Miss Marple

"THE MURDER OF ROGER ACKROYD" (2000) Review

As many fans of Agatha Christie are aware, one of her most highly acclaimed and controversial novels is "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd". I had checked the Internet to see how many adaptations had been made from well-regarded tale. I was surprised to learn there were at least seven adaptations, considering its difficult plot twist. The third to the last adaptation proved to be the last adaptation was the 103-minute television movie that aired on ITV's "AGATHA CHRISTIE'S POIROT" in 2000.

"THE MURDER OF ROGER ACKROYD" seemed like your typical Christie novel....

"NEMESIS" (2007) Review

Without a doubt, Agatha Christie's 1971 novel, "Nemesis", is one of her most unusual works. It is not as celebrated as 1934's "Murder on the Orient Express" or her 1926 novel, "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd". But it was the last novel she had written. And it possesses a slow, yet melancholic air that I find very rare in her body of work.

Two adaptations of the novel have aired on British television. BBC aired the first adaptation, which starred Joan Hickson as Jane Marple, in 1987. Twenty years later, the ITV network aired its own version with Geraldine McEwan in the lead....

"DEATH ON THE NILE" (2004) Review

This 2004 adaptation of Agatha Christie’s 1937 novel, "Death on the Nile", was the second to be adapted for the screen. In the case of this movie, it aired as a 90-minute presentation on the long-running television series, "Agatha Christie’s POIROT".

Like the novel and the 1978 movie, "DEATH ON THE NILE" centered around Hercule Poirot’s investigation of the murder of an Anglo-American heiress named Linnet Ridgeway. Linnet had stolen the affections of her best friend’s fiancé and married him. When the newly married couple vacationed in Egypt, the best...

"THE MOVING FINGER" (1985) Review

I might as well put my cards on the table. I am not a fan of Agatha Christie's 1942 novel, "The Moving Finger". I do not regard it as one of the author's more remarkable works. In fact, I have difficulty in viewing it as mediocre. When I first learned about the 1985 adaptation of the film, I did not bother to get my hands on a video or DVD copy.

In the end, I found myself viewing the 1985 television movie, due to it being part of a box set of Jane Marple movies. Before I express my opinion of it, I might as well reveal its plot. "THE MOVING FINGER" is basically...

"APPOINTMENT WITH DEATH" (1988) Review

Agatha Christie's 1938 novel, "Appointment With Death" has proven to be a problem over the past 75 years or so. If I must be honest, it is not a great novel. Considering that if featured the topic of emotional abuse, it had the potential to be great. But I feel that Christie never achieved what could have been a memorable and haunting tale.

The novel also produced adaptations in the form of a 1945 stage play, a 2008 television movie and a 1988 theatrical release. Of the three adaptations, the 1988 film, "APPOINTMENT WITH DEATH" came the closest in being...

"MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS" (1974) Review

Whenever the topic of Agatha Christie novels pop up, many critics and fans seem to rate her 1934 novel, "Murder on the Orient Express" as among her best work. This stellar opinion seemed to have extended to the 1974 movie adaptation. After all, the film did receive six Academy Award nominations and won one. Is "MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS" the best adaptation of an Agatha Christie novel? Perhaps. Perhaps not. Is it my favorite? Hmmm . . . I will get to that later.

But I cannot deny that the movie, produced by John Bradbourne and directed by Sidney...

"TOWARDS ZERO" (2007) Review

When it came to the television adaptations of Agatha Christie’s Jane Marple novels, I used to stick with those that featured the late Joan Hickson as the elderly sleuth. However, my curiosity got the best of me and I decided to watch a movie that starred Geraldine McEwan as Miss Jane Marple. And this movie is the 2007 adaptation of Christie’s 1944 novel called "Towards Zero".

The adaptation of Christie’s novel has drawn a good deal of criticism from purists. First of all, the novel is not a Jane Marple mystery. Instead, the main investigator in "Towards Zero"...

"THE MIRROR CRACK'D" (1980) Review

As far as I know, Guy Hamilton is the only director who has helmed two movie adaptations of Agatha Christie novels. The 1982 movie, "EVIL UNDER THE SUN" was the second adaptation. The first was his 1980 adaptation of Christie's 1962 novel, "The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side".

A big Hollywood production has arrived at St. Mary's Mead, the home of Miss Jane Marple, to film a costume movie about Mary, Queen of Scots and Queen Elizabeth I of England, starring two Hollywood stars - Marina Gregg and Lola Brewster. The two actresses are rivals who despise each...

"THE HOLLOW" (2004) Review

I have never been a fan of Agatha Christie’s 1946 novel, "The Hollow". Many would find my opinion surprising, considering its reputation as one of the author’s best works and a fine example of the "country house murder" story. But I cannot help how I feel. I simply never warmed up to it.

The 1946 novel eventually became a successful London play in 1951. And in 2004, producers of the "Agatha Christie’s POIROT" series adapted the novel into a ninety-minute television movie in 2004, with David Suchet as Hercule Poirot. I have seen "THE HOLLOW" at least twice. Yet,...