Customer Reviews

Agatha Christie's Poirot, Vol. 3 [VHS]

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

 

 

There were many one hour and somewhat fewer two hour episodes of the Hercule Poirot mysteries shown on PBS; and foresighted fans should have taped them then, because when A&E re-runs them, parts of each have to be removed to make room for all the commercials. Very often, the solution at the end flashbacks to scenes that we never saw because of the abridgments and frankly the value of these episodes are reduced considerably.

But now Acorn Media is reissuing them in complete versions, with the two-hour features on DVD and the shorter ones on VHS. Both series are a delight. The acting genius of David Suchet is enhanced by his usual supporting cast (Hugh Fraser as Hastings, Philip Jackson as Japp, and Pauline Moran as Miss Lemon), the wonderful guest casts, the done-to-perfection ambiance of time and place--the late 20s and early 30s--with all those fabulous art-deco buildings they have managed to find and populate.

I have already commented on the first two sets (see those webpages). This third entry contains "The Kidnapped Prime Minister," "The Adventure of the Western Star," and "How Does Your Garden Grow?" The first offers a plot (in both senses of the word) that has been copied in many a mystery since then, and the red herrings are quite good. The second reveals its r.h. half way through, and still holds some surprises. The last is a good old Christie murder story in which all the villainous characters turn out to be...well, see for yourself.

I keep asking myself if the reason that I keep watching these episodes over and over is the superb acting, the marvelous décor, the other way around or both in equal measure. I will guess at the last.(...)

"How Does Your Garden Grow?" is taken from _The Regatta Mystery and Other Stories_, while the others are taken from _Poirot Investigates_.

"The Adventure of the Western Star" - There's a legend about twin precious stones, the eyes of an idol in the Far East, having long been separated - the Star of the East and the Western Star - and of what is fated to happen when they meet again. The Western Star resides in the famous Yardley collection in England, while the Star of the East belongs to an actress about to film on the Yardley estate...

"How Does Your Garden Grow?" The old lady wrote to Poirot on a matter requiring such discretion that she would not commit it to a letter. Alas, she died before her commission ever reached him...

"The Kidnapped Prime Minister" - Viewed solely on its own merits, an interesting case. Viewed as an adaptation, however, it is flagrantly unfaithful to the source; the writers seem to have had a free hand in adjusting matters to make a more dramatic and puzzling story. The action now occurs between wars instead of during WWI, so the motive has altered and the kidnappers by necessity are a somewhat different group than in the original story. Written early in Christie's career, the victims and witnesses were just stage props leading up to one of Poirot's flashy conjuring tricks, with no depth or personality. While this worked in short story form, I can see the inherent difficulty in adapting it for the screen, so while I ordinarily deplore heavy revision, I concede the need for it here. Not to put too fine a point on it, the revision helped this story no end, and it's much more interesting on video than in its original form.

How Does Your Garden Grow? - Good mystery, not too much depth, but at least Miss Lemon gets to leave the office! And it's always fun when Agatha Christe uses nursurey rhymes as plot devices. It creates sort of a surreal atmosphere. - 4 stars

The Adventure of the Western Star - More typical Poirot. It's easy to get used to how wonderful these are and start treating their greatness casually! My favorite part of this one is Hastings and his China-man! - 4 stars

The Kidnapped Prime Minister - Ireland gets some of the lime-light in this one as Russia did in the first. My favorite part of this one is when Miss Lemon is trying to remember the name of the castle! - 4 stars

Box Set Overall score (Not an Average) - 4 stars

Hercule Poirot is second only to Sherlock Holmes in the hearts of mystery fans everywhere and, along with Miss Marple, Agatha Christie's most famous and beloved private investigator whose "little grey cells" would figure out the guilty party in a style all his own. This third volume in the Acorn Media video set series showcasing the British television productions that brought Poirot vividly to life for millions of English and American viewers features three of Agatha Christie's best Poirot cases: The Kidnaped Prime Minister; The Adventure of the Western Star; and How Does Your Garden Grow? Flawless produced with meticulous attention to historical detail in set designs, clothing, automobiles, streets and building architecture, these stories present some of the finest actors that contemporary Britain has to offer and under brilliant production values and gifted script writing, lighting, and direction, present a very highly recommended addition to any personal and community library video entertainment collection.

Hercule Poirot is again at his finest in this collectors set.All three films are set in the art deco elegance of the 1930's Europe, which is perfect to make the stories come to life and keep you on the edge of your seat with drama. In The Kidnapped Prime Minister, Hercule Poirot, with his razor sharp wit, solves a mystery even the "Yard" can't solve, with a surprise twist of an ending. In The Adventure of the Western Star, Hercule Poirot uses his sharp deductioning power and skills of hand, so expertly that he even fools Hastings. In the end,it is truly a surprise. In How Does Your Garden Grow, Hercule Poirot deftly solves the murder mystery with the assistance of Hastings as his side-kick. All three of these films are a real treasure you'll want to see again and again. This is a wonderful collection to add to your collection. Enjoy!

