s sick leave. He’s 30 now, if this John Cavendish is 45 and “a good 15 years his senior”. As a boy Hasstings had spent a lot of time in Cavedish’s mother’s place in Essex: Styles. They meet now and Cavendish invites him at Styles. His mother is well and remarried. She’s actually his step-mother who inherited everything when his father died. He’s a barrister and his younger brother a doctor, but neither works now. She gives them an allowance. She married 20-years youngere Alfred and there is also Cynthia, the orphan daughter of an old friend of hers. Evie is her factotum, Mary is John’s wife. 

During their first conversation, Hasting admits he’d always liked the idea of being a detective since he “came across a man in Belgium once, a very famous detective”. He says “he was a marvellous little fellow. He used to say that all good detective work was a mere matter of method. My system is based on his. Though of course I have progressed rather further. He was a funny little man, a great dandy, but wonderfully clever”.

When Evie Howard has words with Emily Inglethorpe about her husband being “a bad lot”, she decides to leave, but not before warning Hastings of watching after her dear Emily, because she says that not only Alfred, but everyone there is after her money. One day, outside the post office, Hastings meets Poirot again after years not seeing each other. Mrs Inglethorp, in her many charities, has given “hospitality to seven of my countrypeople”, refugees from the war. He’s got a bad limp, and lives in a house with the other Belgians. 

At night they all wake up, knowing that Emily was ill but unable to help because her door was locked. Alfred is not there. Together they bring down the door and find her convulsing on the bed, until she stops, dead. Dr Bauerstein tries CPR but to no avail. Hastings writes that “I have a certain talent for deduction” …no comment there.

The doctor suspects poison, so Hastings runs to ask for Poirot’s help.  

They all hated Alfred so when the housemaid speaks of a quarrel, she’s sure it was between Emily and Alfred, even if she never saw him or heard his voice. Someone else states for sure Alfred bought some strychnine the day before the murder, but he denies that, just as he denies having a quarrel with his wife. Hastings of course is all against him, he’s the common man, who sees what people want him to see and judges based on sympathies. Or beauty. For he can never think ill of a friend or a pretty girl and if she’s very very pretty than he can’t think at all.

Poirot proves that Alfred did not buy the poison, but it was someone with a big beard and big glasses like him. When John is arrested, Hastings is shocked, but the evidence will not be enough to convict him. Finally Poirot shares the solution: there was only a narcotic in her cocoa, put there by Mary thinking she’d find proof of her husband’s infidelity in her papers while she slept. There was no poison in the coffee, she didn’t even drin it. No, someone altered her own medicine, which contained strychnine, to make it lethal. It was Alfred with Evelyn’s help. He did not defend himself because he wanted to be arrested at once when he could have disproved all the false evidence against himself that he had planted, and once acquitted he could never be tried again for the same crime. 

Alfred and Evie are cousins, that’s how Emily met him, and they planned it together, that’s why she was so vocal in her ‘hatred’ of him and insisted on him being arrested at once. 

Lawrence was afraid Cynthia had something to do with it, that’s why he insisted on the natural causes. Now they are happily together, in love. 

Poirot let John’s trial go on because it brought him back with his wife, whose true feelings showed in her fierce defense of him. Hastings is left all alone: two beautiful women “and neither of them is for you” as Poirot puts it. Give it time Hastings…

Once again, one of Christie’s tactics, her clues that I like so much how she does it because we see it all but don’t always notice. In the same room, Poirot straightened out some objects while lost in thought, as he often does, and later on he did it again, meaning that someone had moved those items in the meantime!

While the light lasts by Agatha Christie

 A collection of short stories. Not bad at all. There’s some interesting stuff in this collection. Even a couple of stories with Poirot, one simple and short, and another more interesting… it’s all very well written.

1. The house of dreams (ita.la casa dei sogni). 

I’d say it’s just an exercise in sstyle, and it is well written, but there isn’t much plot. John is Rudolf’s employee, good enough but without ambition. Rudolf’s daughter Maisie sees him and takes a fancy to him, so Rudolf invited him to dinner. John barely notices Maisie, but he immediately likes her friend Allegra, who seems so witty and full of life. He falls in love and when he sees her again he speaks to her so she knows it. She puts him down saying she’ll never marry. Right before meeting Allegra, John dreamed of a beautiful house, and compares it to her. When they talk he says the inside will be jsut as beautful as the outside. That night he dreams that inside the house there’s a horrible, disgusting thing. Maisie, understanding that he wants to see Allegra and not her, tells him that there’s a streak of madness in her family. John leaves to find fortune in Africa, and for ten years he’s afraid of seeing the house and that thing, and then he sees it again, and it’s empty. A month later, a letter informs him that Allegra died. He hadn’t dreamed of the house again. Now he’s sick, a doctor wants him to focus on fighting the sickness, but John only wants to find the house, and when he sees it, all he wants is to go in, so he lets go of everything else, doesn’thear the doctor anymore,and goes inside.

2. The actress (or A trap for the unwary). (Ita L’attrice). 

Famous actress Olga Stormer is in trouble when Jake Levitt recognizes in her Nancy Taylor who once shot a man in self-defence, but being young and scared, she fled. Jake wants to blackmail her, because blackmailing women is what he does. Olga has told everything to her politician fiancee., but he’s not the kind of person best to deal with Levitt. Olga chooses to deal with him herself, using her talent for acting and cowardry against him. He asked for a meeting, so she invites him to her house. When he arrives, the house seems empty, until he sees the body of a woman. She seems dead. He touches her, a maid comes out crying that he killed her. He wants to strangle her, but she finds a gun. So he runs, out and away, planning to disappear. The maid was Olga herself, her beautiful hair hidded in her maid outfit. The woman on the floor is her understudy, young actress Miss Ryan, who knows nothing about Nancy or Levitt. Olga talked about hypnotism with her and gave her sleeping pills. Now Miss Ryan will have a job contract, and Olga is safe… and a great actress.

3. The edge (Ita Il limite). 

Interesting. Clare is considered by everyone a good person. Everyone also thought she’d get married to her long-time friend Gerald. She did too, until he came back with a prett wife. When talking about a man who went back to drinking after promising to stay sober, she’s a little digusted by the man, but is told to not judge him so harshly because temptations can be hard, and she simply doesn’t understand.

