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Post by Nalkarj on Feb 15, 2023 17:06:52 GMT
I don’t think that video is of the ’31 Alibi (an adaptation of Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd), which as far as I know is still considered lost. That’s the 1929 Alibi, which doesn’t have Poirot or any Christie connection, directed by Roland West. On the subject of the thread, my favorite screen Poirot is Ustinov, though he isn’t the most faithful (that is, yes, Suchet). But I just find Ustinov’s character so much fun. Nalkarj You are correct about the video ... since deleted .... the dates did not even mesh upon closer examination. It is all in the details and using the little grey cells, eh ? Agree totally re: Ustinov. Rather like Margaret Rutherford being not a bit like Jane Marple on the pages but infinitely fun producing anyway. Suchet and Ustinov are my co-favorites .... like George C. and Sims being "the best" Ebenezer. Oh, yes, definitely agreed on Rutherford’s Marple. She’s so much fun, I wish the movies around her were as good as she is. My favorite Suchet episodes are those in the middle of the run (e.g., “Death on the Nile, “Five Little Pigs,” “After the Funeral”), where he added more depth to his characterization (Poirot is older and wiser, a friend to young lovers and the downtrodden). I think those eps also have the best scripts.
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Post by Penn Guinn on Feb 15, 2023 17:12:38 GMT
NalkarjThere was a special shown on Masterpiece on PBS .... Suchet as Suchet took a trip the real Orient Express ... quite good if you can locate it.
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Post by Penn Guinn on Feb 15, 2023 17:14:21 GMT
Found it:
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Post by Penn Guinn on Feb 15, 2023 17:17:45 GMT
SPOILERS abound:
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Post by Penn Guinn on Feb 15, 2023 17:19:40 GMT
another opinion piece video ..posted for perusal
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Post by jervistetch on Feb 15, 2023 17:27:04 GMT
Sorry but this text reminded me of a MAD Magazine that I used to have.
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Post by timshelboy on Feb 15, 2023 17:46:50 GMT
Ustinov for me - his innate geniality did much for the character, Finney was upstaged by several suspects. No problem with Branagh's moustache but why he didn't choose novels to adapt that don't have perfectly good film adaptations already available is beyond me. The remakes were not improvements.
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Post by Feologild Oakes on Feb 15, 2023 17:49:27 GMT
David Suchet
He is Poirot to me.
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Post by marianne48 on Feb 15, 2023 17:57:43 GMT
Sorry but this text reminded me of a MAD Magazine that I used to have. I still have this magazine. I can't watch the murder scene in the movie without thinking of the MAD version: "For the Fuhrer!" "For the Czar!" "For Alfred Hitchcock!" "For the crew of the Bedford!"
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Post by hi224 on Feb 16, 2023 23:53:51 GMT
Austin Trevor Austin Trevor debuted the role of Poirot on screen in the 1931 British film Alibi. The film was based on the stage play. Trevor reprised the role of Poirot twice, in Black Coffee and Lord Edgeware Dies. Trevor said once that he was probably cast as Poirot simply because he could do a French accent. Notably, Trevor's Poirot did not have a moustache. Leslie S. Hiscott directed the first two films, and Henry Edwards took over for the third. I don’t think that video is of the ’31 Alibi (an adaptation of Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd), which as far as I know is still considered lost. That’s the 1929 Alibi, which doesn’t have Poirot or any Christie connection, directed by Roland West. On the subject of the thread, my favorite screen Poirot is Ustinov, though he isn’t the most faithful (that is, yes, Suchet). But I just find Ustinov’s character so much fun. Always love your analysis
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Post by Penn Guinn on Feb 17, 2023 0:55:00 GMT
The tv version of Orient Express with Alfred Molina is "interesting" in that Poirot and a gorgeous Turkish (?) thief have a "thing" going (shown in the first 6 minutes of the video above) and he keeps mooning over her image. Other than Molina and Leslie Caron and Meredith Baxter Burney the cast is all unknown to me so the distraction of recognizing actors is eliminated.
