SUMMARY: RUNNING TIME: 80:00 Min. (Black & White)
Released in 1934, through Radio Studios, this British film (directed by Henry Edwards) is Twickenham Film Studios’ adaptation of Agatha Christie’s same-named suspense novel. At the behest of a glamorous actress, Belgian private detective Hercule Poirot and his associate, Captain Hastings, attempt to persuade her far-older husband, Lord Edgware, to consent to a divorce in order for her to marry another British aristocrat.
Shortly thereafter, Edgware’s brazen homicide in his own home leads Poirot and Hastings to suspect that someone is cleverly framing his estranged wife, in spite of her well-established alibi at an opulent dinner party. The question becomes: who, in fact, murdered the snobbish Edgware? And why? Worse yet, an unremorseful culprit is liable to strike more than once.
Hercule Poirot: Austin Trevor
Capt. Hastings: Richard Cooper
Lady Edgware (aka Jane Wilkinson): Jane Carr
Bryan Martin: Leslie Perrins
Inspector Japp: John Turnbull
Geraldine Edgware: Sophie Stewart
Lord Edgware: C.V. France
Duke of Merten: P. Kynaston Reeves
Alice: Phyllis Morris
Other Credited Cast Members: Brenda Harvey; S. Victor Stanley; Hargrave Pawson; Conway Dixon; &
Quenton McPherson
Notes: This movie would be Trevor’s third and final cinematic appearance as Poirot. The novel’s alternate American title is Thirteen at Dinner (which was utilized for Peter Ustinov’s 1985 TV movie adaptation co-starring Faye Dunaway).
REVIEW:
Admirably, the film’s script adheres close to Christie’s source material. This same observation extends to a decent supporting cast inhabiting the plot’s various suspects and witnesses. The actors chosen to convey Poirot’s most well-known associates: Captain Hastings and Scotland Yard’s Inspector Japp are bland, but they hardly impact this film’s quality.
The insurmountable liability, however, is Austin Trevor’s miscasting as the impeccable Belgian sleuth. Glaringly missing Poirot’s trademark moustache, the tall and dapper Trevor far closer resembles a generic Sherlock Holmes. Ironically, the actor portraying Hastings is nearly a visual match (aside from being slimmer) to the literary Poirot.
Effectively ruining this movie, the most tone-deaf aspect of Trevor’s performance is his phony and virtually non-intelligible accent (something haplessly trying to convey French/Belgian/German). Suffice to say, his squeaky-sounding effort will quickly grate any viewer’s nerves.
By comparison, in the Pink Panther film series, Peter Sellers deliberately played up Inspector Clouseau’s garbled French accent for laughs. Trevor’s snooze-fest as Poirot, unfortunately, does not, which makes for a long seventy-five plus minutes. One is left wishing Lord Edgware Dies had been a silent movie where dialogue cards would substitute for Trevor’s voice, so this film would be at least watchable.
It’s a shame, too. This rudimentary adaptation had potential to be an early pinnacle in Poirot storytelling on film, at least prior to 1974’s Murder on the Orient Express starring Albert Finney.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 3 Stars
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