BY TIM MCGLYNN
“If
you were a man, I’d divorce you!â€
Myra
Gardener (Sylvia Miles) insults her stage producer husband, Odell (James
Mason), with this line in the 1982 adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Evil Under
the Sun during a spat while vacationing on a fictional Italian island in the
Adriatic Sea. They are attempting to
entice Broadway legend Arlena Stuart Marshall (Diana Rigg) to appear in their
next musical, despite her reputation as a spoiled diva. Evil Under the Sun has recently been released
on Blu-ray by the good people at Kino Lorber, who have also seen fit to issue
new editions of The Mirror Crack’d and Death on the Nile.
The
screenplay, by Anthony Shaffer, is loaded with witty and sometimes randy
putdowns that help breathe a bit of life into this rather formulaic whodunit
from director Guy Hamilton. When Arlena is found dead on a deserted beach it
seems that all of the guests at the island’s resort have a possible
motive. Innkeeper Daphne Castle (Maggie
Smith), a former stage actress who envied Arlena’s success, is fortunate that
the famous Belgian detective Hercule Poirot (Peter Ustinov) is on hand to
investigate and identify the murderer. We soon learn that Arlena’s death may be related to another killing in
Scotland and, as with most crimes of passion, money appears to be the motive.
Poirot
was originally visiting the island to meet industrialist Sir Horace Blatt (Colin
Blakely) to appraise a valuable diamond that was gifted to Arlene and was
returned to Blatt after his affair with the actress ended. Poirot identifies the jewel in question as a
fake and Blatt quickly becomes a suspect.
Also
residing at the resort are lovers, former lovers, cheating lovers, stepchildren
and professional associates of Arlena who, it turns out, all have reasons to
wish her harm. The pedigree cast
includes British stalwarts Roddy McDowell, Jane Birkin (who also appeared in
Death on the Nile), Denis Quilly and Nicholas Clay. There’s even a Hitchcock-style cameo by
director Hamilton near the start of the film.
The
script by Shaffer slims down the list of suspects by combining several
characters from Ms. Christie’s novel. The humor that is added with the barbs traded among the cast is a bright
spot, as it helps the story move along at a faster clip. As with many of his previous films,
particularly the Bond epics, director Hamilton lets us laugh at the pretentious
nature of the resort guests without going overboard with the camp. One
especially funny sequence involves Poirot’s efforts to exercise by taking a
swim in the ocean. He has previously
been identified as somewhat obese and decides to take the advice of his doctor
and add strenuous activity to his daily routine.
The
cinematography by Christopher Challis is gorgeous, with location shots
highlighting the Formentor, Mallorca and Belearic Islands near Spain. Mallorca also happened to be where director
Guy Hamilton was making his home at the time. The titles for the film feature beautiful watercolor paintings by Hugh Casson
with each picture containing an object or article of clothing related to the
story.
The
costume design is the work of veteran Anthony Powell and some of the outfits
worn by Diana Rigg and Sylvia Miles are gloriously overdone. The music is almost a character unto itself,
as composer John Lanchbery has created a score made up entirely of popular
songs by Cole Porter. Lanchbery’s
arrangements are lush and fit in nicely with the sunny location shots and the
open Mediterranean style of Alan Cassie’s art direction. Tunes that stand out are Night and Day,
You’re the Top, I’ve Got You Under My Skin and Anything Goes.
Evil
Under the Sun was the fourth Agatha Christie adaptation for EMI by producers
John Bradbourne and Richard Goodwin. Their previous efforts included Death on the Nile, which also featured
Peter Ustinov in the role of the revered Hercule Poriot. In all, Ustinov has
played the detective nine times for film and television. While the earlier movies were financially
successful for Bradbourne and Goodwin, this film was something of a box office
disappointment. The formula for
star-studded mysteries was wearing thin and would soon be subject to parody
with titles such as the The Cheap Detective and Murder by Death. The Poriot stories would go on to become
popular on television in the UK with more modest budgets and less expensive
casts.
Kino
Lorber’s edition of Evil Under the Sun is simply beautiful. The color is wonderfully vivid and the film,
presented in the 1.85 aspect ratio, is virtually free of artifacts and
scratches. The mono sound is clean and
all dialogue is clear. A feature length
commentary by film historians Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel
Thompson includes funny anecdotes and background information on original casting
choices and some of the disagreements between screenwriter Shaffer and the
producers. It was feared that some of
the humor injected into the story would not be appropriate. We
also learn that Peter Ustinov actually
designed the swimwear he dons for his exercise sequence. There is also a
"making of" documentary, the original trailer and a selection of radio
spots.
I
found Evil Under the Sun to be quite entertaining and a bit refreshing, as I
enjoyed chuckling at the one-liners in the script. Guy Hamilton was very adept at subtle visual
humor and he snuck a few gags into this movie. Often times, films that are part of a series or franchise become stale
and repetitious as studio heads seem to believe audiences want to see the same
formula again and again. After three
rather straight-laced versions of Agatha Christie novels, it was fun to see the
characters display a bit of humor with sometimes slightly off color
remarks.
The
007 series, which includes titles directed by Hamilton, also began to feature
humor in some of the Connery/Moore films that unfortunately allowed a few of
the installments to become a bit silly. A little freshness is always a good thing as long as the heart and soul
of the original stories are respected.
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