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The murder mystery novels of Agatha Christie have been popular for decades. Christie’s play The Mousetrap ran in London’s West End continuously from 1952 to 2020 when it was forced to shut down after more than 27,500 performances due to the COVID pandemic, the longest running play in history (hopefully it will make a comeback soon). Christie’s works have been adapted for the big screen and small, notably a series of Miss Marple films starring Margaret Rutheford and a Poirot television series with David Suchet. Christie’s works came into the public consciousness again in a big way with the big budget, all-star, Oscar-winning Murder on the Orient Express in 1974 with Albert Finney as the fastidious Hercule Poirot. The film’s success did finally lead to a sequel four years later, but Finney turned down the chance to play the Belgian detective once again because of the arduous makeup process, so the role went to Peter Ustinov who made it his own, playing Poirot five more times on film and television. His two theatrical outings have been hard to find on home video, and even streaming versions have been in standard definition. Ustinov’s second outing as Poirot was followed by a Miss Marple film with Angela Lansbury, and that too has only been afforded a DVD release.
Until now, that is. These three classic, all-star murder mysteries have been given new life now thanks to Kino Lorber, which has released Death on the Nile, Evil Under the Sun and The Mirror Crack’d in stunning new HD transfers for Blu-ray. These are films that have long been on my wish list for HD upgrades and it’s a thrill to finally own them.
Death On the Nile
Paramount Pictures
Following the deadly serious Murder On the Orient Express in 1978, this film is still the most serious of the three new releases, but it does have just a bit more humor thanks mainly to the performances of Bette Davis, Maggie Smith and Angela Lansbury. The classic Christie formula is on full display. After Linnet Ridgeway (Lois Chiles) snatches her best friend’s fiancé Simon Doyle (Simon MacCorkindale) away, they head down (or up?) the Nile on their honeymoon, unaware at first that Jacqueline (Mia Farrow) has also booked herself a cabin on the steamboat. Surrounded by a disparate group of passengers all on holiday, it begins to become clear that none of them are there by coincidence. With socialite Linnet’s marriage splashed all over the papers, having her confined to a boat on the Nile River is the perfect place to corner her. Pretty much every passenger has a beef with her or her family and they all want some kind of comeuppance. Poirot was initially hired to try to keep Jackie away from the honeymooners, but he soon finds himself embroiled in another ‘whodunit’ when Linnet is found dead in her cabin. With no shortage of suspects, Poirot must spring into action before they reach their destination.
Death On the Nile has a clever plot with a lot of moving pieces, so it’s fun to try and put the puzzle together along with Poirot, and it holds up to multiple viewings. That is mainly due to the stellar cast which also includes Jon Finch, David Niven, Jane Birkin, Olivia Hussey, George Kennedy and Jack Warden. Lansbury steals every scene she’s in, gleefully chewing the scenery as the always slightly inebriated romance author Salome Otterbourne, and Maggie Smith and Bette Davis get some laughs with the barbs they sling at each other. The story is full of red herrings to keep you guessing who the killer (or killers) is, so it is a great deal of fun.
Kino Lorber’s Blu-ray presents the film with great clarity but retains the 1978 grain one would and should expect from a film. It’s not overpowering, but it looks exactly as it should. Colors pop, the details of the sets are nice and sharp, and the image retains a bit of the period haziness that was intentional in the cinematography. The DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 is crisp and clear, rendering all of the dialogue and music in mono perfection. The disk includes several special features including trailers, a ‘Making of’ (24 min), archival interviews with Ustinov and Birkin, and a brand new audio commentary by Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell, and Nathaniel Thomson that details the production of the film but has a tendency to meander off topic from time to time. Still it’s an interesting listen and all of these features make Death On the Nile worth adding to your library.
Evil Under the Sun
EMI Films
Four years later, Ustinov returned as Poirot in Evil Under the Sun, another all-star murder mystery this time set on an island in the Mediterranean. This outing finds a hotel full of guests, again not there entirely by accident, who become suspects when a ‘difficult’ actress is found murdered on the beach. Of course everyone has a motive and and alibi, and the geography of the island makes Poirot’s job all the more difficult to place one of the guests at the murder scene at a particular time. The cast includes Death On the Nile alums Maggie Smith and Jane Birkin, in different roles, along with Nicolas Clay, Roddy McDowall, Sylvia Miles, James Mason and Diana Rigg. This one definitely has a more comedic bent to it with a long list of witty one-liners, and a dishy rivalry between Rigg and Smith. The film is also notable for its score made up of re-orchestrated Cole Porter tunes.
The video presentation is again excellent. The sunny outdoor scenes are never overblown, and the colors, like Smith’s red and white ensemble, pop but aren’t over-saturated. The presentation has the same film-like quality with a nice warmth to the image. As with Death On the Nile, the DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 is clear presenting both dialogue and music to perfection. Extras include trailers, radio spots, a ‘Making of’ (16 min), and a new commentary track by the same group of film historians. I think this film is perhaps less well-known than Death On the Nile and definitely deserves to be seen by a wider audience. Kino Lorber’s Blu-ray is the best way to see it.
The Mirror Crack’d
EMI Films
After Ustinov detoured his Poirot films to television, the producers decided to dip into the Christie well and bring Miss Marple back to the big screen with Angela Lansbury as the home-spun sleuth. The film’s biggest selling point, however, was the cast headed by Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson, with Kim Novak making a rare appearance along with Tony Curtis and Edward Fox. Taylor plays an actress on the verge of a nervous breakdown but in a quaint little English village to film a new movie, unaware that her screen rival Lola Brewster (Novak) is also there to stir the pot and steal the film. Surprisingly, it’s a local fan who ends up the victim, dying at a party hosted by the production company for the locals to hobnob with the stars, but was she the intended victim or was the poisoned beverage meant for Marina Rudd (Taylor)?
This is the least successful of the three films but it’s still a fun watch. The promotion for the film played up the rivalry aspect of the two female leads and they do have a few moments of scathing one-liners but the film could have used a lot more of that. Novak sort of disappears after a while, and the film becomes more of a psychological drama focused on Marina’s mental health, ready to crack thinking that someone tried to kill her. Miss Marple also doesn’t have a lot of screen time and certainly doesn’t get to do one of Poirot’s famous ‘gather all the suspects together’ scenes, so the reveal of what really happened is a bit of a letdown while the ending is still a mildly shocking.
As far as the video presentation, this one looks the best. The image is clear, colors are natural, and the details are stunning (such as Taylor’s lace nightgown and Novak’s pink ensemble). While the film’s story may be a bit of a letdown, the video presentation is not. The audio track is the same format as the other two releases and is also in the same superior condition as far as clarity of sound. Trailers and TV spots are included, along with a commentary track from the usual suspects. While it may be the less of the three, this is still worth adding to your collection, particularly if you’re a fan of the Agatha Christie films.
So if you’re looking to wrap yourself up in a good mystery or three, these Agatha Christie films from Kino Lorber should satisfy your own sleuthing skills.
Kino Lorber generously provided Hotchka with the Blu-rays for reviewing purposes.
Death on the Nile has a running time of 2 hours 20 minutes and is rated PG.
Evil Under the Sun has a running time of 1 hour 57 minutes and is rated PG.
The Mirror Crack’d has a running time of 1 hour 45 minutes and is rated PG.
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