 | |
List Price: $24.99 | | Label: Acorn Media
Salesrank: 70432
Released: February 6, 2001 |
| Our Price: $15.81 |
| Used Price: $9.93 |
|
MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD |
|
Editorial Review:
A shell shocked soldier teams up with Poirot to solve a murder.
Genre: Mystery
Rating: NR
Release Date: 6-FEB-2001
Media Type: DVD
Description of Poirot - The Mysterious Affair at Styles:
The murderer isn't the only one with a secret to hide in this television adaptation of Agatha Christie's first novel. With the (often unwitting) help of his friend Arthur Hastings (Hugh Fraser), retired Belgian supersleuth Hercule Poirot (David Suchet) arranges the pieces of a puzzle, which include a broken coffee cup, spilled candle grease, untidy mantel ornaments, a fake beard, and a chief suspect who seems almost eager to be arrested.
Place all these clues on the grand estate of a murdered matriarch as World War I draws to a close, and you have not only a fine mystery but also a quiet elegy to a way of life that would soon fade away. What this adaptation sacrifices in the romantic intrigues that flesh out the novel, it makes up for in setting. As with all the Poirot episodes, there is a sumptuous attention to detail, from the furnishings of Styles Court to the white spats on Poirot's shoes as he interrupts a military war game to give his fellow Belgians a lesson on local botany. Suchet's characterization of Poirot here verges on caricature at times, but it is still difficult to resist his charms as he skillfully peels away the layers of deception to reveal the truth.
The DVD special features include biographies of David Suchet and Agatha Christie, challenging Poirot trivia questions and classic quotes, and a link to the official Agatha Christie Web site. --Larisa Lomacky Moore
Poirot - The Mysterious Affair at Styles Reviews:
Funny little provincial continental private eye 
2008-01-23 - A nice little story with Hercule Poirot playing the continental dandy. The local aristocracy engaged in strange affairs and businesses suddenly trapped in their own snares by small little social climbers. It is all a question of money and doing as little as possible. It is not the doing nothing that is hard since for these people it is inscribed in their genes. But it is the money that gets rarefied, and that is not inscribed in their genes at all, that is the real problem that requires a fast and radical solution. Then the story is simple but the telling is magnificent. You are led into believing the obvious then into confessing your moronic mind because crime has little to do with the obvious, and then, etc. And in the end you are just dizzy when Monsieur Poirot finally tells you who it is. An entertaining and even amazing little film.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines
The first Poirot
2007-01-03 - The DVD was much better than the version aired on public TV. The entire series is delightful and great fun. The ensemble cast is superb.
The Little Grey Cells' Debut.
2004-11-14 - "Another example of the English bucolic beliefs," Hercule Poirot pontificates to a group of puzzled fellow Belgians. "Anagallis arvensis. In English: the scarlet pimpernel. It is believed that when this flower is opened, it is a sign of a prolonged spell of the fine weather. It is seldom seen open in this country ..."
What we first see of the little detective with his unmistakeable egg-shaped head, stiff, upward-twisted moustache and many little grey cells, as he utters these words, is a pair of patent leather shoes, gingerly traipsing right through a military exercise preparing the local village population for war on the "home front." Recently arrived from a Belgium made "temporarily uninhabitable" by the Germans, Poirot and his compatriots have found refuge in Styles St. Mary, a quintessential English village, where the detective insists that they must speak English even among themselves, to quicker learn the language and thereby "gain the confidence of the natives," and is much chagrined by his countrymen's preferred method of acclimatization: visits to the local pub; a place he just can't get himself to enter. ("All those bottles of a different size, all in the wrong order ... Ech.")
But Poirot's mood considerably lightens when he unexpectedly meets a pre-war acquaintance, Lieutenant (Captain-to-be) Hastings (Hugh Fraser), temporarily returned from the front to nurse an injured leg and currently visiting his friend John Cavendish's (David Rintoul's) family in nearby Styles Court. As coincidence has it, Hastings has already boasted about his knowledge of the Belgian to John's family - not knowing that Poirot in fact lives very close by now - and admitted "a secret hankering" to become a detective after the war himself, working on a system "based" on Poirot's. Neither of them knows how quickly they will find themselves working together. For not long thereafter, John Cavendish's mother Emily Inglethorpe (Gillian Barge) is poisoned, and Hastings obtains John's permission to call in Poirot. ("[You] have given to me faithfully the facts," the detective subsequently comments on Hastings's report of the crime. "But of the order in which you present them I say nothing. Truly, it is deplorable. But I make allowances - you are upset. Later, when you are calmer, we will arrange the facts neatly; each in his proper place. Those of importance we will place on one side ... and those of no importance ..." - he blows a speck of dust off his jacket - "we will blow them away.")
