Poirot:Hallowe'en Party

No not yet.



I guess it is how they make there money from them. Often you can get them on DVD before they even appear on TV.
 
Great!!! I thought I had missed it as its not advertised as much as it is in the UK, but look forward to seeing it along with the rest as I am a big Poirot fan
 
was ok but these are all the same to me. Thought it would be different. Scary for halloween but there was nothing scary in it at all. Very disappointed. wish we could have a good thriller on telly.
 
I love Halloween party the book, but I agree with you on the Big Four (that was not the most enjoyable read).

As usual, Poirot wasn't shown in Scotland:rolleyes::rolleyes:. Does anyone know when it is likely to be on in Scotland?
 
I read pretty much all the books when younger, that line sounded familiar so I assume it was in the original book (or at least one of them).
It's there to show that Poirot is one of those people to whom looking good is far more important than being comfortable;)
 
I enjoyed it but it was full of anachronisms, I don't think Halloween was such a big thing in the 30s, children wouldn't have dressed up as ghoulies and ghosties, although they did play games like apple bobbing,pumpkins are a later American import, they would have used turnips then. Au Pairs are a relatively recent import,and of course there were the, now. obligatory lesbians.
 
I thought this one was so-so, mainly because I worked it all out pretty early on (I've not read the book) and usually I can't see the plot so clearly. The device of the dropped vase to hide the water was an instant reveal for me and the secret couple who argue in front of others to misdirect them is maybe too similar to Death on the Nile.

However, I did think, as always, it was well cast, nicely played though Sophie Thompson and her real-life mum had precious little to do between them. Personally, I wouldn't have cast Julian Rhind-Tutt as he was very prominent in a Marple of not too long ago, I'd imagine everyone who watches Poirot also watches Marple. The score was beautiful at points and the whole thing, especially that garden, looked stunning.

David Suchet is beginning to look old underneath the pancake make-up and hair-dye, giving him a very Death in Venice ageing queen look! On the other hand, the kiRAB and youngsters in this episode really did look and sound like kiRAB from the time, which is hard to pull off.
 
I'm not sure what year Hallowe'en is set but I do recall Christie saying she regreted making Poirot quite old in his first novel, so as the series went on he got rather unconvincingly ancient:D
As I posted above, Poirot is rather a vain man, so wearing make-up and hair dye is actually quite in character for him.
 
It was "Three Act Tragedy" which was shown earlier this year.

Dutch Filmworks released the dvd that has the episodes "Three Act Tragedy","The Clocks","Halloween Party" & "Murder On The Orient Express".However the dvd has never been released here in the UK.
 
As regarRAB Suchet - that's actually making him more like Poirot than ever who despite becoming increasingly decrepit, still stubbornly dyed his hair raven black and continued to preen like a peacock - this features in "Curtain".

I rather liked this adaptation, principally because they didn't change too much and because it's not a book I rate among the best Christie's anyway so I wasn't clinging to any fervent affection while watching it. You're right - the dropped vase is a dead giveaway; even more so in the book as I recall. I'm not sure if the two perpetrators argue in the same way in the novel; as I remember, they don't have much to do with each other but I could be wrong as I haven't read the novel in years.
 
Chuf... Best to avoid the whole Tommy and Tuppence nonsense. Christie was on shifting sanRAB there, and 'Evans' came out the same year as Orient. It's amazing that she chose to write Postern of Fate [one of theirs] as her last book.
 
Chuff... You're right, the'Clocks' [out in 1963]is a strange brew, it doesn't even try to explain their part in the plot as I remember reading it near the end of my reading in the early 70s of most of AC's work. After hallowe'en Party [1969], she went seriously into decline. none of her 70s stuff was worth bothering with [Passenger to Frankfurt '70,, Nemesis '71, Elephants can remember, '72 [this was her worst ever novel]. and Postern of fate '73, after which her daughter persuaded her to stop there.
 
Three Act Tragedy was very good. I loved the Halloween Party novel, and am looking forward to the TV version (I have faith in Mark Gatiss's writing). The Clocks was a very silly book, and I'm looking forward to seeing how they translate it to TV.

MOTOE seems to have got some people's backs up overseas, but I'm not really sure why. Darker then the film? Fair enough. It's a fairly horrible story really. The victim is one of the nastiest people in any of Agatha's books.

After that, there's not many left!

1. The Big Four (good luck with that one, ITV)
2. Elephants Can Remember (really not very good)
3. Dead Man's Folly (love it!)
4. Curtain (brilliant. Hope they bring Hastings back ... but bet they don't)

Plus

5. Black Coffee (stageplay by Agatha, was turned into a novel by someone else, full of bits that Agatha reused in other novels)
6. The Labours of Hercules (collection of linked short stories)
 
I thought the dialogue was labored at times, even in the beginning with the line after a door knock "Must be a jehovah's witness. A strange attempt at humor that did not work and seem out of place. I noticed it was adapted by Mark gatiss, he seems to be in favour at the moment, but not sure he quite got the experience for such a major project.
 
The clocks I really like. They made it in to quite a sweet, simple human story and it Jamie Winstone and Tom Burke are it and they are delight.

Murder on the Orient isn't just dark (as in the story is dark) it is actually errie and creepy and dark melancholy feel to it. The characters are all a lot more sinister, unlikeable and there is a lot of questioning about the morals and the ethics of what they have done.
 
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