Teresa reviews “Black Coffee” (1973), a TV movie from West Germany written by Agatha Christie. Watch Bill and Teresa discuss Black Coffee at “Agatha Christie, They Watched.” Fidelity to play: 4 poison bottles The speaking parts got shortened or removed but everything important remains. Quality of movie: 3 poison bottles It moved along smartly but […]
Teresa reviews Princess Caraboo (1994), Phoebe Cates’ movie in which she plays the maid who hoaxed England. Fidelity to real life: 4 symbols (&&& WE need to pick one &&&) Other than the romanticized ending, meeting the Prince Regent, and the bank scandal, it’s pretty close to the hoax perpetuated by Mary Willcocks Baker. Quality […]
Teresa reviews Black Coffee (1932), the first film of the play Agatha Christie wrote, and the only one she wrote with Hercule Poirot in it. Watch our livestream discussing the movie on YouTube. Watch the movie on YouTube. Fidelity to play: 3 poison bottles The bones of the play remain, minus Japp. Add in a […]
Teresa reviews The Duchess (2008), a movie whose events take place during Jane Austen’s lifetime. (c)2026 by Teresa Peschel Fidelity to life: 3 stars The bare-bones facts about the duke, the duchess, and the live-in mistress are here, but, my goodness, did the film do serious rewrites to their histories. Quality of film: 3½ stars […]
When we laid out International Agatha Christie, I wanted it to be as complete as possible and to be a reference for scholars as well as general readers. Thus, we compiled as complete a bibliography listing books discussing Agatha and her works as we could. I know that it’s not complete. I didn’t even begin […]
(c)2026 by Teresa Peschel Fidelity to text: 2½ poison bottles Changes large and small, which destroy Agatha’s intention and twist ending Quality of movie: 3 poison bottles It looks great! But the pace flagged and the plot didn’t hold together well. I’m indebted to Val McDermid, aka the Quine of Crime, for pointing out what […]
Teresa reviews David Suchet Around the World (2025) (c)2025 by Teresa Peschel Is it entertaining? 3 Agathas There’s a lot of lecturing going on along with the travelogue. Is it educational? 2 Agathas I wanted a lot more info about the Empire Exhibition itself and not on the evils of colonialism. Read more of Teresa’s […]
Teresa reviews Murder Is Easy (2023) and was enjoying it until climax where the scriptwriters faltered. (c)2025 by Teresa Peschel Fidelity to text: 3 miscellaneous deaths (falling, drowning, car, poison, tree branch) Inspector Battle’s still gone and so is antiques dealer Mr. Ellsworthy. Luke’s now from Nigeria, and all decent people loathe the empire. Quality […]
Teresa reviews Go Back for Murder (1980), the Italian version of the play based on Five Little Pigs. (Delitto retrospettivo) (c)2025 by Teresa Peschel Fidelity to text: 3 poisoned beers Carla’s jerk boyfriend gets disappeared, destroying the love triangle. Quality of movie: 3 poisoned beers The stage play was filmed, so expect stagy, static, and […]
Teresa reviews Towards Zero (2025) and found the BBC production a beautiful but damp adaptation with a disappointing Audrey. (c)2025 by Teresa Peschel Fidelity to text: 3 golf clubs You’ll recognize most of the plot elements, despite them being sieved through a tennis racket and remixed. Quality of movie: 3 golf clubs The pacing often […]