When Clare finds out that Vivien cheats on her husband, she fights with herelf on what to do. She wants to do the right thing, so she stops her initial desire to tell everything to Gerald so he’d divorce Vivien, and says nothing. When she hears, unnoticed, some cruel words said by Vivien about her, she lets her know that she knows. Vivien panics and tells her everything about her Cyril, who dumped her for a rich woman but Vivien still loves him. Clare thinks about it then lets her know she won’t tell Gerald. From time to time, though, she makes allusions about it to see her terrified. She enjoys the power she has. With time, Vivien starts relaxing a bit because Clare has kept her mouth shut for months. When Gerald tells Clare they’ll go away for a year, and maybe enjoy a second honeymoon, Clare feels they’re slipping away from her, and she can’t have that. She immediately writes to Vivien to meet her. The walk path she chooses is called the edge and can be dangerous. Clare says she can’t stay silent anymore, she’ll tell Gerald if Vivien doesn’t tell him herself. Vivien begs her, notvbecause of Gerald that she has never really loved, but because of Cyril, that she still loves madly. This news would ruin him. His wife would divorce him and take everything from him, and Vivien can’t stand that. She says she really loves him, she’d die for him, but Clare is unmovable. She says Vivien is too cowardly to kill herself, and that’s true, but Clare also suggests an easy way to do it, just run down the path. Easy. Vivien agrees it’d be easy and she accepts, and runs down fast, smiling and waving, until she falls down to her death. Shocked, Clare yells she killed her and nobody can change her mind. People saw Vivien run by herself, laughing, so they don’t believe Clare, but from that day on she was never happy again, she lost her mind and lived like a prisoner in a cell.

4. Christmas adventure (or The adventure of the Christmas pudding) (Ita L’avventura di Natale). 

This one has Poirot in it, but it’s nothing exciting. It’s Chrismas, there’s esven plus two youngsters in the house, and some of them plan to fakea  murder to fool Poirot, but he heard them and makes his own plans. At dinner, a red stone is found in the pudding. At night/early morning, the kids call him for their charade, but then it appears Nancy is really dead; she only drank what Oscar gave her, and the only prints in the snow are Oscar’s and Nancy’s, so instead of calling the police Oscar takes the red stone and his sister and they run. Now Poirot explains his story. Nancy is not dead, just acting for him instead of them. Oscar and his sister were thieves, and Poirot had been tasked with getting the ruby back. Poirot let him take a fake stone while he has the real ruby, and now that he’s wanted, Evelys is no more bound by her promise made out of gratitude, an can marry Roger who she loves. Since it’s Cristmas, Jean throws her arms around Poirot’s neck with a “if you’d step under the mistletoe…” and we’re told Poirot had a lot of fun…

5. The Lonely God (Ita Il dio solitario). 

This is just a romantic story but written down doesn’t say all that much, really. It’d be nice if filmed, maybe, like a Christmas movie, that would probably go well.  The title refers to a small statue in the British Museum. In a room full of Gods and Idols, there’s one with no name, no description at all, all alone in a corner. Frank often goes to see it, feeling so lonely himself he feels much sympathy for what he calls his Lonely God. He starts noticing that a young woman comes to see his Lonely God twice a week, and he gets interested. She also seems to have noticed him. It takes him a while but he finds the way to approach her, by buying a handkerchief and then pretend he found it so he asked her if it was yours… that first time is short and awkward, and he doesn’t see her for ten days after that, but then she reappears and they start talking about their little lonely god, and then about themselves, and she wants to avoid names to make it more intriguing, until the day he says he loves her. She loves him too, but she can’t marry him or tell him her name, so she disappears with a note. He starts painting, then he reads the story of a princess who had everything but felt lonely, and he painted his best one, and finaly he sees her again at the Museum, she was praying to the lonely god, and indeed Frank appears. She says she wrote that story, her story, she just borrowed her maid’s clothes and then told him lots of lies and felt ashamed about that, but now they’re together and in love, and the poor little lonely god is once again alone.

6. L’oro di Manx.

This is a peculiar story, I read it in the introduction. Basically the Isle of Man decided on a treasure hunt to attract more tourists, and decided to hide the clues in a crime story, and Christie accepted to do it. This is it. Well, it’s hard to judge, becausealone like this it makes little sense, it is made just for the game. So, the sto: cousins Juan and Fenella receive a letter from their deceased uncle Myles: he found a treasure, and he wants his heirs to find it as well, not just give it to them. His only living relatives are Juan and Fenella, nephew (I think) Ewan and couin doctor Fayll. They must solve four or five riddles. The first is given to Juan and Fenella before the others. The second, Ewan stole them to cut the youngsters out, but then Fayll killed him and took them. They only have half a picture and a couple of words Ewan says before dying. Every clue, Juan and Fenella solve it and find it all. They also have the police overhear Fayll’s admission that he murdered Ewan, so he’s arrested. Now Juan and Fenella have lots of money and can get married.

7. Within a wall (Ita Entro il muro). 

Isobel was poor but had everything else, beauty, charme, education, and she could have married anyone. Instead she married for love, to rising painter Alan. He has done some excellent things, while others (like Isobel’s portrait) are lifeless. His best things come to him after talking to Jane, because in a way she makes him angry and he wants to impress her. Jane is also Winnie’s godmother, Alan’s daughter. Since Alan doesn’t makeenough money, for years Isobel has asked Jane for money. Now Jane dies, Alan discovers everything, but Isobel is unrepentant, says Jane didn’t do it for her but for him, that Jane loved him but now that she’s dead, Isobel can have Alan all to herself. She says she never made a fuss that he spent time with a woman in love with him, instead she had her give her money, and Jane was not rich at all. Now Alan belongs to Isobel alone, and she’ll have him do whatever she wants, and do portraits that he hates because it’ll make money, and he’ll become her willing slave.

8. The mystery of the Baghdad Chest. (Ita Il mistero della cassapanca di Baghdad).

A story with Poirot. A good one, I liked it. A murder case seemed close, and Poirot wasn’t interested or involved until the widow asked or his help. Mr Clayton had a drink with his friend Curtiss, then went to tell Major Rich that he had to leave and couldn’ attend his party. That night, the party went on with Rich, Mrs Clayton, Mr and Mrs Spence and Curtiss. Next morning, Rich’s butler found Clayton’s dead body inside a chest, and Rich was arrested for his murder. Rumor has it that he loved Mrs Clayton, and now she told Poirot that she loved Rich but there has never been anything between them. Poirot asks everyone questions, and he learns that the Spences danced and played with each other all night. Rich danced with Mrs Clayton while Curtiss changed the music, but they all left together, nobody stayed behind. Poirot looks at the chest and sees a few holes in the back. This of course creates a totally different scenario. Hastings doesn’t get it, he never does, but it appears clear now that happened. Between Mr Clayton’s stuff, Poirot indeed finds tools that could be used to make those holes. Now he says that Clayton made them, of course. It was quite an ingenious plan: Curtiss had a drink with him, put suspicions inside his head regarding his wife and Rich, and suggests he hide in the house, in the chesst, to be in the room and spy what they do, to finally find out if they have an affair, if they’ll be alone. Curtiss puts something in his drink. Clayton goes to Rich’s house when he knows Rich is out and hides in the chest. Then the drug makes him sleep, so he doesn’t yell when Curtiss, tasked with managing the music, right next to the chest, stabs him. It was a perfect plan, Poirot admits. And it all happened because Curtiss hoped that without Clayton and Rich around, Mrs Clayton might get interested in him. She’s one of those beautiful, innocent creatures that Poirot calls dangerous, because men do crazy things for them. Well, not FOR the, but “to have them”, like things. 

