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Agatha Christie's Evil Under The Sun [1981]
![Agatha Christie's Evil Under The Sun [1981]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51E%2BpPqAaeL._SL160_.jpg)
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Hercule Poirot shows proper swimming techniques
Review date: 2008-09-07 Rating: 10 out of 10
Peter Ustinov as Hercule Poirot is challenged to locate a missing jewel. To do this he must go to a small island. Guess who has a tendency to get seasick? He requests his fee in guineas (a guinea is equivalent of 21 shillings.)
Naturally someone/s is unexplainably dispatched. Of course the island is loaded with the usual suspects. Everyone has a motive and an alibi. By this time you have completely forgotten how the movie started.
Speaking about the movie, they pulled out all the stops with expensive locations, costumes, and actors. And Cole Porter tossed in for ambiance. There was even an appearance of Roddy McDowall who played Alan "Mollymauk" Musgrave in "Lord Love A Duck".
Only Hercule Poirot can figure this out. Naturally Hercule Poirot is in the right place at the right time to hear everything and extract the truth.
Similar Products
- Agatha Christie's Death On The Nile [1978]
- Appointment With Death [1988]
- Agatha Christie's Murder On The Orient Express [1974]
- Agatha Christie's Poirot - Collection 7 [2008]
- And Then There Were None
Reviews
Murder in the sun
Review date: 2008-06-28 Rating: 6 out of 10
A mysterious murder, unbreakable alibis, and a stolen diamond... all wrapped up in a glitzy, mildly campy shell.
Yeah, you can't expect "Evil Under the Sun," with its barbed Mediterranean atmosphere, to resemble Agatha Christie's usual cozies. This relaxed murder mystery does succeed at being fun and genuinely befuddling, although the martini-swilling, sunny atmosphere make the entire gruesome murder feel rather too... relaxing. A murder shouldn't seem like a vacation... or should it?
An insurance goof and a stolen gem send Hercule Poirot (Peter Ustinov) to "Daphne's Place," a palace-turned-hotel in a small Mediterranean country. He arrives on the same boat as famed stage actress Arlena Marshall (Diana Rigg) and her new husband and stepdaughter. Arlena openly has an affair with boytoy Patrick (Nicholas Clay) -- and then she suddenly turns up, strangled on a remote beach.
There are suspects galore: her betrayed husband, resentful stepdaughter, an old rival who is attracted to Mr. Marshall, a pair of ugly American producers whom she's bankrupting, a flaming gossip writer who has written a steamy tell-all, and her boytoy's mousy wife. But no one had the opportunity -- everyone has an alibi. So Hercule Poirot exercises the "little gray cells," unravelling the clues of a discarded bottle, a midday shower, a cannon, and perfume in a cave.
Don't expect "Evil Under the Sun" to be any more faithful to its book than Arlena is to Marshall -- several aspects of the plot are rearranged or changed, and the sense of darkness is exchanged for a rhinestoned camp quality. And the plot unfolds at a leisurely pace, dropping in hints, clues and clever deceptions like so many plastic jewels on a beach.
In fact, the clothes say it all -- both Rigg and Maggie Smith wear faux jewels on silver lame, and American Myra resembles a Christmas tree with fur. Everyone swills martinis, sunbathes, and wanders across a lush little island to the hotel. Occasionally the impending murder and its aftereffects seem almost like an afterthought.
That said, "Evil Under the Sun's" campy quality is part of what makes it so much fun. Lots of catty, witty dialogue ("She always could throw her legs up in the air higher than the rest of us... and wider..."), sniping characters with plenty of motives, and a delightfully loathsome victim. You'll want Arlena dead by the time she tells her daughter to go play with the jellyfish, and then you'll want to know who could possibly have done the impossible.
Peter Ustinov has the right combination of smarts and comedy to play Poirot, the Belgian sleuth who saves the day and drives the hotel staff crazy. And while he succeeds in bringing Poirot's eccentricities to life (such as the "swimming" scene), he never takes it over the top to the point where Poirot becomes cartoonish.
The always-awesome Maggie Smith also turns in a wonderful performance as the razor-tongued "maitresse en titre turned hotelier," turning in some touching and funny moments among the sharp dialogue. And Rigg is wonderfully catty, nasty, glamorous and utterly uncaring of anyone else. The supporting cast also does a wonderful job, particularly the two who play the murderers -- and are the last ones you'd expect.
The one flaw is that all the humor, glitz and wit detract a little from the dark atmosphere one expects from a murder mystery. Instead, "Evil Under the Sun" is a campy comedy that happens to have a murder in it.
VISUAL TREAT
Review date: 2008-05-02 Rating: 8 out of 10
I last saw this on a small black and white TV years ago, and this DVD looks stunning. The film quality is very high and the period detail is excellent. (Compare this to 'The mirror Cracke'd-which, though set in 1953, looks like a 1980 TV movie).
The costumes, hair, make-up and sets are superb, and the location shooting (in Majorca) is ravishing.
All of the characters are beautifully portrayed, and although caricatures, are so enjoyably played by excellent actors, and the sparring between Diana Rigg and Maggie Smith is a joy. A special mention to Sylvia Miles and Roddy McDowall. As with several other Agatha Christie stories, the outcome does hang precariously on several situations that could not have been engineered by the culprit with certainty, but just sit back and watch Peter Ustinov do a star turn with a cast ot pro's enjoying themselves immensely.
Well done Sir Peter Ustinov !
Review date: 2008-01-19 Rating: 10 out of 10
David Suchet ought to watch this & squirm ! This lavish film proves that you can make a superb adaptation that is perfectly watchable without public hanging , dodgy sexual behaviour , terrorism , abortion etc being included . Sir Peter Ustinov's film also proves that you can exclude Captain Hastings , Miss Lemon and Chief Inspector Japp while still having the light comic touches needed to make a murder mystery palatable to viewers of all sensiblities . The casting decisions , settings , costumes and the fact that the screenplay closely follows the novel all make for a first rate movie . This is a must for fans of the great Dame Agatha Christie !
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Colin Blakely
Peter Ustinov
Jane Birkin
Maggie Smith
Nicholas Clay
Creators:
Peter Ustinov (Primary Contributor)
Maggie Smith (Primary Contributor)
Director(s):
Recording label: Optimum Home Entertainment
Manufacturer: Optimum Home Entertainment
EAN: 5060034576679
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2008-01-07
Audience rating: Parental Guidance
Region code: 2
Running time: 111 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1981