EVIL UNDER THE SUN (1982)

Last and least of the lux Hercules Poiret murder mysteries produced by John Brabourne and Richard Goodwin, three films that rebooted the entire Agatha Christie line from B-pic fodder to Class A status, a position it maintains to this day.*  But if much talent returns from the first two pics (actors, designers, writers), the drop in quality from four star MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS/’74 to three star DEATH ON THE NILE/’78 only accelerates, and largely without the compensating factors of the second film.  (Grosses declined accordingly too, 50% drops from ORIENT to NILE to EVIL.)  Fortunately, one compensating factor that does remain is Peter Ustinov’s supremely comfortable Poiret, ratiocinating his way thru a tropical resort murder case, solving not one, but three apparently separate crimes in traditional third act denouement style.  All exceptionally well-handled in Guy Hamilton’s pin-pointing direction and Ustinov’s tour-de-force clarifying dramatic recitation.  If only the rest of the film were half as entertaining.  Perhaps if Anthony Shaffer’s screenplay kept closer to the book.  A glance at our paperback cover promises voodoo and blackmail, who knows what else went missing.  Instead, campy posh clothes, anyone-for-tennis manners and a Cole Porter derived score that distracts with tuneful familiarity, but doesn’t pay off dramatically.  Neither did the film, moving Ustinov’s Poiret to tv for four films with lesser stars & smaller budgets.

DOUBLE-BILL/LINK:  As mentioned, the first two in the trio: ORIENT and NILE.  https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2018/09/murder-on-orient-express-1974.html https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2017/05/death-on-nile.html

SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY:  *One more Kenneth Branagh Poiret could send it all plummeting back down.