A doctor, a lawyer and a priest are sharing a compartment in a night train, enjoying some casual conversation along the way. Their order is disrupted by a fourth passenger in the same compartment, who was present at the doctor's latest lecture, and tells them a personal but also related story of growing up, dual personalities, and possible murder. His story is quite absorbing, and his small audience, as well as the bigger one watching this movie, is carried along, trying to guess where it's going. When it arrives at its destination, the nature of the story is left ambiguous: is it about supernatural "possession"? A strong personality dominating a weak one? A girl with excellent acting abilities that has been fooling everyone? This is yet another Agatha Christie tale which shows how ahead of her time she was in many ways, like her questioning and challenging of the "established" authorities in both the religious and the scientific fields. Exceptionally well-cast, unusual and haunting episode. *** out of 4.
5 Reviews
This One Is a Poser
misctidsandbits8 June 2014
As this tale concerns the supernatural and "orthodox: Christianity, it goes down rather hard on the pertinent points. I can understand everyone's perspective, especially the religious figure. While I appreciate his view, I can think that something else is at play in this instance for which his religious training did not prepare him.
It seems every prolific writer eventually delves into the supernatural. This is especially true of the mystery writers (such as Conan Doyle). However, throughout her works, I did not find Agatha Christie out of touch with the genre, either of the supernatural or the effects of religion, per se, some of which deserve pillorying. This is with the understanding that there is a difference in religion and literally taken Biblical Christianity. Christie did not demean Christianity, I have found, but its posing counterpart in the guise of standardized religion.
Thus, this was a bold endeavor, rather early-on in her career, and likely universally not anyone's favorite of her stories of any type. Personally, I come to her for diversion and entertainment, and the subject story does not fall into those ranks for me.
However, she is always good, and this is not a story I would revisit; however, it is not one that I would strike from my ownership of her works.
It seems every prolific writer eventually delves into the supernatural. This is especially true of the mystery writers (such as Conan Doyle). However, throughout her works, I did not find Agatha Christie out of touch with the genre, either of the supernatural or the effects of religion, per se, some of which deserve pillorying. This is with the understanding that there is a difference in religion and literally taken Biblical Christianity. Christie did not demean Christianity, I have found, but its posing counterpart in the guise of standardized religion.
Thus, this was a bold endeavor, rather early-on in her career, and likely universally not anyone's favorite of her stories of any type. Personally, I come to her for diversion and entertainment, and the subject story does not fall into those ranks for me.
However, she is always good, and this is not a story I would revisit; however, it is not one that I would strike from my ownership of her works.
The Fourth Man
Prismark1027 February 2019
The Fourth Man is an unusual Agatha Christie story. It is a psychological even a a supernatural story delving into a character being possessed.
Raoul Letardau (John Nettles) joins three men in a train compartment to discuss the suicide of a young woman. She strangled herself as she suffered from some kind of multiple personality disorder.
The other men on the train are a doctor, a lawyer and a priest who are left intrigued by the story Raoul recalls. Raoul is a journalist who was present at the lecture the doctor gave. He also knew two women involved in this case since childhood.
Raoul made friends with Felicie and Annette when they were both girls. Annette was clever, pretty and talented. When she grew up she enchanted everyone as a performer but illness cut her life short.
Felice was hardworking and strong. She was not pretty and used to be cruelly mocked by Annette. Time after time Annette could dominate Felice, even after her death.
It took a while to get the story going. I was also distracted because the actresses playing the young girls were clearly too old for the roles. Although they would later also play the older Felicie and Annette.
It needed to be more surefooted at the beginning although it did get better as the story went on. A rather bold story from Christie.
are sharing a compartment in a night train, enjoying some casual conversation along the way. Their order is disrupted by a fourth passenger in the same compartment, who was present at the doctor's latest lecture, and tells them a personal but also related story of growing up, dual personalities, and possible murder. His story is quite absorbing, and his small audience, as well as the bigger one watching this movie, is carried along, trying to guess where it's going. When it arrives at its destination, the nature of the story is left ambiguous: is it about supernatural "possession"? A strong personality dominating a weak one? A girl with excellent acting abilities that has been fooling everyone? This is yet another Agatha Christie tale which shows how ahead of her time she was in many ways, like her questioning and challenging of the "established" authorities in both the religious and the scientific fields. Exceptionally well-cast, unusual and haunting episode. *** out of 4.
Raoul Letardau (John Nettles) joins three men in a train compartment to discuss the suicide of a young woman. She strangled herself as she suffered from some kind of multiple personality disorder.
The other men on the train are a doctor, a lawyer and a priest who are left intrigued by the story Raoul recalls. Raoul is a journalist who was present at the lecture the doctor gave. He also knew two women involved in this case since childhood.
Raoul made friends with Felicie and Annette when they were both girls. Annette was clever, pretty and talented. When she grew up she enchanted everyone as a performer but illness cut her life short.
Felice was hardworking and strong. She was not pretty and used to be cruelly mocked by Annette. Time after time Annette could dominate Felice, even after her death.
It took a while to get the story going. I was also distracted because the actresses playing the young girls were clearly too old for the roles. Although they would later also play the older Felicie and Annette.
It needed to be more surefooted at the beginning although it did get better as the story went on. A rather bold story from Christie.
are sharing a compartment in a night train, enjoying some casual conversation along the way. Their order is disrupted by a fourth passenger in the same compartment, who was present at the doctor's latest lecture, and tells them a personal but also related story of growing up, dual personalities, and possible murder. His story is quite absorbing, and his small audience, as well as the bigger one watching this movie, is carried along, trying to guess where it's going. When it arrives at its destination, the nature of the story is left ambiguous: is it about supernatural "possession"? A strong personality dominating a weak one? A girl with excellent acting abilities that has been fooling everyone? This is yet another Agatha Christie tale which shows how ahead of her time she was in many ways, like her questioning and challenging of the "established" authorities in both the religious and the scientific fields. Exceptionally well-cast, unusual and haunting episode. *** out of 4.
