Teresa Reviews: “Double Sin” (1990)
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. I got the distinct impression the thieves’ ring had been operating for some time and he did too, but the script refused to spill the beans.
Let’s start with the title. It’s weird. Agatha devised a few good titles (Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? is perfection) but many of her efforts range from functional to drab. A Caribbean Mystery? Murder on the Links? Ho hum. Title writing, like headline writing, is a unique skill set. Double Sin however, takes her indifferent title writing to a new low. What does it even mean? Is she referring to the two ladies running the antique shop? The choice of travel style? The sin of deception and the sin of theft? I couldn’t figure it out.
When Double Sin was first published, the magazine changed the title to By Road or Rail which at least tells the reader something about the story’s events. Agatha didn’t like the magazine’s choice and changed it back, but when she first sold the story in 1928, there were many readers who didn’t know who she was. Yes, I know this is two years after her famous disappearance, but it’s shocking how few people pay attention to current events. A magazine publisher couldn’t assume that every reader at the newsstand knew who Agatha Christie was or that they’d buy any issue with her name on the cover.
The original story isn’t much. Poirot complains of boredom and wants to retire (again). Hastings persuades him to take a holiday, and since Poirot has to meet a friend anyway, off they go. Mystery ensues because they choose to take a scenic bus tour instead of the train. They meet a charming redhead on the bus whose valuable antique miniatures are stolen. A thief is accused. Poirot deduces the true thief, to Hastings’ shock and disbelief.
The story’s okay. There’s some very sharp dialog, especially between Poirot and Hastings on the subject of falling for every charming redhead who comes along. But it’s not memorable.
The film vastly improves the original story. Sadly, unlike the magazine publisher, the producers didn’t improve the title to go along with the enhanced story, but then we all know who Agatha Christie is today. Her name alone would sell shopping lists.
We open with Poirot complaining of boredom but this time, he also twits Hastings about needing to work his own little gray cells. A holiday will do them both good so it is Poirot who makes the arrangements to go to Whitcomb. It’s Hastings who decides to arrange the scenic, fateful bus tour. It’s on the bus that they meet — several times — a weedy, very rude, agitated young man with a struggling mustache. His behavior is suspicious, no doubt about it.
There’s also the charming, delightful, naïve Mary Durrant. A redhead. Hastings is smitten, especially when Miss Durrant tells them all about her mission to sell valuable Napoleonic miniatures to a wealthy American collector and make a packet of money. She’s learning the antique business from her elderly aunt, Miss Penn, and wants desperately to succeed. The short story notes that Mary Durrant’s other career choices are nursery governess or companion; the antique business has got to be more interesting and exciting as well as more lucrative. She’s so confiding, so trusting of a strong, noble, stalwart English gentleman, bubbling over with enthusiasm and joie de vivre.
But Miss Durrant does have a problem. She notices a weedy, rude young man with a struggling mustache — the same one Hastings noticed and disliked earlier — trying to steal her suitcase. It turns out she’s mistaken. Or so it seems. When the tour bus arrives at their destination, the miniatures are missing. The dispatch case that held them has been forced open, cleaned out, and tucked back inside Mary Durrant’s suitcase.
Poirot tells Hastings that he’s retired so it’s up to Hastings to rescue the damsel and save her budding career in the antique business. Poirot hints to Hastings that it’s odd that someone would take the time to force the lock on the dispatch case, empty it, and put it back, when it would be so much easier to take the case and its contents. Hastings has an explanation, just as he has a suspect: the weedy, rude man with the struggling mustache.
Hastings interviews suspects, indulges himself in a high-speed chase of a suspect, and learns not to trust giddy damsels on buses. He also gets one of the best lines in the film when Lady Amanda cries: “Why can’t you leave me alone! Don’t you know what it’s like to love a man?”
Hastings’ nonplussed reply: “Well, ah, no, ah … not exactly.”
While Hastings is playing detective, Poirot turns out to have another motive for wanting to take a holiday at this exact time, in this exact location. Chief Inspector Japp is on a speaking tour, discussing his storied career and raising money for the Policeman’s Benevolent Association. Why does Japp get a speaking tour and not Poirot? A good question, one that Poirot is interested in. He sneaks off to listen to the speech and learns what Inspector Japp truly thinks of him.
It’s someone else entirely. This is the point where I wanted more of an explanation. If I understood the plot correctly, the rich American would be forced to surrender the stolen miniatures to the police, despite having bought them in good faith. The miniatures would be returned to Mary Durrant and her aunt, Miss Penn, who’d be able to sell them again. Rich American would be out £1,500 but he’s rich and he’s an American so that’s okay! I got the distinct impression that this scheme had been done before. I think Poirot thought so too, but the script didn’t go into any detail. I would have liked a bit more.
The other significant addition was Miss Lemon. She has a tiny arc of her own, involving street urchins begging pennies for Guy Fawkes Day. This gives Dicker, White Haven Manor’s doorman, a chance to chat her up. She doesn’t notice his interest.
