DVD

Agatha Christie Classic Mystery Collection

Average customer rating:

Not worth it
A Wonderful Collection
AC CLASSIC MYSTERY COLLECTION
Almost All of the Remaining Christie Movies
Mystery Heaven

Agatha Christie Classic Mystery Collection
Starring: Helen Hayes , and Peter Ustinov
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Mystery | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

Mystery & Suspense | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

( A ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Agatha Christie's Marple: Series 2
Agatha Christie's Poirot - Classic Crimes Collection
Midsomer Murders - Set Seven (The Green Man / Bad Tidings / The Fisher King / Sins Of Commision)
The Agatha Christie Miss Marple Movie Collection
Murder, She Wrote - The Complete Fifth Season

ASIN: B000GB5M1U
Release Date: 2006-09-12

Amazon.com

The grande dame of teacake murder mysteries, Agatha Christie, has kept generations of readers--and viewers--in her thrall, and this magnificent boxed set is a must for any Christie fan, rabid or casual. The collection includes eight films made for British TV in the '80s, most starring the first lady of the American theater, Helen Hayes, as Miss Marple, and the inimitable Peter Ustinov as Poirot. It would be hard to imagine more acting talent packed into compact TV mysteries.

The three Hayes tales (also available as a separate set) are Murder Is Easy costarring Bill Bixby, a still-radiant Olivia de Havilland, and a young Jonathan Pryce; A Caribbean Mystery, with Barnard Hughes and Swoosie Kurtz; and the grande-dame-duet Murder with Mirrors, with Hayes playing opposite her onetime real-life nemesis, Bette Davis. Mirrors alone is worth the price of the set, as Hayes is in fine form, completely un-vain and sweetly droll. As she heads toward a country manor to visit her "dear friend" Carrie Louise, played by Bette Davis. Davis, in one of her last film performances, plays a woman who may--or may not--be being slowly poisoned to death, but regardless is frail and slightly incoherent. Davis looks quite frail herself, and her line delivery seems a bit uncertain--perhaps extremely effective Method acting, or perhaps she was indeed as frail as she looks; either way, film fans won't want to miss this.

In the three Ustinov films (also available as a separate set), Thirteen for Dinner features Ustinov's Poirot trying to solve the murder of one Lord Edgeware, investigating, among others, the lovely mystery woman played by a witchy Faye Dunaway. (And in a fun bit of foreshadowing, David Suchet, who would go on to play a formidable, more metrosexual Poirot himself, appears here in the role of Poirot's sidekick Japp.) Dead Man's Folly finds Poirot and an old friend, a mystery writer played by Jean Stapleton, at a "murder hunt" party at which the dead body really does turn up dead. Murder in Three Acts finds Poirot far afield in sunny Acapulco, at a glorious villa belonging to a suave actor played by Tony Curtis. A random death-by-martini at a posh party opens the door to the possibility of murder--handy that Poirot is there to help the local constables. The supporting cast features top '80s TV actors like Emma Samms as the actor's arm candy, and Diana Muldaur (the wicked Rosalind Shays on L.A. Law). The production values are also topnotch--with gorgeous location shots in Mexico adding romance but also unnerving isolation to the proceedings.

The two non-Marple and -Poirot films (and thus not included on those individual DVD sets) are Sparkling Cyanide, starring Anthony Andrews and Harry Morgan as officers investigating serial poisonings, and The Man in the Brown Suit, a zippy yarn of international intrigue, with Stephanie Zimbalist as a tourist in Cairo caught in a nightmare of stolen diamonds and death. Supporting roles by Rue McClanahan, Tony Randall, and Edward Woodward add texture to the mysterious proceedings. Never has murder most foul been so deliciously entertaining. --A.T. Hurley

Description

Who slipped poison into the cocktail of kindly old Rev. Babbington?... Why is a mysterious brown-suited stranger trailing a young woman through exotic lands?...What is the secret behind the malevolent deeds at palatial Stonygates? Discover the answers and much more in this star-packed collection of murder most foul, mystery most fun. All eight movies are on DVD for the first time. And all are from novels by the mistress of mystery, Agatha Christie. It'd be a crime to miss them!

Customer Reviews:

Not worth it.......2007-06-27

Sorry, but the more recent Agatha Christie's in the past 10 years are good, these were corny and badly scripted, but good casting. However, not worth watching, as I turned it off as we just couldn't agonize through it all. I'll probably give them away to someone less discriminating. I'm a prude!

A Wonderful Collection.......2007-06-12

The serious lover of mystery will find this a good way to spend several hours with your favorite mystery writer. Ustinov is not my first choice for Poirot, but he has style. And Helen Hayes is delightful. And the collection is well within the price range of the most frugal.

AC CLASSIC MYSTERY COLLECTION.......2007-03-08

This collection is a must have for a true AC Fan. All the usual suspects we try to catch on TV but end up mising them, due to their TX times, are here. Some are far better than others - hence the rating I have given the collection. It would have been nice to have a few extras on the DVD's, but you cant have everything. Hours of sheer magic and suspence.

Almost All of the Remaining Christie Movies.......2007-01-04

With Peter Ustinov as Hercule Poirot and Helen Hayes as Miss Marple, these are delightful little mysteries with the supporting cast of stars that makes them worth viewing. With stars of the magnitude of Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Faye Dunaway and Tony Curtis, plus an array of TV favorites such as Jean Stapleton, Tony Randall, Bill Bixby and Jameson Parker, Agatha Christie fans shouldn't miss this DVD set. The only problem with the eight-set is that An Appointment with Death wasn't included, one of the better Christie films with Peter Ustinov and Lauren Bacall. Alas, we can but wait impatiently for the straggler to be released on DVD as a single.

Mystery Heaven.......2006-11-11

What a treat to have some of the worlds favorites sleuths such as Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot, and Colonel Race all in one collection of eight mysteries. And Agatha Christie doesn't disappoint with exciting mysteries such as Murder in Three Acts, The Man in the Brown Suit, Murder is Easy, and Thirteen to Dinner. It's a pleasure just spending time with some of the great actors that have given so much pleasure to so many over the years such as Helen Hayes, Peter Ustinov, Olivia de Havilland, Tony Curtis, Jean Stapleton, Bill Bixby, Tony Randall and so many more.

Average customer rating:

Joanna Pacula Can Still Play the Femme Fatale!

Dead Easy
Starring: Richard Grieco , Joanna Pacula , and Thandi Puren
Director: Neal Sundstrom
Manufacturer: Mti Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

Suspense | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

Mystery | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

4-for-3 Action & Adventure | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

4-for-3 All DVDs | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

( D ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Blackheart
The Apostate
Point Doom
Final Payback
Bound by Lies

ASIN: B0007Z0OP4
Release Date: 2005-05-31

Customer Reviews:

Joanna Pacula Can Still Play the Femme Fatale!.......2005-07-11

I've been a big fan of Polish Actress Joanna Pacula since the early '90s (Black Ice, Under Investigation). Still sensual and stunning at 47, she plays a role similar to one she played in 1993 (Every Breath), that of a woman who plays a dangerous game with her husband. Also of note is the actor who plays the chief police investigator - he brings the energy level of the movie up whenever he shows up. A minus is Richard Grieco, who walks through his role like he's sedated. There is a twist at the end, which I enjoyed. The South African setting was also a nice change from the usual LA/NY setting. For Pacula fans, a step up from her recent movies!

DVD:

DVD

DVD

DVD

In the Good Old Summertime

Serpent and the Rainbow

The Firm [1993]

DVD: Cameron's Closet

Cowboy Bebop, Vol.5