Product Details

• Actors: David Suchet, Martin Shaw, Anna Massey, Zoë Wanamaker
• Directors: Charles Palmer, Ashley Pearce
• Format: Box set, Color, NTSC, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
• Number of discs: 3
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: ACORN MEDIA
• DVD Release Date: July 12, 2011
• Run Time: 267 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (63 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B004WMOSNM
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #15,946 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

David Suchet returns as Hercule Poirot, Agatha Christie’s endearingly fastidious sleuth, in three baffling new cases based on her classic novels. As seen on the "PBS Masterpiece Mystery!" series.

Disc 1

Three Act Tragedy

Deadly Dinners Whet Poirot's Investigative Appetite

 

While visiting the Cornish coast, Hercule Poirot (David Suchet) attends a dinner at which one of the guests suddenly dies. An inquest finds no evidence of foul play. But Poirot’s host, renowned stage actor Sir Charles Cartwright, thinks otherwise, and another death at a later party with the same guests seems to confirm his suspicions. Together with Sir Charles and his vivacious friend Egg, Poirot applies “la technique classique”—eliminating the suspects, one by one.

 

 

Disc 2

The Clocks

Poirot Identifies A Man Whose Time Ran Out

 

While trying to unmask a mole at Dover’s military base, Lt. Colin Race enlists Poirot to help him aid a pretty secretary apparently framed for murder. Called to a residence on a quiet street for a temporary typing job, she found only a man’s corpse lying on the floor. No one can identify the body, find a murder weapon, or explain the presence of four strange clocks—none of which belongs in the home, and all of which stopped at 4:13.

 

 

Disc 3

Hallowe’en Party

Poirot Looks For Ghosts From A Young Girl's Past

 

Wholesome fun at Woodleigh Common turns harrowing when a children’s Halloween party ends in the murder of 13-year-old Joyce Reynolds. Poirot is summoned by an old acquaintance, crime novelist Ariadne Oliver, to help in the investigation. He seizes on a clue: immediately before her death, Joyce had boasted of having witnessed a murder several years before, although she didn’t realize it was a murder at the time. Although everyone pooh-poohs her claim, Poirot knows that “old sins cast long shadows.”

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

100 of 101 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars WIN/WIN with Suchet's Poirot and A. Christie - ALWAYS May 19, 2011

By Harold Wolf TOP 50 REVIEWER

Format:DVD

David Suchet's Poirot on TV films are adaptations of Agatha Christie's novels--but so well done, both books and TV shows/DVDs have proved classic in their own right. Thus, I avoid comparison of novel to screen. No need, both excellent.
The star casts and guest stars are too numerous to mention. One can't fault acting a half-penny. This release comes hot off the screen of PBS Masterpiece Mystery after original ITV1 in the UK. All 3 adapted stories are each feature length, 89 min. -like going to the theater 3 times.
SUBTITLES ARE included. No bonus material.

Three Act Tragedy
A lovely Cornwall coastal location for a Poirot murder case(s). A parson (Nigel Pegram) one of many at a dinner party drops dead of apparent natural cause. A 2nd Yorkshire party-same guest list-has a 2nd death, the host Tallie (Art Malik-`Upstairs Downstairs'). Hercule helps Sir Charles (Martin Shaw-`George Gently') investigate. Egg (Kimberly Nixon-`Cranford') helps too, or is she suspect? Poirot reenacts the complex and connected deaths under stage lights.
Other stars: Jane Asher (`Wish Me Luck' `Alfie'), Kate Ashfield (`Silent Witness'), Tony Maudsley (`Doc Martin' `Foyle's War'), Anna Carteret (`Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont'), plus.

The Clocks
Five murders plus love at the White Cliffs of Dover, a wonderful backdrop. 1940s prior to WWII but Hitler threatens says Admiral Hamling (Goeffrey Palmer-`As Time Goes By"). The case erupts with the duel death of German mole Annie (Olivia Grant-`Lark Rise to Candleford') and Fiona (Anna Skellern-`Siren'). MI6 Lt. Race (Tom Burke-`Cheri') asks Poirot to help his naval investigation. Evidence implicates typist Sheila (Jamie Winstone) running from the murder site home of a blind lady (Anna Massey-`Darling Buds of May').... Evidence of 4 clocks stopped at 4:13, in flat #19 leads to a complex suspect list and more deaths. It's a wild and often funny neighborhood of characters you will enjoy. Cat Lady Hemmings (Beatie Edney) is a delight and has another best line while trying to encourage Poirot to set in a cat's "damp" favorite chair.
Favorite line after Hercule Poirot introduces himself to child Jenny; "that's not a name, it's a noise."
Also look for stars: Phil Daniels (Eastenders), Stephen Boxer (Garrows Law), Jason Watkins (`Little Dorrit' `Lark Rise to Candleford'), Lesley Sharp, Sven Hjerson (The King's Speech) and more.