9. While the light lasts (Ita fintanto che dura la luce).

Very short. Deirdre married Tim for love, but the war killed him in 1914. They only had two months together. Even now, she wonders what their life would have been. But once alone, she married George Crozier who loved her and gave her everything. She was fond of him, not the passionate love she had for Tim, but she’s come to enjoy her peaceful and comfortable life with a rich husband who loves her. Now, out of the blue, she finds Tim again. He didn’t die, but it took him months to get well, and she had remarried. She seemed happy enough to him so he left her alone but now he wants her back. She hesitates to tell George and Tim asks her why, is she pregnant? It was such an easy excuse, she lied and said yes. Next day the man was dead, Tim shot himself. She’s shocked, of course, and will never forget him. It is not explained in clear, easy words but I’d say the reason is: she loved Tim, she missed him and had he gone back to her right away, even with a scar and no money, she would have loved him, done her best, but now it’s different because she’s had months to force herself to get over him, and she got used to her new life, this easy life where she has everything; it’s peaceful, comfortable, and she doesn’t want to leave it behind just like that… after all he didn’t even let her take some time to think on it all…

ITA La casa dei sogni

Agatha Christie’s Poirot - How does your garden grow?

 I liked it and yet I didn’t… I mean that I really like this version of Poirot and I also really like Miss Lemon, and they provided nice scenes to enjoy, but the execution of the plot lacked something… to make it understandable or enjoyable by someone who doesn’t know the story. 

The best part, aside from enjoying Poirot and Miss Lemon out together, was seeing what happened to her perfect filing cabinet, and also her anger when he went against her wishes and paid the bill in cash. I really like Miss Lemon, and I would have loved to have Miss Lemon’s job. 

Another side note is that Hastings doesn’t go with them because he’s allergic, and they all think it’s about flowers, but when they come back he has learned that’s not the case. He’s allergic to a specific perfume, one that one aunt used to wear (I think it was) and that now he can smell everytime he’s near Poirot. Apparently the new cologne he bought to smell like a rose is the perfume Hastings is allergic to. Poirot is quite annoyed at that, and sends them out :lol: 

I didn’t know this story, and it would have been the usual family nurder but for the maid/companion that was Russian. After watching this I looked on the internet and they say that her romance with the young man working at the embassy is prohibited because she was an aristocrat and he’s a communist… which makes it illegal… I don’t know how much of that is true, I didn’t get it from the show, they weren’t very clear, were they? Or it’s just me who didn’t get it? (Still, as soon as she’s no longer suspected, she kisses her man and they take a taxi to the Ritz… no more hiding, all of a sudden? Why?

The murder was quite simple: the rich old lady Amelia Barrowby and her only relatives, her niece Mary Delafontaine and her husband. They invest and lose a lot, and they also learn that Amelia has willed all her money to Katrina, her Russian maid, or companion, a bit of both I’d say. So Mary plans to murder her aunt and frame Katrina, at which point she’d get the money. 

Poirot guesses that she put the poison in the oysters that she secretly gave her. He saw the shells in her garden. He got Miss Lemon to talk to the shop owner, and he remembered perfectly that he sold Mary the oysters. 

ITA il seme del sospetto

Death on the Nile - 2022

 I didn’t like it much, no, I warched it once out of curiosity, because it could have been good, but now I’ve seen it, it’s enough, no need to ever watch it again. I don’t regret the time spent watching it, no, there was some work done, some effort, that made it look good; there were some interesting faces, a beautiful beautiful necklace, but I didn’t feel all this love that should have governed this story. They kept talking about it but I didn’t feel it. 

I think this film concentrated on the wrong things and the investigation wasn’t well done, it’s like a pretty woman going from one pretty pose to the other, never doing any actual dancing. Here the investigation consisted of Poirot yelling at one person and then accusing another, when real investigations should be about listening to what other people say. At least, Poirot’s investigations should.

 It’s been many many years since I read Christie’s books, and with my bad memory I can’t really be trusted to remember much, but all this about Poirot’s lost love… I think it added nothing of value to the story, and maybe it took something away, diverting attention from the others. Now that I think of it, there were many kinds of love in this film, and yet nothing that touched the soul. Euphemia not wanting her son to marry Rosalie, for one, it felt like a bitter woman whose husband had left for a younger model. 

A couple of scenes were unnecessarily vulgar, I must say, I was quite surprised because it doesn’t actually happen all that often. There were no nude scenes, at least it was recognized that with this cast there was no need to call in spectators with such cheap tricks. 

I’d like someone to explain to me the bit about ladies Van Schuyler and Bowers being together because of love? As in friendly love or romantic love? Because if it was a romantic relationship that they hid as a rich woman and her nurse, was it really necessary to do it that way, never giving Bowers anything and treating her like a maid? Couldn’t they say they were friends, keeping each other company because alone, and then Van Schuyler could have shared her money without any need to say anything? Because if it was romantic love that was a pretty shitty way to treat her, having her work like a maid more than a nurse, but also never giving her anything, not enough pay to buy herself pretty things, no gifts, and it is made abundantly clear that she likes riches and misses the time when she had that life, in this movie Poirot says she has what 10 years ago were pretty, stylish clothes, but now are old and mended. That’s no love story…  on the other hand, if he talked about friendly love, then the way Bowers was treated could make more sense, but if she had been hired out of pity or simply a desire to help her, why did he have to humiliate her by saying it? That whole bit didn’t make sense to me. And Instill have no clue on what the bed covers had to do with it, who made the beds of everyone? Not Bowers, I hope, why should she? So what… ? I don’t know.

I did not like the dancing at the beginning, neither the one between Simon and Jackie, or the one with Lynnet, I thought they were hardly appropriate. 

About the actual story in this movie:

So, they put at the beginning a little bit of Poirot’s past (…) when he was young, in the army during the war, and he was already that smart and by noticing when birds fly compared to the wind, he well adviced his group on the best time to attack, and his captain believed him and they made it, but then the captain put his foot on a mine or something, and died. Poirot was hurt too in the explosion. He had a nasty wound on his cheek and upper lip. Apparently he asked his girlfriend not to come, but she’s a nurse and came to see him anyway, speaking of love, that love is more than just a pretty face and stuff like that, so when he shows her his wounds she says that he’ll just have to grow a mustache… which he does, big mustache like his captain had… but nobody in this production mentioned that hairn don’t grow over scars? Much smaller scars prevent hair growth, and with a big wound like that… I mean, it already looks incredible that they could do such a good work in minimizing the damage, but the idea that he could grow those big mustaches is ludicrous.

Anyway, they never married because she died during those days, while she went to visit him, and he never found another love. Later on in the movie, he says that this tragedy made him whomhe is, that he wanted to be a farmer… and so I wonder, why these people, director and producers, insist on calling him Poirot? WHY? Give him another name, make him like you want (you’re already doing that anyway) and then say the story is inspired by Christie, because this guy who talks of a lost girlfriend, never wanted to investigate and keeps running after murderers is NOT Poirot.

