Customer Reviews

Agatha Christie's Poirot: Collector's Set Volume 7

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The seventh set of 3 <Poirot> mysteries is now available from Acorn Media and all three are very satisfactory indeed.

"The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb" starts with a wonderful mixture of old newsreel footage and newly filmed studio shots of an Egyptian tomb being excavated and the entire premise bears more than a passing similarity to the Karloff film "The Mummy." As always, a little subplot is added to the original scenario that somehow ties in thematically (and now and then dramatically). The seeming curse on all those who attended the original opening of the tomb is killing them off but in very dissimilar ways. By putting his own life in the hazard--though not very deeply, as it turns out--Poirot forces the culprit to show his hand. As with all of the episodes in this series, the production values are high.

"The Underdog" concerns British businessmen who don't mind turning a profit even if it is with Nazi Germany. The scenes at the chemical plant are imposing, the red herrings well cooked up, and the acting up to standard for these productions. If the murder scene is a bit overly crowded (even for Christie), it does give us a chance to see the crime from several points of view and the cast manages to keep things on the serious side of what is nearly a French farce of people hidden behind doors and curtains. Even Miss Lemon's abilities as a hypnotist help Poirot to gather the clues in this one.

"Yellow Iris" has Poirot caught up in a coup d'etat in Argentina and actually arrested for espionage, all of which prevents him from solving a murder at a French restaurant owned by an Italian in Buenos Aires. While his demonstration of how the first murder was done leaves one a little incredulous (are intended murder victims all such good actors on the spur of the moment?), the psychological assumption of the killer is quite clever, making one think, "Yes, it would work!"

For some reason, the box shows Poirot as he appears in an episode slated for Set 8. A little Acornian production slip up? Still, three examples of top notch little-gray-celling.

Okay, so it's my favorite one-hour episode, forgive me!

The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb - Great! Quite different from all preceeding episodes, and while a more complex solution would have been nice, the build-up makes the episode wonderfully multi-faceted! - 4.5 stars

The Under Dog - Well, this was the under dog of this set, but it's actually pretty good. Again, the solution was just a little too simple for my taste, but I did like the "Trapped behind the curtain" bit. - 3.5 stars

Yellow Iris - It's hard to say how much I like this! Probably only the third episode in which the music really hit home with me (the other two being the Cornish Mystery and Double Sin) and the whole recreation of the murder scene, and flash back, and the murder's Pshycological moment thing were intertwined incredibly well! BRAVO BRAVO BRAVO! - 5 stars

Box Set Overall score (Not an Average) - 5 stars

The supernatural provides an eerie undertone in this trio of episodes featuring Agatha Christie's most famous detective. Poirot's secretary Miss Lemon (Pauline Moran) experiments with the Ouija board and tarot cards; she even hypnotizes a murder victim's widow (with some success) in "The Underdog." And is an ancient Egyptian curse responsible for the four untimely deaths in "The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb"? Poirot braves the untidy desert sand to find out. Finally, in "Yellow Iris," friends and family gather for dinner to commemorate the second anniversary of a woman's death; the atmosphere at the table is so charged one almost expects the victim to come back from the dead.
As always, the fastidious habits of Poirot (played to perfection by David Suchet) and the charming naiveté of his assistant Hastings (Hugh Fraser) add just the right touch of levity to these grim tales. For this, one must credit the scriptwriters as much as the actors--their addition of witty exchanges and subplots make Christie's stories even more delightful onscreen than on the printed page.

HERCULE POIROT HELPS YOU STEP OUSIDE THE BOX

I've purchased several of the Poirot Collector's sets and this one is no exception in the quality of acting, filming and story. I am highly pleased with all the sets and have already viewed most them at least twice. It would be difficult to choose one over another because they're all GREAT! Very good service from shipper - I recommend them.

You can't do better than David Suchet and Agatha Christie. The selections in this volume are great.