Hallowe'en Party
A crime author friend (Zoe Wanamaker) asks Poirot to investigate the drowning of a child, participant at a Halloween party. She previously claimed to have witnessed a murder. All party guests & their lives are investigated to find this killer as well as the perpetrator of 4 more deaths. Beautiful fall scenes with spooky dark spots too. Amelia Bullmore (Mrs Dalloway), Timothy West (Edward the King), Deborah Findlay (Anglo Saxon Attitudes, Cranford), Sophie Thompson and Phyllida Law (Sis and Mom to Emma Thompson), Fenella Woolgar (Scoop), Julian Rhind-Tutt (Notting Hill, Stardust), are a few of the recognized cast.

It's hard to choose a favorite. Huge casts, excellent screenplay adaptations, awesome original novels by Agatha Christie, unchallenged perfection as Poirot by Suchet, delightful settings, sets, costumes, dialogue, and all that adds up to 5 gold stars. Buy to own, watch frequently. Excellent even after you know who-dun-it! Read more ›

50 of 53 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A Better-Natured Poirot, but They Are Running Out of Quality Mysteries. July 3, 2011

By mirasreviews HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD

"Agatha Christie's Poirot" Movie Collection Set 6 contains three feature-length episodes from Series 12, which originally aired on Britain's ITV in 2010. The forth film from Series 12, "Murder on the Orient Express", is found in Movie Collection Set 5. "Three-Act Tragedy", based on the 1934 novel, "The Clocks", based on the 1963 novel, and "Hallowe'en Party", based on the 1969 novel, have all been set in the 1930s in keeping with the chronology of the television series. Common to the later years of "Agatha Christie's Poirot", the color palette is richer, the sets more lavish, and the photography is darker than the airy deco and modernist sets of the series' early years. I'm not a fan of the change. I find the new aesthetic uninteresting and rather onerous. And Poirot's new wide, pointy mustache looks sinister.

Some stylistic flourishes in "Three-Act Tragedy", such as the clumsy introduction of the cast of characters and the staging of some conversations as if they were on stage, are unwelcome. "The Clocks" is a good story, but an additional mystery having to do with rising tensions with Germany has been added, which I think overburdens the Christie plot. "Hallowe'en Party" was one of Christie's later novels and not one of her best. It's sordid and distasteful, but this may reflect sensibilities of the 1960s, the decade in which it was written. There are hints of the strange religiosity the writers have introduced in recent years, but the films in Movie Collection Set 6 are better than those in Set 5. The scripts are not the quality of the early years of the series, but part of the problem there is that Christie's novels are not all of equal quality. Poirot has recovered his good nature after some missteps in the last set.... The films are:

Poirot is invited to visit to the home of his friend, the actor Sir Charles Cartwright (Martin Shaw), in "Three Act Tragedy." A bevy of Charles' friends from London and Cornwall also attend a cocktail party, where the local vicar, Rev. Stephen Babbington (Nigel Pegram), drops dead after sipping from his martini. No poison is found in the vicar's glass, and Poirot can see no reason to suspect foul play. -Until Sir Charles' best friend, the prominent psychiatrist Sir Bartholamew Strange (Art Malik), also drops dead at a dinner party at his home, this time after drinking port. Sir Charles and Miss Egg Lytton Gore (Kimberly Nixon), a young lady he is courting, assist Poirot in finding the murderer by process of elimination. There are a lot of red herrings, some ill-advised stylistic flourishes, and the killer's motive makes no sense, but reasonably entertaining.

