|
By
FRANK BEHRENS
There was Albert Finney, who
did a magnificent Hercule Poirot in the film
"Murder on the Orient Express." Then there was his
fellow Brit, David Suchet, who more or less became
Poirot on all of those televised Agatha Christie
tales and novels (most of which are available on
the Acorn Media label). About the same time, we
had the Miss Marple films with a miscast Margaret
Rutherford and then the television series with the
excellent Joan Hickson as the aged sleuth.
There have also been several films with Peter
Ustinov as the Belgian detective, and at least two
actresses of note as the shrewd little old lady.
Three of these are available in a boxed set from
Anchor Bay.
"Death on the Nile" is the best of the three. With
an all-star cast (David Niven, Bette Davis, Angela
Lansbury, Maggie Smith, to name a few), it is a
period piece with all sorts of red herrings and a
solution just on the verge of the unbelievable.
(How could the guilty have even dreamed it would
work?) Still, the set designs are impeccable, the
acting campy and lots of fun, and Ustinov quite
good as Poirot.
"Evil Under the Sun" also has a solution that
seems to depend too much on chance. But the catty
remarks that fly between Diana Rigg and Maggie
Smith are worth the price of admission alone.
James Mason is as suave as ever, and Roddy
McDowell as flakey as ever. Here you can compare
the treatment with both the original novel and the
Suchet version that is out on the A&E label.
"The Mirror Crack'd" gives that great non-actress
Elizabeth Taylor a chance to be dressed in
wonderful costumes and exchange more than catty
remarks with Kim Novak (they both play sexy
superstars -- how's that for type casting?) that
are even funnier than those in "Evil Under the
Sun," while Rock Hudson can only stand around and
look pained. Tony Curtis plays a slimy Hollywood
type, while co-stars Edward Fox and Geraldine
Chaplin do some real acting. Angela Lansbury is
quite good as Miss Marple, although a little too
young for that role. Again there is the television
version with which to compare changes from the
original.
Each of the DVDs presents the original widescreen
aspect ratio, has some bonus features, and all in
all is a lot of good fun. Just don't look too
carefully at the plot flaws. |
