Product Details

• Actors: Helen Hayes, Peter Ustinov, Bette Davis, Bill Bixby, Olivia de Havilland
• Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 1.0)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish, Korean
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 8
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• DVD Release Date: September 12, 2006
• Run Time: 757 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000GB5M1U
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #10,690 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #3 in	Movies & TV > Mystery & Suspense > Television > Miss Marple
  #7 in	Movies & TV > Mystery & Suspense > British Mystery Theater > Poirot
  #17 in	Movies & TV > Mystery & Suspense > British Mystery Theater > Agatha Christie

• For more information about "Agatha Christie Classic Mystery Collection (Murder Is Easy/Caribbean Mystery/Murder with Mirrors/Thirteen for Dinner/Dead Man's Folly/Murder in Three Acts/Sparkling Cyanide/The Man in the Brown Suit)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The grande dame of teacake murder mysteries, Agatha Christie, has kept generations of readers--and viewers--in her thrall, and this magnificent boxed set is a must for any Christie fan, rabid or casual. The collection includes eight films made for British TV in the '80s, most starring the first lady of the American theater, Helen Hayes, as Miss Marple, and the inimitable Peter Ustinov as Poirot. It would be hard to imagine more acting talent packed into compact TV mysteries.

The three Hayes tales (also available as a separate set) are Murder Is Easy costarring Bill Bixby, a still-radiant Olivia de Havilland, and a young Jonathan Pryce; A Caribbean Mystery, with Barnard Hughes and Swoosie Kurtz; and the grande-dame-duet Murder with Mirrors, with Hayes playing opposite her onetime real-life nemesis, Bette Davis. Mirrors alone is worth the price of the set, as Hayes is in fine form, completely un-vain and sweetly droll. As she heads toward a country manor to visit her "dear friend" Carrie Louise, played by Bette Davis. Davis, in one of her last film performances, plays a woman who may--or may not--be being slowly poisoned to death, but regardless is frail and slightly incoherent. Davis looks quite frail herself, and her line delivery seems a bit uncertain--perhaps extremely effective Method acting, or perhaps she was indeed as frail as she looks; either way, film fans won't want to miss this.

In the three Ustinov films (also available as a separate set), Thirteen for Dinner features Ustinov's Poirot trying to solve the murder of one Lord Edgeware, investigating, among others, the lovely mystery woman played by a witchy Faye Dunaway. (And in a fun bit of foreshadowing, David Suchet, who would go on to play a formidable, more metrosexual Poirot himself, appears here in the role of Poirot's sidekick Japp.) Dead Man's Folly finds Poirot and an old friend, a mystery writer played by Jean Stapleton, at a "murder hunt" party at which the dead body really does turn up dead. Murder in Three Acts finds Poirot far afield in sunny Acapulco, at a glorious villa belonging to a suave actor played by Tony Curtis. A random death-by-martini at a posh party opens the door to the possibility of murder--handy that Poirot is there to help the local constables. The supporting cast features top '80s TV actors like Emma Samms as the actor's arm candy, and Diana Muldaur (the wicked Rosalind Shays on L.A. Law). The production values are also topnotch--with gorgeous location shots in Mexico adding romance but also unnerving isolation to the proceedings.

The two non-Marple and -Poirot films (and thus not included on those individual DVD sets) are Sparkling Cyanide, starring Anthony Andrews and Harry Morgan as officers investigating serial poisonings, and The Man in the Brown Suit, a zippy yarn of international intrigue, with Stephanie Zimbalist as a tourist in Cairo caught in a nightmare of stolen diamonds and death. Supporting roles by Rue McClanahan, Tony Randall, and Edward Woodward add texture to the mysterious proceedings. Never has murder most foul been so deliciously entertaining. --A.T. Hurley

