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 […]
20Booksto50K A Facebook group started in 2016 by Michael Anderle and run by Craig Martelle and a cadre of volunteers focusing on the business side of indie writing. Members (52,000 in July 2021) freely share information about revenues, ad campaigns, publishing advice, successes and failures. Known for its rigid enforcement of its no-self-promotion policy. The […]
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 […]
The 4th of July weekend was the perfect time to hold Local Author Day at Cupboard Maker Books, even if it was part of an extraordinarily busy day for us. We wanted to participate in the Central Pennsylvania Romance Writers meeting (of which Michelle leads), so we got up earlier than usual. Since the LAD […]
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 […]