After that we see him years later, eating something in a place with live music. First he sees Jackie dancing with Simon, then Lynnet arrives and the two women greet each other like great friends. Jackie tells her of her engagement, the love of her life, this Simon that she hopes might be hired by her friend so he’d have a steady income and could marry her. Jackie says he’s really good and she won’t ever regret hiring him. As soon as she meets him, Lynnet starts looking at him like she’s never seen such a specimen before, they dance in a totally inappropriate way, while bith Jackie and Poirot watch.

Poirot is enjoying looking at the pyramids when he meets his old friend Bouc, acting like a stupid child honestly, who introduces him to his mother Euphemia (and that was the nicest scene of the movie). They are there for a special party, because rich and famous Lynnet just married Simon Doyle! It’s not even been two months since she met him and they’re married already! Anyway, the story follows  as we know it, so briefly, first the characters and then the murder plot:

There’s Bouc who doesn’t like to work and would like his mom to give him money all his life, even after married; his mother wants him always by her side, no woman is good enough, she always talks bad about love not being real; Lynette is the super rich heiress, taught by her father how to make money, raised to always have what she wants; Jackie is her dear friend, maybe best friend until she steals her fiancee; Simon is engaged to Jackie until he meets Lynette and marries her; Marie Van Schuyler is Lynette’s godmother and a rich woman who always speaks in favors of communism and workers, but still lives as a rich woman; Mrs Bowers was rich once until Lynette’s father ruined them, and now she follows Van Schuyler as her nurse, acting more as a maid, and she has no money; dr Windlesham is maybe the only person who really loved Lynette and so she didn’t much care about him, she just liked that he adored her; Lynette’s cousin who always took care of her business /money, but now he somehow is in money troubles and hopes that the honeymoon might distract her enough that she might sign documents without reading them; Salome Otterbourne, a great Jazz singer and her niece Rosalie, who manages her career; and Louise Bourget, Lynette’s personal maid, a poor girl always at her service. The murder plot: Jackie follows them everywhere, broken hearted and vengeful. She boards the same ship, of course, and one night after Lynette has gone to sleep, she has a fight with Simon, he says hurtful things and she takes her gun and shoots him; Rosalie and Bouc see him cluthing a red-stained handkerchief to his leg and yelling. Jackie is under shock and Rosalie takes her away, with Simon yelling to stay with her and not leave her that she might hurt herself. Bouc says he’ll go find the doctor for him. As Poirot will guess, now Simon takes the gun that Jackie let down and runs to shoot Lynette, then comes back and shoots his own leg, this time for real and throws the gun in the water. Bowers takes care of Jackie while dr. Windlesham treats Simon. In the morning Louise finds Lynette dead, but Jackie has an airtight alibi, Bowers never left her. Poirot interviews everyone, and Louise gives a weird answer, saying that had she gone out of her room she might have seen someone entering Lynette’s room… which is a real message to the murderer, she wants to blackmail Simon for money, so Jackie kills her. Bouc stole Lynette’s necklace, a beautiful chain made of precious stones with a huge yellow one pending down kept in a Tiffany box, so he was out at night and saw her, but didn’t say anything because if it came out that he was stealing he would go to prison and lose Rosalie. Poirot questions him with Simon present, and they’re all so loud, and Poirot insists that Bouc tell him who he saw kill Louise, but he gets shot and can’t speak anymore. In the water, the gun is found, with the stained handkerchief and the shawl that Van Schuyler couldn’t find. Now Poirot reveals all, that Jackie and Simon were always in love, and he wanted Lynette’s money, but Jackie knew that alone he would never make it, so she made this whole plan. The handkerchief was stained with red acrilic colour, not blood. The shawl had a hole because Simon used it to tone down the noise when he shot himself in the leg. Now that they are found, she shoots the both of them to die together. 

I didn’t like the thing about Louise’s blood splattering everywhere, and I didn’t like Rosalie’s aggressive behaviour after learning that Poirot had been hired by Bouc’s mom to investigate her. To investigate is his job, although it’s absurd that he accepts this as a job, but now he only has flattering words for Rosalie and Salome, and yet she acts so outraged and disgusted with him, totally uncalled for.

The end of this movie saw Poirot, without mustaches, hearing Salome singing live… 

ITA assassinio sul Nilo

Agatha Christie's Poirot - Problem at sea

 Well, it wasn’t bad, because Poirot was the usual perfect Poirot, but it wasn’t exactly good either. Mostly because as soon as the mystery started, it was over already. There was much more time spent leading to the murder, introducing all the characters, and little to none investigating.

There was a colonel with his unpleasant, overbearing, commanding wife. There was the general who was in love with her because apparently he knew her before she became so insufferable.

There were two young ladies who liked to spend their time with the colonel, and a woman who was in love with him, for whatever reason.

There was a couple that had nothing to do with anything other than being on the same cruise by chance.

The colonel is rumour to have worked on stage for some time before gaining his title without actually doing much during the war. During a game with the girls and Poirot, he is so good that people start thinking he ought to do that on stage, and he appeared kind of upset and unsettled by that, and leaves immediately.

Most of ship empties when they reach land; the colonel goes out with the two girls but his wife doesn’t; Poirot and others see him talking to her closed door, and her voice saying she doesn’t want to go. Poirot himself goes out with Hastings.

When they all go back to the ship, the colonel asks the crew to open the door because his wife doesn’t answer and he doesn’t have a key, and he finds her dead, stabbed.

The colonel has been all day with the two girls, the woman who wanted him was out as well, but the general had stayed behind, he wanted to talk to the woman he loved but since she didn’t answer or open the door, he left for his own cabin.

Poirot suddenly has an idea, and asks for a little girl’s help. He shows everyone her doll, saying she can tell them what happened, and the little girl, hiding from view, speaks the same words they heard the deceased woman say to her husband to let him go out alone while she supposedly stayed behind. 

Hearing those words, the colonel paled and tried to run; stopped, he merely said “yes” and was taken away. Poirot then explains that the colonel faked being caught doing stage-tricks with cards to make them believe that was what he did, while he was in fact a ventriloquist: his wife was already dead while he pretending to talk to her through the door, and it was him pretending to be her that said those words (so not just a ventriloquist, but a superb impressionist, because that was his wife’s voice alright).

That’s it, the end.

Little thing noteworthy: Poirot talks to Hastings about suspects, and after Hastings only speaks about the man, Poirot introduces the notion that it might have been a woman. Hastings is not convinced, and when Poirot asks if he doesn’t think that a lady might commit murder, he replies that ladies do not get caught. It was cute.    

 ITA crociera con il morto

Agatha Christie's Poirot: The adventure of the Egyptian tomb

It wasn't bad, Poirot was kind of funny ^_^ Sometimes her books about Egypt, although fascinating, can also be a bit boring, but this isn't a long story, and lots of things happen. 

It starts with the usual British archeologist, Mr John Willard, having discovered a new tomb. He is being filmed for the occasion, so he breaks an ancient sigil to enter. As soon as he enters, followed by all the others, they have time to film a bit of what's inside before the man has a heart attack and dies right there. People start talking of the curse of the tomb.

Mrs Willard, in England, calls for Poirot. She's worried because her son wants to continue his father's work, and go to Egypt. The young man is unconcerned and quickly dismisses Poirot.

