Since 1989, character actor David Suchet has turned his portrayal of Agatha Christie's egotistical Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot into a cottage industry, tackling the role in 61 British-made whodunits cablecast stateside on the A&E network. This deluxe box set contains all 12 feature-length Poirot mysteries starring Suchet, each a superior adaptation of the source novels, with top-drawer production values, and a superb roster of guest stars. Suchet's charismatic interpretation of the egg-headed detective is supremely self-assured, while never displaying the over-the-top bravado of Peter Ustinov, who played Poirot in a series of star-studded theatrical feature films during the 1970s and ‘80s. In addition to dramatizations of such Christie favorites as Evil Under the Sun, Death on the Nile, and The Mystery of the Blue Train, this collection includes adaptations of less well-known but equally meritorious Poirot adventures. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, the literary sensation that put Christie on the map, revolves around a unique narrative gambit that comes off less effectively on screen than on the printed page, but remains a rattling good yarn nonetheless. In Sad Cypress, the Belgian bloodhound puts his “little grey cells” to work on a double-murder case, while in Cards on the Table, Poirot is just one of four great detectives who apply their deductive skills to solving the murder of a woman at her card table. The other six mysteries included here are After the Funeral, Five Little Pigs, The Hollow, Lord Edgware Dies, Murder in Mesopotamia, and Taken at the Flood. DVD extras include an index of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot stories, as well as bios of Christie and Suchet. Highly recommended. (E. Hulse)
Agatha Christie: Poirot—The Definitive Collection
A&E, 12 discs, 1,179 min., not rated, DVD: $99.95 Volume 23, Issue 6
Agatha Christie: Poirot—The Definitive Collection
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