A distraught Lt. Colin Race (Tom Burke) seeks Poirot's advice on a puzzling situation in Dover. While walking down the street there, Colin bumped into a hysterical young woman, Miss Sheila Webb (Jaime Winstone), running from a house where she had discovered a dead man on the floor. It was the house of Mrs. Pebmarsh (Anna Massey), a blind widow, who denies hiring Sheila or knowing the dead man. And Colin is preoccupied with his own grief. He is an agent of MI6, working on plans to protect Great Britain from naval attack, and his girlfriend (Anna Skellern) has just been killed in the process of uncovering a German mole. MI6 wants Poirot's help in recovering sensitive documents, and Inspector Hardcastle (Phil Daniels) of the local police reluctantly accepts it in the murder case. Poirot is in good form, but the plot was not improved by the addition of a second mystery.

Crime novelist Ariadne Oliver (Zoe Wannamaker) has been roped into carving pumpkins by her friend Judith Butler (Amelia Bullmore) in "Hallowe'en Party". They are attending festivities at the home of Rowena Drake (Deborah Findley), when one of the children at the party, Joyce Reynolds (Macy Nyman), tells Ariadne that she once witnessed a murder. When Joyce is found drowned in the apple-bobbing barrel shortly after, Ariadne seeks Poirot's help. The local police inspector (Paul Thornley) boasts of his department's modern methods and thinks Poirot should leave the case to them. But Poirot learns of 3 suspicious deaths in the village within the past 5 years which could have been the murder that young Joyce witnessed. The characters in this mystery are generally unpleasant and the solution sordid and over-the-top. Read more ›

35 of 43 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars David Suchet's Poirot May 28, 2011

By DM Tucson

Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase

Mr. Suchet can't be beat as Hercule Poirot! I think I've now bought most items available and enjoy them all thoroughly time and time again. He is absolutely fantastic in this long running series. I think Ms. Christie would have been very happy with this series in general.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredibily Enjoyable November 16, 2011

By E. K. Bolin

Format:DVD

Poirot Set 6 is a three-feature-film set. And for fans of the show it goes without saying that Poirot starring David Suchet is an exquisite treat; both for the mind, and the senses. Those looking for great films of intrigue done with style and story? Yes, these too should get the set toot sweet.

The delightful films have the fastidious little detective shuttle-bugging about - and he is almost as distracting as the finely woven threads of the stories' often brilliant tapestries. I admit to being smitten with good set design...here it is simply orgasmic. The era is everywhere. Sometimes you (I) must rewind the DVD as people spoke but they were not heard over some elegant piece of furniture, or wall hanging. This is good too, because there's hardly a proper mansteak in the set, and a girl needs visual stimulus, even in a good mystery...

Tragedy in Three Acts is the most visually exciting - era-wise. Here we find Poirot attending a swanky dinner party at his old friend's Sir Charles Cartwright (Martin Shaw) - who is a retired theater star, when viola! Faster than the butler can announce cocktails are being served in the main room, a seemingly natural death occurs. It is not until a month later, when the exact same style of death - with the same dinner guests attending - happens once more, that Poirot's little gray cells begin to twirl. The tie-up is wonderful. Guest stars include Jane Asher, Art Malik, and Kimberley Nixon.

Halloween is very atmospheric, the subject matter a tad disturbing. Poirot is called in to investigate the murder of a child...The local "witch" and gossip, has plenty to whisper about her hamlet. Though Poirot detests tales of the macabre, he is like the apple bobbing in the water, until...at last...Hercule has figured it out!... The film has a famous female crime novelist Ariadne Oliver (Zoë Wanamaker) acting the sleuth. Other cast members include Sophie Thompson, Deborah Findlay, and Amelia Bullmore.

The Clocks has the finest story of the three. Twists and turns that - if you are trying to sleuth alongside Poirot - you may want to rewind a couple key scenes. Everyone (more so than usual) is suspect! Poirot finds himself in the middle of a puzzle within a puzzle - and England's very security may be at the center! Anna Massey guest stars.

The fun part about these films is that if you pay close attention, the clues are there. They are not easy...But each tale is far from cookie-cutter prime-time fare.

David Suchet is Poirot mon ami. It is so lovely when an actor so snuggly fits a role. There have been many in entertainment. These roles where the actor is simply the character; no one else can be pictured; Bogart as Sam Spade in Maltese Falcon, Depp in Pirates, Laurie in House and so forth.

Add this to your viewing collection. The productions are fantastic.

Snack recommendation: The cocktail Read more ›