Toon In: Death in the Clouds, 2005

All month long, we're celebrating the Queen of Crime as she and her works appeared on screen, with a grand finale of five Murder on the Orient Expresses the first full week of November. Today, and all this week, we're looking at the main source of her bread and butter, the little Belgian himself, Hercule Poirot. We've discussed some of his big screen adventures, like The Alphabet Murders and Death on the Nile, but today, we're "drawn" to a more "animated" mystery...

Agatha Christie's Great Detectives Poirot and Marple: Death in the Clouds, Parts 1-4 (2005)

dir: Jôji Shimura

series dir: Naohito Takahashi

The Detective

Kôtarô Satomi as Hercule Poirot

The Victim

Madame Giselle

The Suspects

? as Dr. Bryant

Takeshi Aono as Daniel Clancy

? as Armand Dupont

Toshikazu Fukawa as Jean Dupont

Kouichi Yamadera as Norman Gale

Youko Honna as Jane Grey

Kotono Mitsuishi as Cecily Horbury

? as Venetia Kerr

? as Anne Richards

With

Masako Jô as Oliver the duck

Hirofumi Nojim as Captain Arthur Hastings

Fumiko Orikasa as Maybelle West

Atsuko Tanaka as Miss Felicity Lemon

Kaoru Yachigusa as Miss Jane Marple

Yûsaku Yara as Inspector Sharpe

Casting Coup Tuesday: The ABC Murders

It's Casting Coup Tuesday, where we dream-cast an imaginary adaptation of a beloved work. All month long, we're celebrating the Queen of Crime as she and her works appeared on screen, in anticipation of the November 10th release of Murder on the Orient Express. Now, if that movie's a success, they're gonna do a follow-up. May we suggest another Poirot?

Just yesterday, we talked about The Alphabet Murders, a slapstick comedy version of an Agatha Christie novel, with only the faintest resemblance to the original work. That work was The ABC Murders, which pits Poirot's wits against those of a serial killer, all the while receiving mocking letters from the murderer.

Published in 1935, it's a chilling puzzler, sure, but some of the best chapters describe the many conferences held by law enforcement officials who, at a loss for what else to do, gather together to dissect and repeat every detail and theory about the unknown maniac. There are a number of chapters, too, dedicated to witnesses and leads that go nowhere, contribute nothing to the investigation.

Frankly, such chapters are what make the novel genius. With the law, one feels the impotency of not knowing, the need for people to feel like they're doing something, anything. With the leads and witnesses, Christie explores England's class system and the resentments that come with it; public panic in the face of national crisis; casual xenophobia; and the desire for 15 minutes of fame, no matter the context. It's a little bit Zodiac, a little bit Drop Dead Gorgeous.

Which makes it perfect for a film.

The cast after the jump. All italicized descriptions come from the Cast of Characters on page 9 of the Black Dog and Leventhal hardcover edition.

The New Guy in Town: Death on the Nile, 1978

All month long, we're celebrating the Queen of Crime as she and her works appeared on screen, with a grand finale of five Murder on the Orient Expresses the first full week of November. Today, and all this week, we're looking at the main source of her bread and butter, the little Belgian himself, Hercule Poirot. Yesterday, we talked about 1965's The Alphabet Murders; today....:

Death on the Nile (1978)
dir: John Guillermin

The Detective

Peter Ustinov as Hercule Poirot

The Victim

Lois Chiles as Linnet Ridgeway

The Suspects

Bette Davis as Mrs. Van Schuyler

Mia Farrow as Jacqueline de Bellefort

Jon Finch as Jim Ferguson

Olivia Hussey as Rosalie Otterbourne

George Kennedy as Andrew Pennington

Angela Lansbury as Salome Otterbourne

Simon MacCorkindale as Simon Doyle

Maggie Smith as Miss Bowers

Jack Warden as Dr. Ludwig Bessner

With

Harry Andrews as Barnstable

I.S. Johar as Manager of the Karnak

David Niven as Colonel Race

1974's Murder on the Orient Express was a hit - admiration from critics, the 11th highest-grossing film of its year, an Oscar, even the approval of Agatha Christie, who never liked film adaptations of her works. It was only natural that the producers would want to produce a follow-up, using the same formula: glamorous period costumes and sets, an exotic locale, an all-star cast. And so they did, four years later, with this: the second EMI Christie caper, the third and last Christie flick to get Oscar attention, and my personal favorite....Death on the Nile.

Who's That Guy?: The Alphabet Murders, 1965

Happy Agatha Christie Month!

All month long, we're celebrating the Queen of Crime as she and her works appeared on screen, with a grand finale of five Murder on the Orient Expresses the first full week of November. Today, and all this week, we're looking at the main source of her bread and butter, the little Belgian himself, Hercule Poirot. 

