Fidelity to text: 4 spies The main addition is Miss Lemon, undercover agent. Every other story element is from the text; rearranged, expanded upon, or a sly reference, but it’s there. Quality of movie on its own: 4 1/2 spies Loved it. Just loved it. My only quibble is that slower, dumber viewers like me […]

Fidelity to text: 4 poison bottles Claudia and her murder disappear, names and occupations shift, annoying relatives show up more often. What was a veiled reference to sex gets fleshed out as does the last murder. Otherwise, it’s spot-on. Quality of movie on its own: 4 poison bottles Haunting, elegiac, wistful, creepy, underrated; watch it […]

Fidelity to text: 3 thieves Loads of enhancements, all of which turned a miniature mystery into something far more interesting. Wait till you see Miss Lemon’s nightmare, completely made up from whole cloth and completely in character. Quality of movie on its own: 4 1/2 thieves Excellent throughout, but I wanted more explanation from Poirot. […]

Fidelity to text: 1/2 poisoned dart The underlying plot of The A.B.C. Murders exists, but nothing else remains. Even Hastings got a major rewrite, turning him into a bungling Robert Morley. Quality of movie on its own: 1 poisoned dart Dreadful but not as bad as Innocent Lies (1995), which was deliberately offensive, obscure, and […]

Fidelity to text: 4 thieves. Every change enhanced existing story elements, including the parrot. After all, the text references a sparrow in passing. A visiting parrot is funnier. Quality of movie on its own: 4 1/2 thieves. Funny, fast-paced, action-filled, and a decent mystery considering the tiny pool of suspects. A difficulty that all mystery […]

Fidelity to text: 2 murder weapons (the novel); 3 1/2 murder weapons (the play). The scriptwriter tossed much of the source material over Devil’s Leap in a mad attempt to drag the play into the 1960s. Quality of movie on its own: 3 1/2 murder weapons. Some of the changes work but not all. A […]

Fidelity to text: 4 1/2 poison bottles Replace an anonymous landlady with Miss Lemon, an anonymous policemen with Inspector Japp, augment a few scenes alluded to in the text and you’ve got yourself an enhanced — while still faithful — film. Quality of movie on its own: 4 1/2 poison bottles Everything worked, including the […]

Fidelity to text: 4 1/2 blunt objects. It’s a virtually line-for-line reenactment of the play, other than Pippa being nearly suffocated by the murderer. Quality of movie on its own: 4 blunt objects. Funny, frothy, ridiculous, and as light as air. If you can accept the very stagy sets and the odd, often incongruous music, […]