Agatha Christie Collection: Evil Under the Sun

Technically, Evil Under the Sun, starring Peter Ustinov, isn't part of the Agatha Christie Collection, which consists of television movies. 

However, Evil Under the Sun does star Peter Ustinov, who has such a fun time being Poirot, it is easy to forgive him for not being Albert Finney (or David Suchet). 

Evil Under the Sun and Death on the Nile were both attempts to capitalize on the success of Murder on the Orient Express. Murder on the Orient Express is arguably not a great mystery but it worked as a movie--with all its celebrity cameos--because the celebrity cameos were used to highlight the importance of the characters. So the coarse American diva/matriarch/actress played by Lauren Bacall becomes more important and recognizable because she is played by Lauren Bacall. Ingrid Bergman wins an Academy Award for a ten-minute performance as a guilt-ridden nursery maid. It's rather like watching a series of skits.

Unfortunately, the other studio movies, rather like the second Ocean's Eleven movie, become so focused on insider jokes (Look at us clever celebrities playing parts in a mystery in which we make barbed comments to each other!) the movies are more irritating than clever. 

I compared Evil Under the Sun with Ustinov to Evil Under the Sun with Suchet.  

Evil Under the Sun is one of Christie's mysteries that relies on absolutely perfect timing, which I always find rather unbelievable. 

It also relies on a remarkable insight on Christie's part: that the so-called femme fatale might be considerably more naive about men than other people--especially other women--realize. She flirts and plays the seductress, but she is actually quite vulnerable. The men who claim to be under her spell manage to walk away with large amounts of her money. 

The "evil" on the island is revealed as the true face of the supposedly innocent, misused couple. Imagine if the couple in Indecent Proposal actually turned out to be sociopaths who kill Robert Redford's character for his money. (Way more interesting idea!)

It's classic Christie: appearances are deceptive, and people tend to believe in the roles they perceive. 

In Ustinov's production, Arlena--the femme fatale and victim--is played by Diana Rigg, who simply doesn't come across as vulnerable. Jane Birkin as the supposed fragile wounded wife does an impressive transformation at the end to tough, beautiful broad, the second half of the sociopathic couple. And Nicholas Clay is so unnerving as a murderer that his identity as the murderer seems sort of obvious. 

But it's mostly a nothing film. 

The most notable aspect of Suchet's film is that it has gorgeous music, a mournful tune on top of the usual Poirot theme song. 

It also offers the pleasure of a full Poirot cast, from Japp to Miss Lemon to Hugh Fraser as the affable Hasting. 

In terms of the mystery, the past of the villains is more deftly used. However, Arlena--who in the book comes across as femme fatale--comes across instead as vapidly flirtatious. 

In other words, like with many Poirot films the emphasis is placed on Poirot's comprehension of human nature rather than the oddities of human character as they greet and mislead the reader. The book Murder in Mesopotamia, for instance, is entirely dependent on the nurse's highly individual, commonsense, and artless voice while the Poirot movie is all about Poirot. (This may be a necessary change from book to movie.)

Suchet's version of Evil Under the Sun does deliver characters rather than Celebrities Doing a Mystery. So that's one major plus. And Suchet as Poirot delivers the most important line, "I saw her first, last, and all of the time as a victim. Eternal and predestined...a target."

The Poirot episode "Triangle at Rhodes" does a better job than either movie at capturing the psychology behind Christie's novel, namely the fundamental insecurity and uncertainty of the murdered femme fatale (see image above).