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DVD: Agatha Christie's Poirot
The Complete Collection
Starring David Suchet, Hugh Fraser and Philip Jackson
A & E Home Video
4 disc boxed set, each approx. 100 min. plus extras
Reviewed by Louise Johnson
This 4 DVD boxed set includes the first four feature-length Poirot mysteries produced for A&E by Brian Eastman: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Lord Edgware Dies, Murder in Mesopotamia, and Evil Under the Sun. These movies are works of art, filmed on location in Europe and the Middle East.
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd finds Poirot retired in a quiet little country village that is disrupted by a suicide followed by a murder. Poirot comes out of retirement to work with Inspector Japp to find the killer of his friend, Roger Ackroyd. Poirot is in London in Lord Edgware Dies, where he meets an enticing American actress who beguiles him in to helping her obtain a divorce from her estranged husband - until her husband is found dead and Poirot, Inspector Japp and Captain Hastings must determine whether she is the murderer. An archeological dig in Iraq that Captain Hastings has invited Poirot to visit is the setting for Murder in Mesopotamia. The head archeologist's wife has been getting threatening letters for years, and now she is seeing ghosts in the window - until she is found dead in her bedroom that noone could have entered unseen... And in Evil Under the Sun, Poirot and Hastings are taking a two-week rest at the beach when murder rears its ugly head and the murderer must be identified.
Once you have seen David Suchet as Agatha Christie's detective Hercule Poirot, his is the face, figure and voice you associate with the character. Suchet perfectly captures the little man and it is a pleasure to be drawn in to these enthralling mysteries by him. Hugh Fraser convincingly plays Poirot's beloved and abused sidekick, Captain Hastings, and Philip Jackson appears as Inspector Japp, the police inspector who is always grateful to find Poirot involved in one of his cases. This set of DVDs is a must see for fans of Agatha Christie or fans of murder mysteries.
EXTRAS: Two of the discs in this set contain an index of all Agatha Christie Hercule Poirot stories, an Agatha Christie biography and a David Suchet biography. Each features interactive menus and scene selection.
© 2002 - Louise Johnson