The American millionaire, Mr Bleibner, who gave the money for the expedition, and his nephew Rupert are still in Egypt with a few others. 

Poirot wants to know more, wants information on Rupert, the nephew, and since Hastings is in New York where now Rupert is, they ask him to go meet him.

Rupert appears rather in shock, still in his pajamas, drinking liquor. They exchange only a few words then Hastings goes to breakfast and reads in the paper that millionaire Bleibner died in Egypt, and goes back to Rupert, probably to tell him and give his condolences, but he finds him dead, he shot himself. The suicide note comes as a big surprise, it states he had nothing other than misery ahead of him, and it was better to die sooner and spare others the misery. But he was young, and about to get married...

In Egypt, Mr Schneider of the Metropolitan museum is sick as well. 

Poirot unceremoniously tells Hastings that they're going to Egypt.

Schneider dies too, and shortly after that the doctor seems to be slightly ill as well. Poirot searches the doctor's tent, leaving Hasting outside to guard the entrance.

Poirot phones Miss Lemon for the information on the deceased's wills. Back to their tent, it appears that Poirot died after drinking something, and Hastings hastily calls the others. When the doctor recognises the smell of the poison in the glass, Poirot gets up saying there was indeed poison, but he didn't drink it, he kept it in a little bottle as proof. 

He knows everything now, and explains. The first death was indeed a natural heart attack, but it gave the murderer the idea to blame everything on the Egyptian tomb 's curse. 

Rupert and the doctor had been at school together, and doctor Aimes once saved his life. For this reason, Rupert's will leaves everything to him.

Aimes killed Mr Bleibner, but is also responsible for Rupert's suicide, since he told the poor guy that he was a leper.

Mr Schneider was killed to add a number to the curse.

Agatha Christie's Poirot: The Cornish mystery

EDIT: I checked and according to IMDB the names are: Mr and Mrs Pengelley, Freda and Jacob Radnor, but I can't be bothered to go and correct it all.

 It wasn't bad, not the best but not bad. It's not too difficult to realise the truth, but it is enjoyable nonetheless. Well, the ending is very unticlimatic, but it's not so uncommon in the minor episodes.

It starts with Miss Lemon seeing a woman outside Poirot's office. She won't come in but gave him an appointment outside. The woman tells Poirot that she thinks her husband Edward is poisoning her. 

He is a dentist, with a pretty, young assistant, and Mrs Penghelli thought there was something between them. She has a niece, Frieda, but they're not on the best of terms right now, and a friend, young Mr Rednord, and she swears there is nothing between him and her young niece... in a vehement tone that makes clear right away that she's infatuated with him...

Poirot goes to investigate the matter, but arrives a mere half hour after her death.

The local doctor insists she was ill and not poisoned, but Poirot is not convinced.

Frieda explains that she was at odds with Mrs Penghellii because she (Frieda) is actually engaged to Mr Rednord.  The young man talks to Poirot saying he knows something but it would do noone any good to make a scandal, and he'd like Poirot to "hush it up". Poirot tells him it will be impossible because of vox populi: people talk...

The will leaves some money to Frieda and all the rest to her husband.

Poirot and Hastings go home, and Poirot predicts that Mr Penghelli will be tried for murder very soon and they'll have to save him...

After Edward made public his (new?) relationship with his assistant, people talked even more, and noe he's on trial, just like Poirot predicted.

Japp is of course sure that it was him, but Poirot knows better. He knows it was Jacob Rednord: he wanted her money, and not only the little bit left to Frieda, but all of it, so he had to get rid of both husband and wife. He seduced Frieda but also Mrs Penghelli, so he was always present and poisoned her while the husband was in the house.

Although Poirot knows all this, he actually has no proof whatsoever, so he bluffs and scares him into signing a confession that will free the man.

As always:

Poirot is David Suchet

Hastings is Hugh Fraser 

Japp is Philip Jackson 

Miss Lemon is Pauline Moran 

Murder on the Orient-Express - 2017

 Disappointed. I've liked some little things, but all in all I'm totally, completely disappointed. I guessed it would be like that, because: 1.nobody resists changing the Poirot character or the plot somehow; 2.because it’s a very difficult story to put into film because of it’s many characters and almost complete absence of action.

It’s an amazing story, but very difficult to film. Kenneth Branagh couldn’t do better than others.

To tell you the whole truth, I don’t think I would like this movie even if I didn’t know the original story and had no comparisons to make. The investigation was just bad. It would raise the tone with one character and then abruptly change to another scene when two people talk very quietly. 

I liked how most actors played their characters, if you were to show specific short scenes without the rest, it would look really cool. Putting all together just didn’t work for me.

In details:

They made the Orient-express owner or whatever is a young man enjoying a life with prostitutes.

Let’s just forget about that. Was it supposed to me a realistic touch, a humorous bit? I don’t know.

The introduction to the characters is rushed and without effect. 

The scene with Pfeiffer talking to Depp on the train is very plain and without reason.

Poirot has moustaches so big you barely see his face, and some grey stuff on his chin too. Why? I’ll never know.

Poirot is proud of his moustaches, so in a scene we see that he sleeps with a whatever-its-called thing to protect them. Ok, but then why in all the other night scenes he doesn’t have it? 

Poirot walks ON the train looking for clues I guess, and even runs after McQueen when for some reason he runs away (to destroy some papers, yeah yeah). In what world would Poirot do that? He even fights a man with his cane, when Dr Arbuthnot points a gun at him (was that a serious threat? Because that would be murder, and they were on a trip to rightful revenge…)

Poirot keeps a picture of a woman and he watches it before going asleep as if he has some lost love he sighs thinking about. What?

Sometimes they shoot scenes from above their heads. An artistic touch? Or an annoying useless one? I know my answer. Never do that again.

Poirot breaks a door lock to enter Ratchett cabin and find him dead. I mean, seriously? 

The real Poirot should indeed have the highest opinion of himself, but should also be polite, elegant and romantic. This one is smug and unpleasant. And the sighing-to-the-girl-picture comes out as forced in, unrelated, out-of-character.

Count Andreyi appears to be a thug. Countess Andreyi barely appears at all, she’s completely superflous.

Everything is grey. I understand that outside the train it’s all snow, ok, but inside? Okay, technically there’s wood-brown, coat-beige, jackets-black, shirts-white… still, everything gives a sense of grey. You think of this movie, you think grey.

Unless I missed something, they completely overlook the significance of the number of people on the train and why they did it all together. It wasn’t just so nobody could be found out as the killer, they had other plans for that. It was because they were a jury! Twelve different people (although all involved with the little girl’s murder) judging the man, finding him guilty and sentencing him to death. 

Throughout the investigation, you don’t get the important bits, like that they all alibis each other.

To read some documents, for some reason Poirot and the train-owner-kid or whatever he is, absolutely need to lay themselves on the desk and put their paces on the papers. I guess it’s supposed to be for suspence, but it only looks ridiculous.

At the end, the big scene sees them all outside freezing cold. For some reason they put a long long table so they’d all sit as if it was their last-supper scene, and Poirot advances with a gun in hand!

