I admit to being a little disappointed. I just finished the book and was all ready to watch the classic 1974 movie starring Albert Finney as Poirot. While reading the book, the voices of the stars of this movie rang in my head. Mrs. Hubbard talked just like Lauren Bacall, McQueen whined like Anthony Perkins and Colonel Arbuthnott swaggered like Sean Connery. Unfortunately I couldn’t find that classic on my limited TV choices, so I treated myself to the new version starring David Suchet, who I also normally enjoy in the Poirot role.
This version was so very different from the book. Poirot was angry and harsh, and surprisingly quite Catholic. I’ve been reading a lot of Christies and Poirot’s religious preferences have never made themselves known as far as I can remember. When did he become a devout Catholic? Or maybe the question really is, why did the creators of this movie decide to infuse that into the story? Now I’m not a big fan of the Catholic Church, but it was funny that the knock against it in this movie is the opposite of my opinion. I’ve always felt that Catholics are unforgiving, in that if you break their rules (birth control, divorce) you are no longer allowed to partake in the Holy Communion. Jesus may forgive your sins, but not the church. Here the argument, newly written for this version of the story, was that Catholics just go around forgiving everything and some sins should not be forgiven, like murdering a child for money. I find it so odd this was part of this movie, yet they tossed out other very good and in my opinion, important, parts of the book.
I noted when I read the book, and with the wealth of Poirot knowledge I’ve been amassing, that Poirot respects justice. He will send a likable character to jail if they are guilty, believing justice is the job of the legal system and not the individual. But he has also allowed the guilty party the opportunity to commit suicide to spare their family members (The Murder of Roger Akroyd and Murder After Hours). In this story, he also makes an exception. Justice was not served in the legal system, the victims of this heinous crime were cheated. Therefore, he sides with the victims and helps to hide their crime. He helps without hesitation. Yet this movie version, we have a very different ending. It is unclear what Poirot will do. He fights and argues and condemns the conspirators. He shows no understanding of their pain, no mercy. He walks away from the 12 towards the police and the credits roll. Did he turn them all in or not? Had I not read the book, I would assume he did. He was portrayed as an angry man for some reason.
Here I was excited for the champagne toast ending from the 1974 version, likening the plight of the 12 to my own pain and stress. Instead I’m thrust back in the dark. Maybe there is no justice. Maybe you have to live in misery and pain forever. Maybe people are angry and will not help or show pity. Maybe they will just blame you and tell you to suck it up and get over it. Awesome!
Where is that 1974 movie version!!?
