Evil Under the Sun (1982)

August 28, 2022 7:52 PM

"Trying to find how a millionaire wound up with a phony diamond brings Hercule Poirot to an exclusive island resort frequented by the rich and famous. When a murder is committed, everyone has an alibi." Also: everyone is gay, the sunhats are amazing, now I want to go swimming.

Not this version; a different one, with more polka dots.

posted by The corpse in the library (5 comments total)

One change from the book that caught my eye: in the movie, there's a scene where Hercule is in his swimsuit and pushes Arlena out in a boat. In the book, he's wearing his normal clothes but still pushes her out when she requests it, ruining a pair of shoes in the process. It's stuck with me as a good sketch of Poirot -- even though he's a clotheshorse he would never say no to a woman asking for help.

The swimsuit is also wonderful, though, with his pocket square and swim slippers.
posted by The corpse in the library at 7:56 PM on August 28, 2022 [3 favorites]

This is one of those movies I accidentally stumbled upon changing channels and was immediately sucked in. The cast and costumes are wonderful.
posted by miss-lapin at 8:51 PM on August 28, 2022 [3 favorites]

This and the other Peter Ustinov / Maggie Smith / Jane Birkin cast Poirot film version, of Death on the Nile, make an excellent twin set.

They were both played a lot in the early days of HBO iirc, when they'd play the same movie twice a day for a week.

Maggie Smith's tuxedo in DotN aside, this one is gayer. In both senses.
The brighter colors (that red lacquer sun hat!) and the beautiful Adriatic setting make this one a good cold weather winter watch. Or to wrap up summer weekend season.
posted by bartleby at 9:45 PM on August 28, 2022 [3 favorites]

But does it have the sea tractor?
posted by TWinbrook8 at 9:34 AM on August 30, 2022 [1 favorite]

It does not, unfortunately.
But it it does have a moment where Ustinov pronounces the word 'pedalo' in his best Poirot accent that's just *chef kiss*.
posted by bartleby at 7:28 PM on September 10, 2022 [1 favorite]