Murder in the Mews
- Episode aired Jan 15, 1989
- TV-14
- 51m
When a woman is found shot in her flat after Bonfire Night, Poirot is enlisted to decipher whether the victim died by her own hand, or by someone else's.When a woman is found shot in her flat after Bonfire Night, Poirot is enlisted to decipher whether the victim died by her own hand, or by someone else's.When a woman is found shot in her flat after Bonfire Night, Poirot is enlisted to decipher whether the victim died by her own hand, or by someone else's.
- Director
- Writers
- Clive Exton
- Agatha Christie(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaMurder in the Mews is a Poirot short story written by Agatha Christie and first published in March 1937.
- GoofsRight before the camera moves away from the blonde murder victim for the last time, her fingers are twitching.
- Quotes
[first lines]
Hercule Poirot: Hastings, my friend, tell me: to blow up the English Parliament, was it a sin or a noble deed?
Captain Hastings: Oh, it's no good asking me, old son. I was never much of a one for politics. Where's Mrs Japp tonight, then?
Chief Inspector Japp: She can't abide fireworks.
Hercule Poirot: Ah, the noise disturbs the delicate sensibilities of many ladies.
Chief Inspector Japp: Maybe, maybe. I think it's more that she doesn't like to see people enjoying themselves.
As Poirot and his companions observe the fireworks that night, Hastings suggests that the general noise and chaos would make it a good night to shoot someone. The next morning they find that the idea has evidently occurred to someone else, as a woman's body is found in her home. She appears to have committed suicide, but there are indications that it may have been murder instead. Poirot and Japp sift through ashtrays, garbage cans and cupboards to find the truth.
On the one hand, I was fascinated with the production values: the costumes,the nightclub, the Art Deco design of the house where the crime took place, and especially Poirot's apartment, with its semicircular minimalist bookcases and gleaming surfaces. I could have paused every few minutes just to appreciate the trouble they went to to recreate the look of the era.
On the other hand, one of the period aspects they recreated was the colonialist view of the English at the time (which is sprinkled throughout Christie's novels and short stories). It's only natural that her work should reflect the prevailing attitudes from almost a century ago, but it is jarring to hear Poirot and Miss Lemon discuss the difficulty they are having communicating with the local Chinese laundry. (Here I am forced to admit that I laughed out loud to hear where Miss Lemon got the pidgin English phrase she used with the delivery boy. Vaguely racist, but still funny.) Another minor point related to the reflection of the times. One of the characters, described as an unsavory type, is said by a witness to have a toothbrush mustache. I believe this description came directly from Christie's short story. But when we see the character only a day or two later, he has a significantly longer mustache. I suspect that in 1935 that style was relatively popular, but Hitler's use of it had made it so unacceptable that people were unwilling to show it even in 1989 when the show was filmed. This is what comes of trying to depict bygone times with authenticity.
- kaberi-893-642316
- Sep 2, 2015
Details
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- Runtime51 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1