David Suchet is the best Poirot ever, an extraordinary adaptation of Agatha Christie's mystery novels. a BBC, A&E, & Granada production.
As seen on PBS

What fun to see Poirot being hauled off by the police and thrown out of the country in Yellow Iris. This my favorite on this set with David Suchet performance as Poirot spot on.
We have all of the number set and all of the other DVD set too. But I think I'm still missing one case

"Poirot: Collector's Set 7" includes three 50-minute episodes from Series 5 of "Agatha Christie's Poirot", which originally aired on Britain's ITV in 1993. The episodes feature David Suchet as the dapper Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot, Hugh Fraser as his friend and assistant Capt. Arthur Hastings, and Pauline Moran as Poirot's fastidious secretary Miss Lemon. Chief Inspector Japp of Scotland Yard does not appear in any of these three stories. Coincidentally, they all involve some sort of foreign intrigue. And, for those of us who keep an eye out for modernist architecture, there are two modernist homes that I have not seen previously. Earlier seasons seemed to often use the same house, shot from different angles, when the filmmakers needed a private residence. It was a beauty, but I got tired of seeing the same house. The episodes are:

"The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb" finds Poirot and Hastings whisked off to the Valley of the Kings in Egypt at the request of Lady Willard (Anna Cropper), whose husband, the Egyptologist Sir John Willard (Peter Reeves), died suddenly after entering the newly unearthed tomb of the Pharoah Men-her-Ra. Lady Willard fears for her son, Sir Guy (Grant Thatcher), who has taken over his father's position, after the expedition's financier Felix Bleibner (Bill Bailey) and his nephew Rupert (Paul Birchard) also die under disparate circumstances. An American archeologist is not ill, and people are blaming the "Curse of Men-her-Ra". Poirot must battle sun and sand to discover what or whom is behind the deaths. Hastings actually proves useful in this adventure.

In "The Underdog", Poirot attends a golf tournament with Capt. Hastings so that he might meet the industrialist Sir Reuben Astwell (Denis Lill), of the Astwell Chemical Company, who possesses the finest collection of Belgian bronzes in the world. Shortly after Poirot admires his bronzes, Sir Reuben is found dead in his study. As everyone hated the man, there is no shortage of suspects, beginning with his nephew Charles Leverson (Jonathan Phillips), who quarreled with his uncle shortly before the murder. Lady Astwell's (Ann Bell) companion Lily Margrave (Adie Allen) is expected of industrial espionage regarding the plans for a synthetic rubber called Astoprene. And Sir Reuben's decision to sell to a re-armed Germany caused strife with his brother Victor (Ian Gelder).

"Yellow Iris" introduces us to a troubled Poirot. He has just read about the London opening of a French restaurant called "Jardin des Cygnes", and a yellow iris has arrived with the post. These events remind Poirot of a case he hoped to solve two years before. En route to visit Capt. Hastings in the Argentine, Poirot was waylaid in Buenos Aires during a period of political strife. Dining at a restaurant one night, he witnesses the poisoning of Iris Russell (Robin McCaffrey), wife of oil speculator Barton Russell (David Troughton), at a nearby table. The death is ruled a suicide, but before Poirot can object, he is deported. It seems Mr. Russell has arranged a reunion of the party who was present at his wife's death, and Poirot fears there will be another murder.

The DVD (Acorn 2004): Bonus features are standard for the Collector's Set discs. A text interview with David Suchet, a brief text bio of Agatha Christie, a list of Poirot books, and selective filmographies for 9 members of the cast. No subtitles.

If you want this, and the other eleven Collector's sets, then you want: Agatha Christie's Poirot - The Classic Collection. These sets are the same as the Classic Collection sets Agatha Christie's Poirot: The Classic Collection - Set 1 through Poirot: Classic Collection Set 4. Don't be fooled into buying duplicate DVDs.

H.Poirot never disappoints. The story line is always enjoyable, the acting terrific and the set designs outstanding. David Suchet is the ultimate Poirot. He totally captures the characters essence.