Actors:

I don’t think Depp’s face was right for the role, but he tries and does a good job with the scenes at his disposal.

I love Olivia Colman and Judy Dench, but they had what, one relevant scene?

I love Pfeiffer since I was a little girl, but her character is rather nonsense here.

Pfeiffer is given plain scenes throughout and only a major one at the end where she does a great job. It’s the only scene of effect. It was not in the book but it’s good nonetheless. He gives her a gun, to choose if she wants to shoot him and keep their secret, but she takes it and tries to shoot herself, offering herself as escape-goat for all the others. Obviously it shoots blanks.

Poirot-Kenneth Branagh

Ratchett-Johnny Depp

Mrs Hubbard-Michelle Pfeiffer

Pilar-Penelope Cruz

Mary debenham-Daisy Ridley

Dr Arbuthnot-Leslie Odom Jr

McQueen-Josh Gad

Masterman-Derek Jacobi

Count Andrenyi-Sergei Polunin

Countess Andrenyi-Lucy Boynton

Princess Dragomiroff-Judi Dench

Hildegarde Schmidt-Olivia Colman

Mr Hardman-Willem Defoe

Murder in three acts - 1986

A chuckling and yelling Poirot, an embarrassing Hastings and what can now be described as a very bizarre dress code. Moral: it wouldn’t be bad if the names Poirot and Hastings were taken off and if it presented itself like a comedy-mystery (not that it made me laugh at any point, but at least some things would be more acceptable in a movie marked comedy).

Problem is, this wasn’t Poirot at all. Mostly because of how it was written: joking, raising his voice, laughing, sleeping on the couch, chuckling all the time... 

and Hastings... ridicule is what it was, specially when he put that little foulard around his throat.

I don’t know why these characters were written this way, but they were totally different from the real ones (real as in : in the way Christie wrote them of course).

Plot:

Poirot joins Hastings in Acapulco because Hastings insists that he should attend a party at the famous actor Charles Cartwright’s villa. There are other guests of course, and after a toast reverend Babbington suddenly falls down, dead. It looks like a natural death, no poison is found in his glass and Poirot can see no reason for killing a man like him (although he knows very little of the man so how can he really tell and being so sure about it... :-/ )

He goes back to Los Angeles, saying that he will write his memoirs (while in reality he does nothing but sleeping on the couch without his shoes on). 

Some time later, two weeks I think, almost everyone present when the reverend died gather at the house of doctor Strange (Wally, not Stephen). There’s another death, this time is the doctor himself, and this time it was poison indeed.

Cartwright appears at Poirot’s hotel room in Los Angeles (it was a hotel right? or was it his place? not sure..) to tell him about the new death. 

Poirot investigates. He invites everyone to ask them to tell him whatever they might know about the two deaths, and at that gathering after a toast Cartwright clutches his throat very theatrically and falls down, startling everyone who think he’s dead, but not surprisingly to the viewer he’s not (I mean, it was such a fake-looking death...)

There’s a little thing that didn’t make sense I think, regarding one of the doctor’s patients, a woman in a sort of catatonic state: a telegram arrives to Poirot saying that she knows something about the murders and later on the woman is killed. I thought that Poirot orchestrated the fake telegram, but later on Poirot says that the murderer sent the telegram ( or rather payed a kid to send it) so why would he do that?? Mah.

Anyway: The ending: (so this is your warning: everything will be revealed in the next few lines.

All through the movie many characters show strange expression to make you suspect them, or exchange significant glances between them, I guess with the same purpose of making you suspect them, but nothing of that makes sense. 

Anyway, when Egg talks about a dress rehearsal, suddenly Poirot puts everything together and gather all the characters involved to solve the case.

Everybody suspected the butler to have killed the doctor because he disappeared right after, but he actually never existed. It was all a masquerade, the actor playing another role, Cartwright played the butler and that’s why the doctor joked with him that night, he knew about it of course, but what he didn’t know is that he wanted to kill him and he did. Why? Because being his doctor he had diagnosed him with some kind of psychosis that could make him become dangerous to others and to himself - it is revealed that he attempted suicide once and that’s why he has a showy scar on his wrist (that nobody knew about before the end despite him being a famous actor always around).

He killed him because he didn’t want the doc to put him away or something like that, but it is curious that the doctor thought those things of him and yet let him play that farse just for fun...

Anyway, now that all is revealed Cartwright shows his unstable nature playing his defence counsellor and stuff before being taken away by the police.

About the first murder, there was actually no motive at all, it was a random death, anyone could have died, it was just to rehearse the important murder, see that it could be done.

Hastings realise that it could have been him, and Poirot realises something much worse, that it could have been him. 

At the end, Poirot asks writer Ms Crisp to write his memoirs together and she accepts.

The girl playing Egg was very pretty, and she looked beautiful in the red dress. I didn’t understand Cartwright’s outfit, maybe designed for the warm weather?? I don’t know, white transparent shirt, white shorts and white socks just below the knee.. oh my.

There’s a scene at the market when there are really big strawberries and it looks like Poirot was about to take one (as in stealing one) before Egg came up to him startling him. :-/

At the beginning, Poirot even inquires if the writer that has a male name but is a woman is one of those people that changed sex, insisting on that point later when he will make the sign of scissors with his hand... Poirot! There can be no comment to this...