Suspicion quickly falls on Mrs. Inglethorpe's twenty-year younger husband Alfred (Michael Cronin), but Poirot insists to Scotland Yard's Chief Inspector Japp (Philip Jackson), arriving from London, that arresting Mr. Inglethorpe will bring him "no kudos." So who then *is* responsible for the murder: John Cavendish? His brother Lawrence (Anthony Calf)? John's wife Mary (Beatie Edney)? Mrs. Inglethorpe's protege Cynthia (Allie Byrne)? Or her factotum Evie Howard (Joanna Cronin)? While several members of the family would have had the opportunity to come by the poison, hardly any of them seems to have a motive to kill their strict but benevolent matriarch. (Or do they?) Only at the last minute, a chance remark by Hastings, coupled with Poirot's pedantic neatness, leads to the killer's discovery.
Given Hercule Poirot's prominence in the annals of mystery writing, it seems strange that except for his portrayal by Albert Finney in the star-studded movie version of "Murder on the Orient Express," for a long time there didn't seem to be any actor who could convincingly bring to life Agatha Christie's clever, dignified little Belgian. But the perfect Poirot was finally found in David Suchet, who after having had the dubious honor of playing a rather dumbly arrogant version of Chief Inspector Japp in some of the 1980s' movies starring Peter Ustinov now moved center stage. And the match is spot-on, not only physically but also in terms of personality, because Suchet shares Poirot's inclination towards pedantry: "I like things to be symmetrical ... If I put two things on the mantelpiece, they have to be exactly evenly spaced," he once said, adding however that unlike his on-screen alter ego, "I don't need the same sized eggs for breakfast!"
Published in 1920 but set three years earlier, "The Mysterious Affair at Styles" was Agatha Christie's first-ever book and thus, established not only Poirot's and Hastings's characters but also their relationship. Unfortunately, Hastings comes across as a bit more vacuous here (and in the series in general) than in the novels narrated from his point of view; and this although the same station, ITV, did so well in debumblifying Sherlock Holmes's friend and chronicler Dr. Watson. That, however, is my only quibble. As always, Philip Jackson is a wonderfully down-to-earth Japp, the supporting cast is uniformly first-rate, and the movie maintains the tone and atmosphere set by Christie's novel in a marvelous fashion, in everything from cinematography and costume design to its soundtrack (which repeatedly and cleverly transforms the title melody into an apparently completely different piece of background music reflecting a given scene's mood), and the use of real WWI footage to underscore Hastings's wartime experience, which even causes him nightmares. To today's viewers, the mystery's solution may seem a bit contrived; but that certainly wouldn't have been noted in 1920 - and in fact the killer's disguise is so clever that Christie used similar methods again and to equally great effect in later novels, for example in Miss Marple's debut mystery "The Murder at the Vicarage" (1930).
___________________
Poirot to Hastings, during a walk in the woods: "Have you ever been to New York? ... It is a beautiful city. Beautiful. There each street is at right angles to each avenue, and each avenue is numbered nicely: first, second, third, fourth. Man is in command there. But here? How does one live with the fact that, au fond, nature is untidy - uncontrolled - anarchic - inefficient?"
Hastings: "But that's what I like about it."
(Poirot sighs, foregoing further comment.)
___________________
Also recommended:
The Mysterious Affair at Styles: Hercule Poirot's First Case
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd: A Hercule Poirot Mystery (Agatha Christie Collection)
Agatha Christie: Five Complete Hercule Poirot Novels - Murder on the Orient Express / Thirteen at Dinner / The ABC Murders / Cards on the Table / Death on the Nile
Poirot in the Orient (Hercule Poirot)
Hercule Poirot's Casebook
Agatha Christie's Poirot - The Classic Collection
Agatha Christie's Poirot - The Classic Collection, Vol. 2
Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express
Death on the Nile
The DAUGHTER-IN-LAW did it!! Or did she??
