Hercule Poirot’s screen history spans over 85 years, a period during which he’s been played by 10 actors whose performances have ranged from considered and respectful to throwaway parody.
ON SCREEN
AND OTHER CHRISTIE
MARPLE
AND
POIROT
HERCULE POIROT
HERCULE POIROT
Hercule Poirot’s screen history spans over 85 years, a period during which he’s been played by 10 actors whose performances have ranged from considered and respectful to throwaway parody.
It would be 1974 before a credible Poirot would appear on-screen. He was played by Albert Finney, who is still the only actor to receive an Academy Award nomination for portraying the detective. The all-star Murder on the Orient Express saw Finney’s version make the character curmudgeonly and dogged in an enjoyable way, using makeup and padding to achieve both the look and movement of the character.
Multi-award-winning actor Peter Ustinov played the detective six times starting with 1978’s Death on the Nile. Ustinov played Poirot as detective first and a character second, hardly bringing to the performance any of the quirks typical of Poirot in the books. It is said Christie’s daughter observed Ustinov during a rehearsal and said, “That’s not Poirot! He isn’t at all like that!” Ustinov overheard and remarked “He is now!”.
It would be 1974 before a credible Poirot would appear on-screen. He was played by Albert Finney, who is still the only actor to receive an Academy Award nomination for portraying the detective. The all-star Murder on the Orient Express saw Finney’s version make the character curmudgeonly and dogged in an enjoyable way, using makeup and padding to achieve both the look and movement of the character.
Multi-award-winning actor Peter Ustinov played the detective six times starting with 1978’s Death on the Nile. Ustinov played Poirot as detective first and a character second, hardly bringing to the performance any of the quirks typical of Poirot in the books. It is said Christie’s daughter observed Ustinov during a rehearsal and said, “That’s not Poirot! He isn’t at all like that!” Ustinov overheard and remarked “He is now!”.
Kenneth Branagh in Murder on
the Orient Express, 2017
Kenneth Branagh in Murder on
the Orient Express, 2017
The latest movie incarnation came in 2017 when Kenneth Branagh directed and starred in a new adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express. He is not especially the correct build, and his moustache is out of control, however he does capture Poirot’s character and mannerisms and sustains an interesting balance of a classic Christie sensibility and a contemporary approach. He plans to return to the big screen again with an updated version of another Poirot classic, Death on the Nile.
“You do understand that the reason so many people have played him is because he’s a fantastic character.”
Kenneth Branagh
ITV’s television series Agatha Christie’s Poirot ran for 24 years and is critically and culturally acknowledged as the best presentation of Christie’s number one detective. David Suchet’s attention to detail in embodying the character is obsessive: he looks and moves perfectly, his accent is superb, and he has an impeccable balance of smugness, tenderness and childlike spirit. The performance is so precise and loving that he remains the essential and definitive Poirot.
In 2018, John Malkovich played Hercule Poirot in The ABC Murders, a three-part Christmas special which aired on the BBC. However his depiction of the famous detective divided viewers due to the English accent which he adopted and his unconventional appearance – which included a goatee beard!
“Some people, I think, wanted the Poirot they had seen before – which still exists, you can watch it anytime you want – and some people seemed to love it and loved the take on it.”
John Malkovich
MISS MARPLE
Jane Marple, the elderly spinster and amateur detective is one of the best-known of Dame Agatha Christie’s characters. She appeared in her first novel in 1930 and has been portrayed numerous times on screen since.
MISS MARPLE
Jane Marple, the elderly spinster and amateur detective is one of the best-known of Dame Agatha Christie’s characters. She appeared in her first novel in 1930 and has been portrayed numerous times on screen since.
In 1961, Margaret Rutherford, a good friend of Dame Agatha Christie, was selected to play Miss Marple in four films by MGM. Her portrayal was as a larger-than-life, eccentric action hero, far from how the character is described in the books. Christie never cared for her friend’s portrayal, although her comedic take on the role proved popular with audiences.
In 1945, Joan Hickson appeared on stage in Appointment with Death, which was seen by Christie who wrote in a note to her “I hope one day you will play my dear Miss Marple”. She was therefore an obvious choice years later when the BBC were looking for an actress to play her. Hickson starred in the adaptations of all 12 Miss Marple novels from 1984 to 1992 and her portrayal is regarded by many as the definitive and most iconic version of Miss Marple.
“Miss Marple believes in justice and has very high standards. There is nothing you could say or do that would shock her.”
Joan Hickson
The award-winning American actress Angela Lansbury played Miss Marple for one time only in the 1980 film The Mirror Crack’d, which also starred Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, Kim Novak and Tony Curtis. Her portrayal of Miss Marple as a crisp, stiff, intelligent woman, was fairly accurate, except for the fact she smoked cigarettes, something that Christie’s original Marple would never do! Lansbury is also known for starring as another popular on-screen detective, Jessica Fletcher in Murder She Wrote, a character she described as “an American Miss Marple”.