Poirot - Peter Ustinov

Hastings - Jonathan Cecil

Cartwright - Tony Curtis

Egg - Emma Samms

Angela Stafford - Diana Muldaur

Janet Crisp - Concetta Tomei

ITA Agatha Christie: delitto in tre atti

Agatha Christie's Poirot - The labours of Hercules

I didn't really like this, to me it was confusing. So many characters with barely any introduction.
It starts with a big party of some kind, with undercover agents and a chief inspector that is not Japp, and of course Poirot.
They are waiting for a thief to show up so they can catch him... A girl plays the bait with her big jewels, she's afraid but Poirot promises that she'll be safe.
This is enough for us to understand that she'll meet a terrible end, and sure enough she dies, along with a female cop and a male sergeant, I think, and a painting is also stolen.
We move three months later. Poirot still feels guilty of course. Depressed. When his driver cries because of a maid he loved but went away following her madam, a famous ballerina, to Switzerland, he promises to find her and bring her here if she agrees.
He goes to Switzerland and he's told that the murderer will also be there.
He meets a young man that was also at the party. I think he's the one that fell in love with the girl abused by her husband. From outside her door, he hears a drunkman shouting, he enters to stop him but apparently her mother killed Clayton and threw his body out the window and down the mountain. Mom and daughter are scared, and he thinks of paying the hotel for its silence, or something like that, saying "this is not England, the solution is probably a bribe"... sigh, they are all righteous in England right? A lot of people in the world can vouch for that, or at least what's left of those people now...
Anyway. Later he will confess to Poirot to killing Clayton, but Poirot doesn't believe him. He thinks the guy has integrity and is honourable, he once took the blame for his minister and now he does the same for the girl, but Poirot says that they are actually sisters who staged it all to get his money, and he guesses how it went exactly, saying that Clayton never existed and the older sister impersonated him (because women wear their clothes with the buttons right over left while men left over right...).
Poirot is told that the girl with the ballerina is not the maid he's looking for.
Poirot meets his Countess, that countess, and apparently she has a daughter, a criminologist, very cold and sharp. The countess gives him a gift, a pair of precious cufflinks!
There's an avalanche so they are all stuck at the hotel.
He asks the ballerina about the maid, she says that Nita died. This ballerina spends her time in her bed as if she was ill, with a doctor controlling her life, but Poirot tells her that she's not ill.
The countess' daughter is called Miss Cunningham, and now she yells saying that she was attacked in her room but she's unharmed, and yet her dog did nothing.
The two sisters tell Poirot that he once did nothing to get the countess arrested, and now he should do the same for them or there will be extreme measures, but he refuses to be pressed.
He gets attacked at night, a guy with moustache helps him shooting the intruder who escapes thru the window. It was the 'cop' posing as waiter, he says that he's Marascope (or something, the thief-murderer he's looking for) then he falls down the mountain.
Poirot thought that he was the undercover cop, while actually it's the guy with the moustache.
Poirot pretends to be able to repair a radio to talk to the police and he says that the road will be cleared soon.
He reunites everyone in the usual scene where he explains everything. He talks about his 'labours': first, a stolen painting has been covered and hung on the wall; the ballerina has the jewels that the murdered girl was wearing, and she IS Nita, the countess wears the brooch of the older sister , "she steals so rarely these days"...
The young man says that the sisters are gone but actually he hid them. Poirot speaks harshly to them that they prey on people's goodness.
Poirot says that Miss Cunninghan was not really attacked, she is the real Marascope. She asked the ballerina to keep the jewels with an excuse. Her accomplice is dr Lutz. She smiled eerily then drew a gun that was in her mom's bag, and Lutz too, and the cop too of course.
She doesn't shoot her mom but she turns and the young guy knocks her out... what a stupid ending.
The ending: the Miss tells him that he's so vain and smug and yet he failed the young girl and she also tells him "I shall find you" and he replies "I shall not hide"
Of course Poirot can't spare her, he spared the countess but that was different, this girl is soulless and bloody and manipulative and utterly cruel.
At the very end, Poirot takes Nita to the driver as promised. Poirot smiles to him, wearing the countess' cufflinks.

Agatha Christie's Poirot: Evil under the sun

It wasn’t bad at all, I liked it. There were no actors that I knew, other than Russell Tovey playing a 16-17-y-o kid, but it was nice and there was also Miss Lemon in it, and I like her a lot :-)

It starts unfortunately with a very very annoying sermon, a vicar talking of the wickedness of women :-/ meanwhile a woman in found murdered, Alice Corrigan. 

We move to Poirot dressing up to go to the opening night of Hastings’ new Argentinian restaurant, El Ranchero. Miss Lemon doesn’t go because she says she’s way behind with her fining work :p When she suggests that the jacket might feel tight because maybe he has put on some weight, he’s all ‘not possible!’ :p

The scene in the restaurant was rather dark :/ They are joined by Japp. Poirot is not the only ‘celebrity ‘ there, there’s also Arlena, a famous actress. Poirot is very surprised when he finds that the food is delicious :p Unfortunately, later Poirot feels sick and faints. Miss Lemon hurries to the hospital, and they are told that Poirot is ‘medically obese’, he needs rest and a diet. Miss Lemon sends him to a health resort for two weeks; she sends Hastings as well, of course, not intending to leave him on his own :p

On the small island they meet a couple, Patrick and Christine, and also Arlena with her husband Kenneth and his son Lionel. Patrick and Arlena immediately start flirting, upsetting the others.

Poirot is put on a strict diet and healthy regime, poor Poirot :p He also meets a woman, Ms Darnley, he once met in Egypt, and she’s an old friend of Kenneth; she says she liked his first wife, but not this one. A woman, Emily, jokes about this being the perfect place for murder. Hastings rejects the idea of such a thing in such a beautiful place but Poirot reminds him that “there is evil everywhere under the sun”. Stephen Lane, now ex-vicar, agrees and talks again of evil women while looking at Arlena.

A major warns Poirot that this is not the healthiest place at the moment. Poirot senses something and thinks that this time he must try and ‘prevent’ a murder. He tries talking to Patrick about conducting his affair so publicly, but he denies and gets angry. 

Alena goes to a little beach alone and later Patrick finds her dead and stays behind with the body sending Emily to call Poirot. Japp is called too of course and they investigate together.

Ms Darnley asks Poirot how is it that whenever he’s around people fall like flies :lol:

In a hidden cave by the little beach they find heroine. We learn that the ex-vicar had been left by his wife for another man, so now we understand all his ‘women-are-evil’ speech, the usual frail man who can’t take it and reacts hating all women, instead of wondering why she left him I wonder why she married him :-/

Poirot sends Miss Lemon to investigate Arlena’s finance situation and also the ex-vicar’s ex-wife’s murder of two years before (yes, Alice). Both women were strangled. 

When two fake-bird-watchers are caught taking the heroine out of the cave, they point a gun at Japp but the major helps, he’s actually from Home Office to investigate that matter. Obviously the drugs were brought in by that sailing guy with the boat that alternated white and red sails, as signals.

Poirot says that there’s evil on the island and that the murderer is brilliant, but he didn’t expect “the mind of Hercule Poirot”. Miss Lemon joins them on the island. 

It’s the moment of the final explanation. Poirot gathers everyone and starts his speech. 

Poirot lashes out at everyone until Japp says “so who was it Poirot?”, thanks Japp. 

Poirot speaks of Arlena as a target, a victim. She was beautiful, yes, but also a rich woman.

This is how it went: (solution follows from here)

Lionel had taken a book on poisons from the library. Christine saw it and asked him to join her at the beach. She put make-up on her body to fake a tan and she threw the bottle out of the window, almost hitting Emily. Christine steals Lionel’s glasses and alters his watch before asking him for the time. She put the watch right again then she ran to the little beach and yelled so that Arlena heard her and went to hide in the cave, thus not able to see anything anymore.

Christina lies on the sand with a black wig and Arlena’s hat, pretending to be her. Patrick says that it’s Arlena, dead, and he sends Emily away to call for help. Christine leaves Lionel’s glasses there and runs back. Patrick calls Arlena and strangles her. Why? She had given him all her money to invest but there was no investment, there never was.

Christine has a bath at midday to remove the fake tan and joins the other for tennis. 

They also killed Alice: Patrick seduced her to get her money and then kill her. Back then, it was ‘Christine’ who discovered the body of Alice before she was killed, to give him an alibi, and then he killed her. 

He makes an attempt at strangling Poirot, that’s how angry he is.

Case closed.

The restaurant El Ranchero has been shut down because it had actually been a case of food poisoning, it wasn’t just Poirot. Poor Hastings..

Agatha Christie's Poirot - Appointment with death

It was nice, as nice as it could be since the book was actually a little bit boring if I remember correctly. At least this ep had interesting actors and flew more easily. 