Product Description

Who slipped poison into the cocktail of kindly old Rev. Babbington?... Why is a mysterious brown-suited stranger trailing a young woman through exotic lands?...What is the secret behind the malevolent deeds at palatial Stonygates? Discover the answers and much more in this star-packed collection of murder most foul, mystery most fun. All eight movies are on DVD for the first time. And all are from novels by the mistress of mystery, Agatha Christie. It'd be a crime to miss them!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Mystery Collection, September 16, 2006

By	Eric Pregosin (New Carrollton, Maryland United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I saw some of these on TV when they first came out, and I have to tell you this set is well worth the price. First, we get Helen Hayes twice as Miss Marple and once as the victim with my old childhood hero Bill Bixby as the sleuth. Then we get 3 mysteries with the only native born Russian to become a knight of the British Empire, Sir Peter Ustinov as Poirot. Watch for soon to be popular British TV star David Suchet as on London Weekend Television (PBS here) soon after this movie. Finally, 2 other Christie Classics: Sparkling Cyanide and The Man In The Brown Suit, all with all star casts. Interesting to note, that the Hayes and Ustinov sets can be bought as separate items as well, but these latter 2 appear NOT to be available separately. If you wanna complete this great collection, I recommend the 3 pack by Anchor Bay which has 2 more Ustinovs (Evil Under The Sun and Death on The Nile) and Angela Lansbury (pre Murder She Wrote) as Miss Marple in The Mirror Cracked. These 3 are available separately, but side by side these 2 sets would look great together. If you wanna see how "it was done" before Suchet and Hickson told us, buy these films.:-)

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Deadly Delight, October 27, 2006

By	Tom S. "filmfan3" (New York City) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This collection of 8 American(!!!) TV movies is a real treat for Christie fans. And it proves that we can honor the First Lady of Mystery on this side of the Pond just as well as her fellow Brits. Not all 8 are perfect gems, but they sure get an A for effort. With 2-time Oscar-winners Helen Hayes and Peter Ustinov as Miss Marple and Poirot, backed up by an impressive crowd of A-list film and TV stars, who could complain?

Extra treat for American mystery fans: 2 of these films--A CARIBBEAN MYSTERY and SPARKLING CYANIDE--were written by our own national treasure of mysterydom, Sue Grafton, and her husband, Steven Humphrey. Sue went on to prove with her Kinsey Millhone "alphabet" series ("A" IS FOR ALIBI, "B" IS FOR BURGLAR, etc.) that she is a true "daughter" of Christie.

And it's a delight to see established stars like Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Tony Curtis, and Faye Dunaway mixing it up with newer talents like Stephanie Zimbalist, Jameson Parker, Anthony Andrews, and Lesley Anne Down. And let's not forget Sir John Mills, Maurice Evans, Tim Roth, Bill Bixby, Jean Stapleton, Edward Woodward, Brock Peters, Tony Randall, Rue McClanahan, Jonathan Pryce, and David Suchet (as Inspector Japp in 13 AT DINNER, long before he went on to play Poirot). Whew! But the real treasures here are the stories themselves--8 of the cleverest mysteries ever written, well-served (for the most part) by several generations of our finest entertainers. And the slim packaging is especially elegant. Curl up in front of your TV and enjoy!

PS: The popularity of these films when they first aired led directly to CBS's decision to do MURDER, SHE WROTE--yet another reason to be thankful for them.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eight Great Agatha Christie Movies, August 18, 2006

By	Allen Dunn - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'm so thrilled to hear about Agatha Christie Movies coming out on DVD in a Collection Box set of Eight enjoyable Agatha Christie movies - I loved watching A Caribbean Mystery, Murder With Mirrors, Murder Is Easy, Dead Man's Folly, Murder in Three Acts, Thirteen at Dinner, Sparkling Cynaide and The Man In The Brown Suit. I will add these eight movies to my Agatha Christie DVD Collection. Can't Wait for this collection to be released on September 12th. I loved the box cover Artwork. The Actors are superb to watch Peter Ustinov, Helen Hayes, Bill Bixby, Jean Stapleton, Bette Davis and many others to give wonderful performances in their roles in my favorite agatha christie movies.