Fidelity to text: 2 1/2 garottes The film closely follows the murder plot in The 4:50 From Paddington but changes everything else. Several major characters are dispensed with, while a new one is added: Mr. Stringer, librarian/accomplice (played by Margaret Rutherford’s real-life husband). Quality of movie on its own: 4 garottes If you can overlook […]
Fidelity to text: 3 blunt objects. The basic story is intact, but the changes weaken the conflict, motivations, and even the mystery. They also weaken the characters because there’s no reason to care about Valerie Saintclair’s dilemmas. I certainly didn’t care. Quality of film on its own: 3 blunt objects. It’s serviceable, like the many, […]
Fidelity to the stage play: 4 blunt objects The film added flashbacks, meetings, and most of all, fleshed out Sir Wilfred’s character and added Nurse Plimsoll, doing her darnedest to manage a cantankerous patient. Quality of movie on its own: 5 blunt objects What a stunner; it’s beautifully shot, acted, paced, tightly scripted with snappy […]
Fidelity to text: 4 spies. It’s very close. The primary change (besides adding a chase scene because what is a movie without car chases?) is removing a few characters and substituting for them Captain Hastings, Chief Inspector Japp, and Miss Lemon. The stolen plans change slightly too, but since most of us can’t tell a […]
Fidelity to text: 2 1/2 garrotes. Like the 1937 version, this film was freely adapted from Agatha’s short story Philomel Cottage and Frank Vesper’s stage play of the same name. Names, behaviors, even the time setting got reworked and the opening is wildly different. Quality of film on its own: 3 garrotes. It could have […]
Fidelity to text: 3 knives. Captain Hastings appears to arrange clay pigeon shooting competitions on board, along with several additional passengers. Subplots to further confuse the mystery are added to pad out the story. The altered ending, implausible as it is, is far more plausible than the short story. Quality of film on its own: […]
Fidelity to text: 5 murder weapons (compared to play); 3 (compared to novel). And Then There Were None is the world’s highest-selling mystery novel, so you’ve probably read it and wondered where the movie’s ending came from. The film is based on Agatha’s play, not her novel, and that’s why it’s not what you remember. […]
Fidelity to text: 3 and 1/2 poison bottles. There are the changes you’d expect: Pamela Lyall’s friend Sarah Blake vanishes, and Major Barnes becomes a younger, more interesting man with his own subplot. There are also the changes you wouldn’t: Poirot is accused of spying by the Italian authorities, and he gets an action-filled boat […]
Fidelity to text: 3 knives. There are the usual changes to simplify a complex plot which work. Then there’s the major change which did not work for me because it made the ending wildly unbelievable. Bad Anthony Horowitz (the screenwriter). Bad Anthony. What were you thinking? Do you really believe a woman would do that? […]
Fidelity to text: 4 guns. The changes fleshed out a skimpy story and improved the victim’s motivations. They added Miss Lemon as ministering angel, the play The Deadly Shroud, and a few changes to the characters. We also get a far more dramatic chase scene at the climax. Quality of movie on its own: 4 […]