What is the best portrayal of an Agatha Christie detective?
If you like Poirot, do you prefer Albert Finney’s performance in Murder On The Orient Express, or Peter Ustinov in Death On The Nile, or maybe David Suchet’s 20 year run.
If you are a Marple fan, do you like Margaret Rutheford’s boundless energy, or Joan Hickson’s frailty? Maybe you are a fan of Angela Lansbury’s prototype Jessica Fletcher.
Or perhaps you are a fan of classic film, and remember Charles Laughton in Witness For The Prosecution. Or maybe you’ve seen Sir Ralph in the remake.
Perhaps you were impressed by Oliver Reed in And Then There Werec None, or by Hugh O’Brien in an earlier version. I’m stretching the concept of “detective” on this one, but he’s about the closest the story has to a hero.
You may even have seen Stephanie Zimbalist in The Man In The Brown Suit. Someone must have.
Are there any important ones I’ve missed?
I haven’t tried to list every single actor. Only the most notable ones. So you can’t vote for Gracie Field’s performance as Miss Marple in a 1950’s TV play. Has anyone even seen it in 50 years? Does it still even exist? Nor have I included any from many foreign language versions and adaptations.
Thanks for including Francesca Annis and James Warwick. They were my choice just from reading the thread title, but I figured the poll would stick to the classic Poirots and Marples. I’m glad to see that I’m not the only one to choose them.
So little love for Ustinov??? I admit he’s the one I’ve only ever really tuned in to watch (on US public TV) when I was a kid, but he’s always been one of my favorite comedic actors. OK, I would have bought Jimmy McGriff’s album “Topkapi” regardless, but remembering Ustinov helps me remember to dig out that (not great) album every now and then (and McGriff is one of my favorite musicians).
There are several dozen that I omitted. I couldn’t possibly include every version. I did consider including him, but decided not to on the grounds that it’s fairly obscure, not very good, and a parody rather than a serious take. It would be like inviting people to vote for Peter Sellers as the best James Bond.
But if you really want to vote for him, that’s what the ‘other’ option is there for.
I knew Suchet was going to take the title. I just can’t imagine anyone else as Poirot, even having seen Finney and Ustinov in the role. David Suchet WAS Poirot!
I would (and did) say that Ustinov was the best Poirot before David Suchet came along. He was too big a man to play the diminitive Belgian detective, but he did a decent enough job in Evil Under the Sun. It’s my favorite of the pre-Suchet Poirot movies.
Finney’s arm-waving, shouting Poirot, on the other hand, mars the otherwise very nice Murder on the Orient Express for me. I couldn’t bear to watch more than about 10-15 minutes of Tony Randall in the ABC Murders; I think they were trying to go for a Pink Panthery Insp. Cluseau kind of comedy, but it was so awful I felt embarrassed for poor Tony.
I haven’t seen enough of these performances to feel entitled to vote.
I did discover, as a result of searches inspired by this thread, that Netflix has Partners in Crime available in streaming video. So expect me to spend the rest of my day watching the intrepid Beresfords do what they do best–solve crimes and catch spies!
Should allow multiple votes, n’est-ce pas? Just because I think so-and-so is the best Poirot doesn’t mean that I don’t think Wossername is the best Marple?
We actually just did an all-day Christie/Poirot Fest:
DEATH ON THE NILE (Ustinov is too large and bombastic)
MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (We don’t understand why Finney has no neck and high shoulders)
ALPHABET MURDERS (Robert Morley was very funny, but Tony Randall was a poor Peter Sellars imitation)
THE DOUBLE CLUE (Suchet)
and, for variety, Laughton’s WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION – amazing movie, brilliant performances, Marlene Dietrich is … amazing.
We’re planning on a Marple Fest in a couple of weeks, with one of each of the Marples and the 1950s AND THEN THERE WERE NONE.
Some friends and I did a Marple-fest a couple of years ago. I think we came down generally in favor of Hickson, but all came away with a greater appreciation and affection for Rutherford.
My favorite Marple is still Angela Lansbury (The Mirror Crack’d). Mostly because she has, to me, the right look. I’ve always pictured Marple as being a little on the taller side, and standing very upright, with fluffy white hair; I find Hickson too bent and vinegary, McEwan too twinkly, and McKenzie is just too young and all girls together.
Of course, Suchet is the quintessential Poirot. It is interesting to see the padding on his Poirot suits, ever notice how much he looks like The Penguin? Anyway, he not only was Poirot, I believe he still is. At least he made Murder on the Orient Express last year, and I have read that he wants to film every novel and short story Christie wrote with Poirot as the detective. Also, how many other Poirot characters have also been able to play Inspector Japp?
Roddy