There’s John Hannah as the doctor, there’s Mark Gatiss as Leonard, the son of lord Boynton and the stepson of the horrible woman that will die. Also, Tim Curry as lord Boynton himself!

I think they are all in Syria to visit an archeological site. 

Doctor Sarah King likes Raymond but he’s mom’s little slave and is even afraid of introducing himself to her in front of mom. Carol and Jinny are terrified of her and have nightmares regarding their childhood. Leonard is only her stepson, the son of Lord Boynton, but she’s rude to him like to everybody else. Carol is losing her sanity and Raymond seems to want to talk to her about killing her “we have no choice” and him “she has to die” and Poirot hears these last words. 

Dr Gerard already knows Poirot from a previous case he consulted on, and likes to talk to him about the people around. Lord Boynton cares deeply about his archeology-mission, and he hugs the girls and Leonard when they catch up with him and even kisses his wife’s hand - to him she smiles.

Boynton tells Poirot the Samarcanda story and Poirot finishes it because he knows it of course. 

The horrible old woman said that putting sugar in tea is a sign of a weak character... :-/ 

Anyway, Lady Leonora Boynton is rude to everyone, she hates everybody and everybody hates her.

When everyone goes on a trip, Dr Gerard goes too because he doesn’t like the idea of staying back with Lady Boynton, but he almost faints and Jinny and Raymond take him back. Jinny and Gerard kiss then she lays beside him to rest.

When she’s found dead Poirot says “your appointment with death madam, it was always to be here”.

Everyone is shocked, but not really heartbroken, if you know what I mean. Only Lord Boynton seems actually sad that she’s dead. In the group there’s also a nun, a businessman and Dame Celia, an adventurer.

Poirot works on the case and says to the colonel that “the voices of the little grey cells they have become to sing to Poirot”. 

Raymond tells Poirot that he didn’t kill her only because he lacked the courage but she was a monster. She was controlling, manipulative and cruel. 

At night there’s a scream and then Jinny appears with blood on her hands. Poirot finds the nun injured, and Dr King treats to her wounds. It seems the two women fought against a man-slaver. 

Apparently when Lady Boynton was still Mrs Pierce she couldn’t have kids so she went for adoption, but here I didn’t totally understand something. Did she beat some children and then sent them back, and only kept Raymond, Carol and Jinny? But Poirot asks the nanny who did she beat, and she said Leslie. She was the one doing the beating, under the evil woman’s orders. 

After her death, there were rumours in the stock market and all her shares are now worthless, businessman Cope tells Poirot. The nanny is found drowned in the bathtub. Suicide?

Poirot and all the others go back to the dig and here Poirot has his long moment, where he talks about it from the start, who has motive, who would have gained from it, and blahblahblah,

Leonard tells him: “you can stare at me significantly as long as you like monsieur, I’ve done nothing wrong” , and that word ‘significantly’ seems wrote specially for Gatiss :-)

Leonard planted a fake skull for his father to find it, because he had spent all his life looking for it and he wanted him happy and free of that obsession. 

Mr Cope is revealed as the little Leslie that was beaten at the orders of lady Boynton, so he planned against her to ruin her, strip her of her money. 

The colonel was there to uncover the trafficking of slave-women, and it was actually the nun.

Celia was a junior maid working for Mrs Pierce when she got pregnant with a guest and gave up her child, Jinny. She hoped that the child would be happy, but heard rumours of her cruelty, so she looked for Jinny’s father and together they investigated the matter and planned to kill her, together. And they did. They poisoned her: Celia used a syringe given to her by doctor Gerard so that the woman couldn’t move or speak, then he put blood inside a ball of wax that melted in the sun , when actually Celia stabbed her right then, when they all thought she was already dead. 

He also pushed the nanny to commit suicide. The last bit is quite interesting, when he tells Jinny he’s sorry, then Gerard and Celia state their love to each other, and then he poisons her and then himself, to die together. 

Next scene: the ‘nun’ driving away, then walking in the desert and falling down... what does that mean? :-/ that’s her escape plan? Did she run out of gas? Did she get lost? 

They changed a lot in this movie from the original story, so, why was this bit really necessary??

Ending:

Raymond and Dr King are together. Jinny and Carol are to go to Egypt together. “Lady Boynton would have said I was constitutionally too feeble, that my skin was too fair, but I think it’s probably time I showed my feeble skin who’s boss” :-)

This should have been the end, instead there’s also a bit where he encourages her to have faith in God and he gives her a rosary :-/ I mean, I like the thing and all, but I don’t like people preaching to others what they should think. A simple ‘have faith and everything will be alright’ would have been enough, simple and encouraging, and for anyone to have faith the way they want it.

ITA La domatrice / appuntamento con la morte

Agatha Christie's Poirot : Taken at the flood

A wasted chance. Not too bad, but it never really got to me. 

A major tells the story of rich Gordon who came back with a young bride. All relatives went to meet her but there was an explosion, everyone died but Rosalind and her brother. Gordon was good to his relatives, now they have serious money problems. Some of them know that Rosalind would help them but her brother controls her completely and won’t let it. 

Lynn’s mom can’t pay her bills, Francis’ husband Jeremy lost his clients’ pension money. 

David Hunter seems to enjoy the hatred towards him. 

Francis asks Rosalind for money and she writes a cheque immediately, but then David embarrasses her in front of everyone: “how much?” . He has her give the money back in front of everyone. 

Mr Arden comes telling Hunter that Rosalind’s first husband is still alive, and asks for blackmail money - because if he was still alive, then her second marriage would be null and she’d get nothing.

Lynn is charmed by Hunter and they kiss passionately but then he later calls her telling her to forget him, that he’d destroy her as is his nature, and to marry Rowley instead, as planned.

Mr Arden is found murdered. He was actually Charles, Frances’ brother, playing a part. Major Porter testified about him being the first husband Robert, and shot himself after receiving a letter. Rosalind tried to kill herself but didn’t die because the addicted-doctor had stolen most of her morphine and replaced it with something else. 

Rowley hit ‘Arden’, he fell and died, so he staged the murder. He caused his death and the major’s, but they were not murders. The only cold-blooded murderer here is David. 

He went to pay Arden but found him dead. He left the morphine in sight, for her to take. The girl is not his sister, she’s actually Eileen Corrigan, a simple farm girl. David had murdered his sister Rosaleen two years ago, in her happy marriage to Gordon she had excluded him, and he hated her for that. 

He had charmed a young Irish maid , Eileen, seduced her and made her have an abortion, then kept complete control over her. David blew up the place with dynamite killing Gordon and Rosaleen, and who knows how many other people he didn’t care about. 

David threatens them saying he’s put a bomb in the room, but Lynn walks up to him saying “you won’t do it because you love me” but of course there is no bomb. 

He’ll be hanged, and at the end Lynn visits Poirot. She’ll go back to Africa. She has a gift for him and tells him to write her a letter, “I like your letters”, and she goes away.

And just like that, it ends.

S10E04

ITA alla deriva