2004-08-21 - +++++
I watched this movie without reading the 1920 Dame Agatha Christie novel that it is based on. I'm glad I did this! Why? Because it forced me to really watch the movie in order to try and deduce who the murderer was.
As a brief synopsis, the movie takes place in the summer of 1917 in an isolated country manor or estate called "Styles Court" (located in Essex, a county of south-east England). This is the place where an army friend of the war-weary Hastings (Hugh Fraser) invites him to spend a vacation. A murder by poisoning takes place on the estate and Hastings (a lieutenant at this time) requests the investigative skills of the super sleuth himself, Hercule Poirot (David Suchet). Also, Chief Inspector Japp (Philip Jackson) has a small role in this movie.
Who are the people who live on this estate? They are as follows:
1. John Cavendish, Hastings' friend (David Rintoul)
2. Mary Cavendish, John's wife (Beatie Edney)
3. Emily Cavendish Inglethorpe, John's mother and owner of Styles (Gillian Barge)
4. Alfred Inglethorpe, Emily's second husband (Michael Cronin)
5. Maid Evie Howard (Joanna Cronin)
6. Dr. Lawrence Cavendish, Emily's other son (Anthony Calf)
7. Cynthia Murdoch, works at the Hospital's pharmacy and is Emily's adopted daughter (Allie Byrne)
8. Miss Rakes, John's mistress (Penelope Beaumont)
Of all the actors mentioned above, Suchet's performance stands out (as usual). He gives a stellar performance as Poirot. Fraser's acting as Hastings in this movie is also quite good. Fraser's comical talents were especially well displayed and I found myself laughing out loud.
I enjoyed this particular movie because it has traditional elements of a detective movie. Poirot and Hastings actually go into the room where the murder took place to collect clues. Surprisingly, it's one of the quirks of Poirot that helps solve the mystery.
The cinematography of this movie is visually stunning. All costumes are authentic looking. As well, the background music adds to each scene.
The DVD (which has the movie in full screen format) has the usual text extras. For newcomers to this series, they might find these interesting.
Finally, for Agatha Christie buffs, the novel on which this movie is based is Christie's first novel. Also, this is the first novel in which Poirot and Hastings are introduced to the world.
In conclusion, this is a fun movie, even if you have read the novel!!
(1990; made for TV; 100 min; 10 scenes; color; British drama)
+++++
Enjoy with an old "cuppa" and some "seed cake" 
2003-05-29 - I revel in the joy of spending a long weekend at home while having a good set of movies to fall back on. "The mysterious affair at Styles" proved to be not only entertaining but delicious to watch in that it was a feast for the eyes. I won't really summarize the plot here since I have already done so in my review of the actual novel. But I can honestly say that if there ever was to be a production that came as close to the mental picture the reader forms in her head of the characters in the novel this would be it. The depiction of the English countryside of Essex during World War I is excellent. The small, fictional town of Styles St. Mary, with a Manor House like Styles Court, sets the ambience for one of the most famous first crimes by a novelist in history: that of Emily Agnes Inglethorp by strychnine poisoning. Coincidentally, Gillian Barge, the actress who portrays Emily, is my favorite of all the actors (after David Suchet as Poirot, of course). She brings unique class and distinction to the screen as best as a mature woman can do. She is a true British country old lady, who makes me think very much of the present Queen Elizabeth: someone soft, but with a powerful grip on everybody close to her. She is also stylish and exquisite in her manners, even when she is upset, hence the true mark of "good breeding".
As per Poirot and Hastings, they are in one of their best combinations, working in unison to bring the murderer to justice, and with Hugh Fraser achieving the portrayal of the unenlightened Hastings as good as ever. David Suchet's French accent is superb.
The only thing I felt disappointed about was the extra features of the DVD, all in all not much at all to justify the purchase of the disc: a static, simple biography of Agatha Christie that most everybody who knows something about her would know, a condensed list of the main actors' careers and resources that are outdated. I'd prefer seeing interviews with the actors and/ or director, producer, etc. An interactive map of the house or the village wouldn't hurt (after all, there is something of this in the actual novel), and maybe better online resources. I'd recommend buying the VHS version, at least for this particular movie, and especially if you're not too keen on watching it very often.