The fussy little man with the egg-shaped head, effete manner, and impressive mustache made his debut in Christie's first detective novel, 1920's The Mysterious Affair at Styles. He would eventually star in over 40 novels and short story collections, as well as an original play, Black Coffee, over a period of 54 years. 

Yet as popular as he was and is, he's had surprisingly little representation on screen. To date, only eight films featuring Poirot have been released. The first three, released between 1931 and 1934, were produced in England and starred the tall, handsome, cleanshaven Austin Trevor, and have since been considered lost. It would be another 30 years before someone else would take on the mantle...and the results were very unexpected....

Read on, after the jump.

A Special Announcement...

It's Agatha Christie's birthday!

The Queen of Crime was born on this date in 1890, 127 years ago! More than 41 years after her death, she is still the world's best-selling fiction author - but, more relevant to what we do here, she is also experiencing a cinematic comeback! For not one, but two films based on her works are coming to the screen this winter. One is the first ever adaptation of her infamous crime thriller Crooked House; the other is the fifth screen version of one of her most famous novels, Murder on the Orient Express:

Mom was right: prayer does work! I've been wishing and hoping for a resurgence of silver screen Agatha Christeries for ages. Sure, we've had the recent Poirot, Marple and Partners in Crime series to keep us company - in addition to the new miniseries of And Then There Were None and The Witness for the Prosecution - but the last time Christie was on the big screen* was 1989's Ten Little Indians, a re-working of her most famous novel that transferred the action from a British island to an African safari. Now...now, we have two!

(*I'm speaking strictly American/British releases. I am well aware that India and France have had a number of theatrical adaptations in the past decade, but none of them seem to leave their respective continents.)

Let us celebrate properly. Throughout the month of October and into the first week of November, we're celebrating the on-screen works of Agatha Christie. Every Tuesday, a Casting Coup, in which we dream-cast adaptations of some of her most popular works. Each week, a set of films to watch so we may explore her characters, interpretations of them, and their international appeal.

The schedule, after the jump:

I Have Some Thoughts

Here's what I've been watching since last we talked about 2017...

Ingrid Goes West

dir: Matt Spicer

scr: David Branson Smith & Spicer

Vicious, uncomfortably funny takedown of social media stardom, fandom, and LA's bright young things. Works like a slow-drip poison. Chilling, chuckle-worthy - highly recommended.

Girls Trip

dir: Malcolm D. Lee

scr: Kenya Barris & Tracy Oliver, story by Eric Rivinoja and Barris & Oliver

Generous, hilarious ensemble of women, buoyed by smart, sincere writing! Hard to choose a best in show, but know I laughed non-stop - as did everyone else in my theater.

Okja (옥자)

dir: Bong Joon-ho

scr: Bong and Jon Ronson, story by Bong

Sincere An Seo Hyun shares unbelievable chemistry with CG beast. Haunting, inventive sound design. So-so script. Embarrassing Gyllenhaal.

Thoughts on Atomic Blonde, Dunkirk, and more, after the jump....

Part Two: 1986 Retro Hollmann Awards

Previously, on the 1986 Retro Hollmann Awards...

A Room with a View led the nominations, with twelve....

Aliens and Peggy Sue Got Married lead in wins so far, with two apiece...

Overall, the Top Ten films have been dominating the proceedings, though Top Gun and Legend snuck in with wins of their own...

And now, Part Two - beginning with....

Best Supporting Actress

Maggie Smith as Charlotte Bartlett 

A Room with a View

2. Isabella Rossellini in Blue Velvet; 3. Dianne Wiest in Hannah and Her Sisters; 4. Judi Dench in A Room with a View; 5. Mia Farrow in Hannah and Her Sisters

The key scene for Charlotte Bartlett comes late in the movie, when Lucy realizes her cousin has blabbed about her and George's kiss in Italy. "I shall never forgive myself," Charlotte insists, going back to a regular phrase that usually sets people right. Instead, Lucy snaps, "You always say that, but you always do forgive yourself." You see a shift in Charlotte's eyes, and not only is she suddenly vulnerable, able to express both warmth and regret...you realize that Maggie Smith has actually kept much of her face...not immobile, but calculated. Slight eyebrow-raise here, a firmness of the jaw there, but otherwise Smith maintains Charlotte's mask of wide-eyed innocence, something that helps when doling out insincere remorse calculated to make the injured party comfort her. That she went two hours with limited movement conveying all - and still getting the best laughs in the film - says it all. She is one in a million.

Isabella Rossellini wins second for her portrayal of the sadistically abused yet confusingly masochistic chanteuse Dorothy Vallons. Dianne Wiest comes in third for her portrayal of the sister searching for herself wherever she can, whether it's in an audition or up her nose. Judi Dench places fourth for her pretentious romance novelist that loves her voice and mind. Mia Farrow is in fifth as the strong-willed, helpful sister who keeps her own frustrations buried deep.

Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Song, Best Actor...and Best Picture of the Year...after the jump