Nothing terribly interesting as far as innovations. There is a VHS player and cell phones to modernize the setting. Molina is too physically BIG to be truly Poirot and he lacks the charm of Ustinov which cancelled out the physical disparity aspect in Ustinov's characterization.
Have not finished viewing but the original BIG NAME version remains the Orient Express winner, imo.
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Post by Prime etc. on Feb 17, 2023 1:17:02 GMT
I don't think I have seen many. Suchet I recall seeing on tv in clips- the Poirot show being advertised all the time (oh wow-it sure lasted a long time--1989-2013). I did find Finney amusing--especially his mad dash to beat a suspect to the cabin.
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Post by teleadm on Feb 17, 2023 18:10:46 GMT
To me Peter Ustinov has been the best Poirot in movies, even if his body is wrong, in Death on the Nile 1978 and to some extent Evil Under the Sun 1982, the later TV movies he did was not so good and Ustinov overplayed, neither was Appointment with Death 1988.
I agree with those who thinks David Suchet so far is the best Poirot.
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Post by Nalkarj on Feb 17, 2023 18:30:56 GMT
I don’t think that video is of the ’31 Alibi (an adaptation of Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd), which as far as I know is still considered lost. That’s the 1929 Alibi, which doesn’t have Poirot or any Christie connection, directed by Roland West. On the subject of the thread, my favorite screen Poirot is Ustinov, though he isn’t the most faithful (that is, yes, Suchet). But I just find Ustinov’s character so much fun. Always love your analysis Thanks, though I don’t think I analyzed much (anything?) here.
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Post by Richard Kimble on Feb 17, 2023 21:21:38 GMT
I’m probably in the minority, but my favorite is Albert Finney. Surprisingly, you do seem to be in the minority on this board. I don't care for Finney (IMHO a very overrated actor), but from my experience he seems to be the most popular Poirot.
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Post by divtal on Feb 17, 2023 21:24:12 GMT
I have to go with Ustinov. I think he captures HP's generous ego, and Belgian chauvinism the best.
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Post by Richard Kimble on Feb 17, 2023 21:26:20 GMT
I will just take a moment to mention the '40s radio series in which Poirot was played by character actor Harold Huber (perhaps best remembered as the police inspector in Charlie Chan films) It's an entertaining series although only a few episodes survive (including the debut where Agatha Christie herself makes a brief appearance from London). Perhaps the most intriguing episode is a rewrite of Death On The Nile, which transfers the action to the glamorous locale of... A shipping barge on Lake Michigan!
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Post by Richard Kimble on Feb 17, 2023 21:33:21 GMT
It's too bad Laughton never played Poirot or Nero Wolfe onscreen (the latter character was partly inspired by him). Perhaps the closest we can get is Witness For The Prosecution. Laughton does appear in an adaption of The ABC Murders for the radio series Suspense, but in this version the character of Poirot is completely removed!
Speaking of which, I avoided The Alphabet Murders for eons due to its bad rep, but I finally watched it a few years ago. Maybe you have to be in the right mood (Randall's work here is, er, idiosyncratic), but to my surprise I actually found it entertaining. Christie predictably hated it.
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Post by hi224 on Feb 18, 2023 4:53:01 GMT
I’m probably in the minority, but my favorite is Albert Finney. Surprisingly, you do seem to be in the minority on this board. I don't care for Finney (IMHO a very overrated actor), but from my experience he seems to be the most popular Poirot. Finneys in my top probably 30 favorite actors, however for me hes much too bullish and fiery for that whole character, he lacks refined dignity and poised elegance despite Poirots arrogance.
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Post by Penn Guinn on Feb 19, 2023 16:44:38 GMT
RE: Austin Trevor "Lord Edgeware Dies" (You Tube Video posted earlier in this thread)
Could easily have been any detective ...nothing remotely Poirot-ish about the character. No mustache. No correction when called "French". Too tall. Too thin. Too not Hercule.
On top of that, it is a rather bad copy of the film and it is difficult to understand the dialogue.
Imo, watchable only as another "Poirot" to checkoff the list.
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