Story makes no sense and is awful
ctyankee114 September 2013
Four men are on a train and they are all discussing the death of a woman named Felicie who supposedly had multiple personalities. It is about a girl that was living in a home for children that have no where to go.
John Nettles is not part of the group of 3 but he knows the woman they are discussing because he lost his parents and lived in the same home which is huge.
RAOUL/Nettles goes on to tell the men about some of the people he made friends with Felicie and Annette. He describes how pretty, smart and talented Annette is.
He says him and Felicie were Annette's slaves like it was a joke. He loves Annette. Annette was mean, she called Felicie names and mocked her. That did not seem wrong to Raoul/Nettles.
This is not a Agatha Christie story. She never made the main character look good who was evil and she did not put believe in spiritualism at valid. The characters that were nuts or bad had Crosses around their necks. She did not mock religion like in this story.
John Nettles is not part of the group of 3 but he knows the woman they are discussing because he lost his parents and lived in the same home which is huge.
RAOUL/Nettles goes on to tell the men about some of the people he made friends with Felicie and Annette. He describes how pretty, smart and talented Annette is.
He says him and Felicie were Annette's slaves like it was a joke. He loves Annette. Annette was mean, she called Felicie names and mocked her. That did not seem wrong to Raoul/Nettles.
This is not a Agatha Christie story. She never made the main character look good who was evil and she did not put believe in spiritualism at valid. The characters that were nuts or bad had Crosses around their necks. She did not mock religion like in this story.
The fascinating tale of Felicie & Annette
Coventry4 June 2018
Warning: Spoilers
My first encounter with an episode in the "Agatha Christie Hour" series was "Mystery of the Blue Jar" and it was somewhat of a disappointment. The second episode I watched completely wiped out this memory, however, as "The Fourth Man" is a truly absorbing and compelling short film that kept me glued to the screen and on the edge of my seat throughout the entire running time! It's a fantastic tale with a terrific script, impeccable acting performances and surefooted direction, but what astounded me perhaps the most was that it's such atypical Agatha Christie material. This brilliant writer (the best of all times, in my humble opinion) practically always penned down novels and stories that were 100% rational, and even when she hinted at the supernatural, there was eventually still a twist to explain the occurrences in a rational fashion ("Mystery of the Blue Jar" is a good example, in fact). "The Fourth Man" is one her only stories that leaves the option of supernatural phenomena open and even likely.
Three eminent men are sharing a train compartment and listen to how one of them, the acclaimed psychiatrist Campbell Clark, elaborates on the lecture he just gave about an unusual case of multiple personality syndrome that drove the patient to commit suicide. Suddenly, a fourth passenger interrupts the conversation, as he claims to be a journalist who also attended the lecture and an acquaintance of the patient. He says he grew up in the same orphanage as the victim, Felicie Bault, and another girl named Annette Ravel. Felicie was an ugly and introvert girl with a lot strength and a good healthy, whereas Annette was beautiful and artistically talented, but suffering from fatal tuberculosis. Through flashbacks, taking place during different phases of their young adulthood, it is made clear how Felicie is obsessed with Annette, but the latter only manipulates and humiliates the poor girl. Because of their bizarre relationship, the man suggests that Annette took possession of Felicie's body after she died, and this drove Felicie to kill herself.
The narrative structure of this episode is great, especially considering it's only a 50 minutes movie. The tension and mystery mounts after each brief interlude, effectively working towards an unresolved and haunting climax that leaves room for ambiguity. The performances are stellar. Michael Gough's presence was a main motivator for me to seek out this episode, but his role is rather small. The girls, Prue Clarke and Fiona Mathieson, are downright terrific in their challenging roles. My only main complaint is regarding the title of this short film. Naming the story "The Fourth Man" raises the impression that the train passengers are the lead protagonists here, but they are not.
Three eminent men are sharing a train compartment and listen to how one of them, the acclaimed psychiatrist Campbell Clark, elaborates on the lecture he just gave about an unusual case of multiple personality syndrome that drove the patient to commit suicide. Suddenly, a fourth passenger interrupts the conversation, as he claims to be a journalist who also attended the lecture and an acquaintance of the patient. He says he grew up in the same orphanage as the victim, Felicie Bault, and another girl named Annette Ravel. Felicie was an ugly and introvert girl with a lot strength and a good healthy, whereas Annette was beautiful and artistically talented, but suffering from fatal tuberculosis. Through flashbacks, taking place during different phases of their young adulthood, it is made clear how Felicie is obsessed with Annette, but the latter only manipulates and humiliates the poor girl. Because of their bizarre relationship, the man suggests that Annette took possession of Felicie's body after she died, and this drove Felicie to kill herself.
The narrative structure of this episode is great, especially considering it's only a 50 minutes movie. The tension and mystery mounts after each brief interlude, effectively working towards an unresolved and haunting climax that leaves room for ambiguity. The performances are stellar. Michael Gough's presence was a main motivator for me to seek out this episode, but his role is rather small. The girls, Prue Clarke and Fiona Mathieson, are downright terrific in their challenging roles. My only main complaint is regarding the title of this short film. Naming the story "The Fourth Man" raises the impression that the train passengers are the lead protagonists here, but they are not.
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