Appointment with
Death
Director: Michael Winner
Year: 1988
Rating: 5.5
This is Peter Ustinov's sixth portrayal as the Belgium detective, Hercule
Poirot. And his last. The first two were theatrical releases, the next three
were made for television and then Cannon for some reason exhumed the body
out of the grave and made this theatrical release. It feels very much like
a Made for TV movie and didn't do particularly well at the Box Office. The
cast is quite splendid - if it had been released 20 years previously. It
reminded me of the TV show Murder She Wrote which often has amazing guests
- all dragged out of the Old Folks Home to perform for free meals I expect.
It isn't quite that bad but they all had had better days starting with Ustinov
but also Lauren Bacall, Carrie Fisher, John Gielgud, David Soul, Hayley Mills,
Jenny Seagrove, Piper Laurie and Michael Craig. That goes for the director
as well - Michael Winner who fifteen years previously did all those Charles
Bronson films. Most of the film is set in the Middle East as were a few of
Agatha Christie's other books - Death on the Nile, Murder in Mesopotamia,
They Came to Baghdad and Murder on the Orient Express begins in Istanbul.
Christie loved that part of the world and it came about in a curious way.
In 1928 her husband was demanding a divorce and Christie famously disappeared
without a trace for 10 days. The whole country put out a search for her.
She was found in a hotel - professed amnesia but the ensuing publicity made
her decide to leave the country. She was planning on a trip to the Caribbean
(which was also the setting for a few books) but a friend at the last minute
persuaded her that she would find Baghdad much more interesting. So she went,
met a famous archeologist, fell in love, got married and spent months each
year on his digs helping him in the morning and writing in the afternoon.
The book takes place in Jerusalem and the red rosed Petra. They switich that
around in the film as filming in Petra was not likely easy.
The murder is of a tyranical matriarch of a family and all her children are
suspects. Poirot happens to be there as he always is and gets his little
gray cells working. It is ok but just feels as I said before TVish. But Ustinov
is quite enjoyable in this one and the rest of the cast give it their best.
The book is so much more clever but not very cinematic so they add a second
murder, a lot of romance, a few parties, fireworks and such. The book is
so much less which makes it so much better. Poirot is barely in it in the
first half but is brought in when it is suspected that Mrs. Boyington did
not die naturally. He gives himself 24 hours to solve it by simply interviewing
all the witnesses/suspects. Within all their statements there are numerous
lies and red herrings but Poirot shifts through for the truth. The reader
has all the same information as Poirot does - in true Classical Mystery form
- and I must admit that I figured it out. But then I have read a lot of her
books and know a red herring when I see it! The book was written in 1938
and is also interesting in how much psychology plays a role, the references
to what is going on in the world and a debate on the League of Nations.
