Directed by Guy Hamilton
Written by Anthony Shaffer from a novel by Agatha Christie
1982/UK
IMDb page
First viewing/YouTube
Poirot: The “Arlena Stewarts” of this world do not count; their domination is of the moment. Really to count, a woman must have either goodness or brains.
Christine Redfern: You can’t actually believe that men care for either of those things, can you?
Poirot: Oh yes I do, madam.
This is perhaps the weakest of the Hercule Poirot all-star mysteries I have seen.
The setting is an exclusive Adriatic Island resort sometime in the 1930s or 1940s. Everyone there has a few things in common and it might just as well be a country house party. The proprietress is Daphne Castle (Maggie Smith). Hercule Poirot (Peter Ustinov) is on a case to retrieve a priceless gem given to actress Adriana Marshall (Diana Rigg) by his client. The jewel was substituted for a fake when she married and returned it.
Everyone on the island has something against the eventual murder victim of course. They are a Broadway producer and his wife (James Mason and Sylvia Miles), a biographer (Roddy McDowell), a playboy and his mousey wife (Nicholas Clay and Jane Barkin) and Adriana’s husband and stepdaughter (Dennis Quilley and Emily Hone).
This is entertaining but the mystery fell flat for me. I just did not care who did it. The production values are nice. Beautiful scenery and the costumes are wild!