From 2004 to 2009, Geraldine McEwan starred in an ITV series in which she played the character 12 times. Her more eccentric and humorous version was well-received. After McEwan retired from the role, Julia McKenzie took over the series. She played Miss Marple for three further seasons and was also popular, bringing a stronger physical presence to the character.
“Each story turns the viewer into a detective.”
Julia McKenzie on the appeal of Miss Marple
In 1961, Margaret Rutherford, a good friend of Dame Agatha Christie, was selected to play Miss Marple in four films by MGM. Her portrayal was as a larger-than-life, eccentric action hero, far from how the character is described in the books. Christie never cared for her friend’s portrayal, although her comedic take on the role proved popular with audiences.
In 1945, Joan Hickson appeared on stage in Appointment with Death, which was seen by Christie who wrote in a note to her “I hope one day you will play my dear Miss Marple”. She was therefore an obvious choice years later when the BBC were looking for an actress to play her. Hickson starred in the adaptations of all 12 Miss Marple novels from 1984 to 1992 and her portrayal is regarded by many as the definitive and most iconic version of Miss Marple.
“Miss Marple believes in justice and has very high standards. There is nothing you could say or do that would shock her.”
Joan Hickson
The award-winning American actress Angela Lansbury played Miss Marple for one time only in the 1980 film The Mirror Crack’d, which also starred Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, Kim Novak and Tony Curtis. Her portrayal of Miss Marple as a crisp, stiff, intelligent woman, was fairly accurate, except for the fact she smoked cigarettes, something that Christie’s original Marple would never do! Lansbury is also known for starring as another popular on-screen detective, Jessica Fletcher in Murder She Wrote, a character she described as “an American Miss Marple”.
From 2004 to 2009, Geraldine McEwan starred in an ITV series in which she played the character 12 times. Her more eccentric and humorous version was well-received. After McEwan retired from the role, Julia McKenzie took over the series. She played Miss Marple for three further seasons and was also popular, bringing a stronger physical presence to the character.
“Each story turns the viewer into a detective.”
Julia McKenzie on the appeal of Miss Marple
OTHER ADAPTATIONS
There have been numerous Dame Agatha Christie novels and plays adapted for television and film over the last 90 years that featured detectives other than Poirot or Marple. The results were often mixed and met with indifferent reviews from critics, however there are a couple of enduring titles which have stood the test of time…
OTHER ADAPTATIONS
There have been numerous Dame Agatha Christie novels and plays adapted for television and film over the last 90 years that featured detectives other than Poirot or Marple. The results were often mixed and met with indifferent reviews from critics, however there are a couple of enduring titles which have stood the test of time…
AND THEN THERE WERE NONE
And Then There Were None has had more adaptations than any other single work by Dame Agatha Christie. The ultimate ‘unsolvable mystery’, it tells the story of 10 people gathered on an isolated island by an absent host, before one-by-one everybody is killed off. It was an idea which became much imitated and repeated, but it was Christie who was the first to do it so successfully.
Many filmed versions of the story chose to use Christie’s alternative ‘happier’ ending from her 1943 stage play – the original was thought too bleak for a wartime audience.
The first cinema adaptation was a well received 1945 film. The second came in 1965 which transferred the setting from a remote island to an Austrian mountain retreat, and 1974 saw the first colour English-language film version – this time set in the Iranian desert.
On British TV, And Then There Were None has appeared three times: in 1949, 1959, and most recently in 2015. The latter version closely followed the original plot, and although there were several differences, it was the first English language adaptation to feature an ending similar to the novel.
The 2015 BBC adaptation of
And Then There Were None.
The 2015 BBC adaptation of
And Then There Were None.
CROOKED HOUSE
Crooked House was published in 1948 and concerns the death of a wealthy businessman and head of an extended family who live together in a country mansion. The dead man’s grand-daughter is convinced he was murdered and calls upon her fiancé, a private detective, to discover the truth within her dysfunctional and hostile family.
The story is narrated by the detective as he investigates the case and ultimately reveals the shocking, surprise conclusion.
A shock ending was nothing new for Christie, however her publishers did try to persuade her to change this one, but she refused – later describing the book as one of her personal favourites.
In 2017, Crooked House was adapted into a lavish movie version starring Glenn Close, Gillian Anderson, Terence Stamp and Max Irons. It was adapted from the novel by Julian Fellowes, creator and writer of Downton Abbey, and remained quite faithful to the original story.
Stefanie Martini as Sophia Leonides and Max Irons as private investigator Charles Hayward in Crooked House, 2017.
Stefanie Martini as Sophia Leonides and Max Irons as private investigator Charles Hayward in Crooked House, 2017.
