The subtitle: “One woman’s plot to watch 201 Agatha Christie movies without murdering the director, screenwriter, cast, or her husband.” This is a fabulous and useful reference book. If you think you are familiar with all the Marple-Poirot-And Then There Were None adaptations, you probably aren’t. It’s encyclopedic, with each film rated regarding fidelity to text and quality of movie, along with a cast list, director and screenwriter for each film. The real plus are the snarky little end comments. I started putting post its on the ones she recommends as fabulous.
It’s all here from Rutherford to Francesca Annis to Branagh and everyone in between. Who knew Tony Randall, Rue McClanahan and Ken Howard appeared in a version of The Man in the Brown Suit (1989)? That there’s a Japanese version of Appointment with Death, Promise of Death (2021) featuring a comic Poirot? That there’s a Bollywood version of And Then There Were None, Unknown (1965)? She has fond reviews of some of my favorite versions of Death on the Nile (1978) and Murder on the Orient Express (1974) one of which I saw in high school, one in college, and have carried them with me mentally ever since. She’s not a fan of Branagh whereas I enjoyed his first two Poirot films, and she disliked, as I did, the grim John Malkovich version of The ABC Murders (2018). That one got me so het up I had to write a blog post about it. This is what makes this such a great reference book, though – there’s agreement and disagreement, and what can be more of a bond? Our opinions about Agatha Christie are deeply felt and held and I would have no respect for a volume that not only didn’t take this fact into account, but was one obviously shared by the writer.
Some of the little wrap ups are real zingers, often hilarious, as for 1995’s Hickory Dickory Dock: “Time that could have been spent on characterization and plot was wasted watching mice run along the drain pipes…Where is Miss Lemon’s Siamese cat when you need him? Snap, snap! Yum, yum!” Or for one of my favorite books, Ordeal by Innocence, adapted as a 2007 film starring Geraldine McEwan as Miss Marple: “There were a few unclear patches, due mostly to mumbling. Otherwise, what a great film. We were riveted. The changes enhanced the story and elevated it to Shakespearean tragedy.” Reader, the book is packed with these gems and I promise you’ll be headed to your TV or laptop to dial some of these wonders up for yourself.
There’s also a regular index as well as a quality of ratings index. You could probably start your viewing (I plan to) with Peschel’s short-ish list of 5 star films, only a few of which I’ve seen. Her rating icons include poison, garrotes, hands (strangulation), guns, knives, etc. They “usually reflect the first murder in the film.” As Agatha devotees know, there are usually many deaths and many methods in the same book. She kicks it off, righteously in my opinion, with a Marple section. The whole things is packed with photos – this is obviously a labor of love – and how much fun to turn here instead of IMDB for your cast list. And does IMDB feature one of my all time favorite stills, Margaret Rutherford getting down in her ballgown in Murder at the Gallop (1963)? I think not.
This is a fabulous addition to your reference library. I promise you you’ll be flipping through this volume happily and cuing up your TV as fast as you can. I can only thank Peschel for her viewing hours (and hours) and giving me, the reader, the chance to scoop up her recommendations. Bravo. — Robin Agnew