agatha christie's poirot evil under the sun 2001

This makes it easier for viewers to distinguish between the suspects and also allows Shaffer to flesh out their personality traits better. Shaffer reduces the number of suspects by merging two into one and eliminating two minor characters altogether. The superior version is Ustinov's film, which was written by Anthony Shaffer, a playwright ( Sleuth) and screenwriter ( Frenzy) who understands how to condense a character-heavy book. At the climax, he assembles all the suspects, confronts the culprit, and explains (aided by flashbacks) how the ingenious crime was committed.īoth adaptations have their virtues and both make significant deviations from Christie's novel. When her corpse is discovered on the beach, the Belgian detective sets out to uncover the identity of the murderer. After a prologue involving a seemingly unrelated murder, Hercule Poirot journeys to a secluded island hotel where all the guests share one thing: a hatred of wealthy, former actress Arlena Marshall. Interestingly, prior to playing Poirot, Suchet appeared opposite Ustinov's Poirot as the detective's Scotland Yard colleague Inspector Japp in 1985's Thirteen for Dinner.īoth actors starred in adaptations of Agatha Christie's 1941 Poirot novel Evil Under the Sun (the title was derived from a verse in Ecclesiastes). In contrast, David Suchet, who made his debut in the role in 1989, has starred in dozens of one-hour TV episodes and 90-minute movies for both the British network ITV and A&E. Ustinov played Poirot five more times in two theatrical films and three movies made for American television. Peter Ustinov first appeared as the famed detective in Death on the Nile (1978), an all-star follow-up to 1974's Murder on the Orient Express (which starred Albert Finney).

Ustinov may place a little more emphasis on Hercule Poirot's humorous traits, but he can deliver an accusation just as crisp as Suchet. I suspect that most Agatha Christie purists favor David Suchet over Peter Ustinov as the Belgian (not French!) detective. The case of the preferred Poirot is an easy one to solve.

Agatha christie's poirot evil under the sun 2001