Ordinarily, movies that have a lot of stars and celebrities in small roles are a nuisance, but Agatha Christie's stories, as they appear on television, could really use some recognizable faces attached to the many names. Characters come and go and the plot gets more elaborate and names pop up and down and before you know it, your brain has turned to tofu.
The problem is avoided in most of the feature films, not only because the actors are more likely to be recognizable but because more time is available, so a viewer gets to know each character better.
I could keep the characters and their names more or less straight here, which was a big help. Also there are some memorable moments, such as Jill Meager pushing back the lid of a sarcophagus in which a two-week old corpse has been stashed and being repelled by the whoosh of cadaverine.
The name of Meager's character is Lucy Eyelesbarrow. That's one of the things I enjoy about Agatha Christie's work. She's no Dickens when it comes to inventing names but just look at them -- Slack, Crackenthorpe, Quimper, Duckham. And the place names: High Muckle, Dogditch Road, Gravesend, Deep Bilking, or whatever.
A couple of things I didn't get. Meager consistently finds John Hallam, Cedric Crackenthorpe, repugnant, yet in the kitchen she allows him to quote poetry, praise her contours and colors, smooch his way up her neck, and then turn her and kiss her without any sign of resistance. The Big Reveal came and went too quickly for me to grasp, too.
Still, it rambles less than other episodes, and you must love that cobwebbed Etruscan statuary.
The problem is avoided in most of the feature films, not only because the actors are more likely to be recognizable but because more time is available, so a viewer gets to know each character better.
I could keep the characters and their names more or less straight here, which was a big help. Also there are some memorable moments, such as Jill Meager pushing back the lid of a sarcophagus in which a two-week old corpse has been stashed and being repelled by the whoosh of cadaverine.
The name of Meager's character is Lucy Eyelesbarrow. That's one of the things I enjoy about Agatha Christie's work. She's no Dickens when it comes to inventing names but just look at them -- Slack, Crackenthorpe, Quimper, Duckham. And the place names: High Muckle, Dogditch Road, Gravesend, Deep Bilking, or whatever.
A couple of things I didn't get. Meager consistently finds John Hallam, Cedric Crackenthorpe, repugnant, yet in the kitchen she allows him to quote poetry, praise her contours and colors, smooch his way up her neck, and then turn her and kiss her without any sign of resistance. The Big Reveal came and went too quickly for me to grasp, too.
Still, it rambles less than other episodes, and you must love that cobwebbed Etruscan statuary.