Verdict
Summary
From director Guy Hamilton, who made several 007 pictures and Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins (a personal favorite of mine), this cinematic adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Evil Under the Sun is a solid and entertaining whodunnit with universally fun performances and a classic big-band style score. The scenery is easy on the eyes, but of course Ustinov is right at home in a role he was born to play. He went on to play Poirot a number of other times for film and television, and previously played him in Death on the Nile. He may be the “definitive” Poirot, but it really depends on your taste.
Plot:
A master detective solves two murders while at a resort island.
Review:
A seemingly random murder on the Scottish highlands gets the attention of an insurance company due to the fact that the crime is connected to the disappearance of a priceless diamond. The insurance company reaches for a favor with a master sleuth they know, a certain Belgian named Hercule Poirot (Peter Ustinov). Poirot discovers that the diamond belonged to an entertainer named Alena Marshall (Diana Rigg), who is on her way to her honeymoon with her new husband and stepdaughter to a remote Mediterranean island resort. Poirot accepts the sleuthing assignment simply because the insurance company offers to pay for his trip, and thinking perhaps he can soak in some sun and rest while solving these crimes, he accepts. He arrives by boat and immediately surveys the suspects. In addition to Marshall, who is almost universally hated and despised by those who are jealous or envious of her fame and wealth (and beauty), there is her young lover Patrick (Nicholas Clay), his meek and sickly wife Christine (Jane Birkin), the hotel’s shifty owner (Maggie Smith), Marshall’s overzealous biographer (Roddy McDowell), Marshall new husband (Denis Quilley), and a handful of others. When Marshall turns up strangled on the beach with zero witnesses, all of a sudden the entire island becomes a nest of suspects for Poirot to needle and poke with his investigation, which is somehow connected to the previous murder and the missing diamond. Too bad for the killer – or killers – because Poirot always wins.
From director Guy Hamilton, who made several 007 pictures and Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins (a personal favorite of mine), this cinematic adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Evil Under the Sun is a solid and entertaining whodunnit with universally fun performances and a classic big-band style score. The scenery is easy on the eyes, but of course Ustinov is right at home in a role he was born to play. He went on to play Poirot a number of other times for film and television, and previously played him in Death on the Nile. He may be the “definitive” Poirot, but it really depends on your taste.
Kino Lorber brings Evil Under the Sun to home video in a two-disc edition, which includes the 4K Ultra HD disc and the Blu-ray. The crisp transfer is new from a 4K scan of the 35mm original camera negative, and special features include an audio commentary by three film historians, a making-of feature, the trailer, radio spots, a two-sides sleeve, and a slipcover.
