I love Peter Ustinov as Poirot. Maybe he is not as close to his fastidious book counterpart as David Suchet or Albert Finney, but his version of the Belgian detective has a playful humanity, wise and sweetly ironic at the same time, which I find utterly engaging. This is one of those rare cases where the character as adapted and performed has replaced the book one in my mind.
In this murder mystery set on a Mediterranean island (a departure from the novel, which took place in Devon), Ustinov is surrounded by a first-rate cast, featuring, among others, Maggie Smith, James Mason and Diana Rigg. Dialogues are witty, characters effectively drawn: Christie had a gift for recreating upper-class banter, and the great Anthony Shaffer (Sleuth) adapted the book for the screen.
The solution doesn't really hold up to close scrutiny - without going into spoiler territory, the murderous plan required a series of lucky, unpredictable occurrences to succeed - but Ustinov is a delight to watch.
7,5/10
In this murder mystery set on a Mediterranean island (a departure from the novel, which took place in Devon), Ustinov is surrounded by a first-rate cast, featuring, among others, Maggie Smith, James Mason and Diana Rigg. Dialogues are witty, characters effectively drawn: Christie had a gift for recreating upper-class banter, and the great Anthony Shaffer (Sleuth) adapted the book for the screen.
The solution doesn't really hold up to close scrutiny - without going into spoiler territory, the murderous plan required a series of lucky, unpredictable occurrences to succeed - but Ustinov is a delight to watch.
7,5/10