Agatha Christie's Belgian sleuth, Hercule Poirot, solves the murder of an actress at a Balkan resort.Agatha Christie's Belgian sleuth, Hercule Poirot, solves the murder of an actress at a Balkan resort.Agatha Christie's Belgian sleuth, Hercule Poirot, solves the murder of an actress at a Balkan resort.
- Awards
- 1 nomination total
- Director
- Writers
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaSir Peter Ustinov designed the bathing suit he wore in this movie.
- GoofsIn the film, Patrick Redfern was wearing swim briefs ("Speedos") on many occasions (suntanning on the beach, steering a motorboat with Myra Gardener on board), and it is suggested that, since the film was set in the 1930s or 1940s, that the male "overall" swimsuit was "norm", and the "Speedo" type suit was an anachronism. This is not true; by 1936 (after the Olympics) men started wearing one piece and much tighter fitting "Speedo" suits. The film is probably set before 1939 (the book was written in 1941), and by this time, fashionable and daring men would have worn this type of swimsuit, particularly to secluded getaways, such as the setting for the movie.
- Quotes
Arlena Stuart Marshall: Oh, dear! I'm the last to arrive.
Daphne Castle: Have a sausage. You must be starving having to wait all that time in your room.
- Crazy creditsThe opening credits feature watercolors by British architect and artist, Sir Hugh Casson, who taught King Charles III to paint. The titles for each actor feature an item of costume, prop or setting relevant to their character and those for the production team are similarly themed.
- Alternate versionsThe BBC have edited two scenes from the film for broadcast. The first is the scene where Arlena Marshall is discussing the proposed show with the Gardners, after Odell tells her that it is called "It's Not Right, and It's Not Fair", Arlena's next line, "Sounds like a black man's left leg" has been cut. The second is in the scene where Kenneth Marshall reveals to his wife that he knows she booked Patrick Redfern into the hotel. Her response, "The bitch Daphne!", is also cut.
Featured review
I have watched another two notoriously famous works of Agatha Christie, MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (1974) and DEATH ON THE NILE (1978), despite of three in a row, I could still enjoy this one to a great extent.
The distinction of a star-studded cast and an isolated milieu is too overt to be surprising, luckily enough the island itself compensates a mind-distracting delightfulness. Also it has been the third time around, so as that I am lucidly familiar with its plot design-pattern, the obvious target is farcically recognizable and the murderer is not so perplexing to guess, in addition that all the cartoonish characters attenuate the tone of the headlining murder, which I will recommend to those who usually are shunned by the murder/crime genre.
Speaking of its cast, I adore Maggie Smth, I am thoroughly enjoy her a touch over-the-top performance here, also Jane Birkin is magnificently multi-faceted (I couldn't recall her roll in MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS though). Diana Rigg and Sylvia Miles are perfectly for their roles as bitchy, bitter, vanity bourgeois women. By comparison the equivalent supporting male cast is being eclipsed wholesale, of which even a renowned James Mason cannot avoid.
Peter Ustinov's Pourot is cannily uncompromising with a sharp wit under the contrast of his chubby appearance (although my favorite is Albert Finney in MOTOE). I'm curious now Sherlock Holmes franchise has been resuscitated into somewhat bromance-cum-action flick, maybe it's the right time for Monseiur Pourot to reestablish his name as a genuine detective mind versus a lumbering body, let wisdom rules again!
The distinction of a star-studded cast and an isolated milieu is too overt to be surprising, luckily enough the island itself compensates a mind-distracting delightfulness. Also it has been the third time around, so as that I am lucidly familiar with its plot design-pattern, the obvious target is farcically recognizable and the murderer is not so perplexing to guess, in addition that all the cartoonish characters attenuate the tone of the headlining murder, which I will recommend to those who usually are shunned by the murder/crime genre.
Speaking of its cast, I adore Maggie Smth, I am thoroughly enjoy her a touch over-the-top performance here, also Jane Birkin is magnificently multi-faceted (I couldn't recall her roll in MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS though). Diana Rigg and Sylvia Miles are perfectly for their roles as bitchy, bitter, vanity bourgeois women. By comparison the equivalent supporting male cast is being eclipsed wholesale, of which even a renowned James Mason cannot avoid.
Peter Ustinov's Pourot is cannily uncompromising with a sharp wit under the contrast of his chubby appearance (although my favorite is Albert Finney in MOTOE). I'm curious now Sherlock Holmes franchise has been resuscitated into somewhat bromance-cum-action flick, maybe it's the right time for Monseiur Pourot to reestablish his name as a genuine detective mind versus a lumbering body, let wisdom rules again!
- lasttimeisaw
- Jun 7, 2011
- Permalink
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official site
- Languages
- Also known as
- Muerte bajo el sol
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $10,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $6,110,000
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $1,690,774
- Mar 7, 1982
- Gross worldwide
- $6,110,804
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