Every once in a while, an actor comes along who not only plays the role of Sherlock Holmes, but actually redefines the role. Well, this has now happened with Agatha Christie's detective, Hercule Poirot! In 1989, veteran actor David Suchet (b.1946) was tapped to play Poirot, and the rest, as they say, is history.

This marvelous DVD contains three(!) of the hour-long episodes of the Adventures of Hercule Poirot:

The Kidnapped Prime Minister - Season 2, episode 8 (25 February 1990) - When the Prime Minister is mysteriously kidnapped, the British government turns to the greatest detective in England - but why does he insist on looking in the wrong places?

The Adventure of the Western Star - Season 2, episode 9 (4 March 1990) - Belgium's greatest actress asks to meet Poirot, but it turns out that she has a mystery - someone is threatening to steal her priceless diamond, the Western Star. Just what is going on, and who is at the bottom of all of this?

How does Your Garden Grow? - Season 3, episode 1 (6 January 1991) - An old lady writes to Poirot begging him to protect her - she fears that someone is out to kill her. And when the lady turns up dead, Poirot stops at nothing to bring the killer to justice.

This is a great DVD, one that I highly recommend to anyone who loves a good mystery, or just loves excellent drama. It's great!

I am replacing my VHS of Poirot with DVDs.I love all of Poirot - haven't seen one of them that I did not like.

What can i say about poirot, he is deffently the best of agatha christie, I am currently buying all i can get. i have seen them all and now want to own them. wife loves him and so does her sister. u won't be disappointed.

"Poirot Collector's Set 3" includes three 50-minute episodes: "The Kidnapped Prime Minister" and "The Adventure of the Western Star", from Series 2, which first aired in 1990, and "How Does Your Garden Grow?" from Series 3, which aired in 1991. The other episodes from Series 2 are found on Collector's Sets 1 and 2. The two feature-length movies from Series 2, "Peril at End House" and "The Mysterious Affair at Styles", are on separate discs. All of the episodes on the Collector's Set 3 feature David Suchet as the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, Hugh Fraser as his friend Captain Arthur Hastings, Pauline Moran as Poirot's fastidious secretary Miss Lemon, and Philip Jackson as Scotland Yard's Chief Inspector Japp.

This is a nice combination of stories that feature three different types of crime: kidnapping, theft, and murder. Contemporary murder mysteries have abandoned all other crimes in favor of murder, it seems, and have become rather far-fetched as a result, constantly striving for a more sensational murder and more improbable murderer than the last. Agatha Christie and the creators of ITV's "Poirot" series managed to make other crimes easily as interesting as murder, if not moreso. The terrific casts and production design help. The episodes are as follows:

The British government is in need of Hercule Poirot's services in "The Kidnapped Prime Minister". Following an apparent attempt on the Prime Minister's life, he is kidnapped en route to Paris where he is to address the League of Nations Disarmament Conference. The Permanent Undersecretary of State, Sir Bernard (Ronald Hines), consults Poirot with only 32 hours left to find the PM before he must be at the Conference to unite Europe against German re-armament. Sir Bernard's increasing frustration with Poirot's methodical ways provides some comic relief, as Poirot decides to investigate the previous assassination attempt rather than the kidnapping, while Inspector Japp tags along, hoping the Belgian will not embarrass him.

"The Adventure of the Western Star" finds Poirot swooning over the prospect of meeting Belgium's greatest film star, Marie Marvelle (Rosalind Bennett). Miss Marvelle has received letters threatening to steal her enormous diamond, the Western Star, purchased for her by her husband Gregorie Rolf (Oliver Cotton). At the same time, a Lady Yardly (Caroline Goodall), who owns the Eastern Star, the diamond's twin, consults Poirot. She too has received threatening letters. The ladies' husbands are not inclined to take the threats seriously -until both diamonds are stolen. Inspector Japp suspects a wealthy gem collector named Henrik Van Braks (Struan Rodger), who is known to deal in black market stones.

Poirot is proud to have a pink rose named after him in "How Does Your Garden Grow?". When he attends the Chelsea Flower Show, where the rose is to be presented, an elderly woman named Amelia Barrowby (Margery Mason) insists that he accept the gift of a seed packet. Miss Barrowby has written Poirot a letter in which she expresses fear of an unspecified problem in her household. Then she dies. Inspector Japp is already on the case, as the cause of death has proven to be strychnine. The question is which member of her household is guilty: her impoverished niece Mary Delafontaine (Anne Stallybrass), Mary's drunken husband Henry (Tim Wylton), or her young Russian attendant Katrina (Catherine Russell).

The DVD (Acorn 2003): Bonus features are a short text interview with David Suchet, a brief text bio of Agatha Christie, and a list of her Poirot books. Those are the same features that are on other discs in this series. There are also filmographies for 9 members of the cast and an essay entitled "Poirot's Opposite Number: Inspector Japp", which discusses the character of Japp and his relationship with Poirot. No subtitles.

We enjoy the poirot stories.It was well done by suchet.THe stories are always
a challenge to solve .We received the item quickley from amazon and it was
i good condition and woked well in my dvd.