Konterr Brilliant and touching

ChicRawIdol A brilliant film that helped define a genre

Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

lovemydesignergenes The other reviews do a good job summarizing this fine movie. So I'm "casting" this book with actual people from Agatha Christie's own real-life romantic tragedy...Fickle Fiancé' Roddy Winter...could be played by Agatha Christie's charming but unfaithful first husband Archie Christie.Elinor's aunt Madame Wellman could be cast as Agatha's late mother. Like Elinor Carlisle, Agatha Christie faced a double loss of two beloved people. In Agatha's case, it was her recently deceased beloved mother and -- soon after --the departure of her fickle husband Archie.Hercules Poirot...does not have a direct counterpart in Agatha's real life marriage breakup.. His advice to Elinor is wisely given... Perhaps he represents various unnamed friends who gave her support.Actually, Dr. Lord, who has admired Elinor from afar, I'd definitely cast as Max Mallowan, Agatha's beloved and faithful second husband. Dr. Lord radiates loyalty and good character. He brings in Hercules Poirot and (partial spoiler) Hercules Poirot...ultimately saves Elinor from execution for the murders of Madame Wellman and Mary Garrard.Mary Gerrard, the new love of Fickle Roddy Winter, represents the actual young woman who captured her husband's heart while she, Agatha, was away settling her late mother's estate.I think it unsurprising that Mary is...murdered. However, Mary is shown as a pleasant young woman who accepts Roddy's attentions but declares "I did not lead him on." Elinor feels guilty because she wanted dead...but she will learn...there's a difference between desire...and action.The actual murderer is, of course, eventually revealed. However, Elinor's resignation at her murder conviction almost keeps Poirot from getting from her...the key info needed...to find the actual murderer.So...this is a very human drama with love/loss as a repeated theme...Madame Wellman's lost love; Elinor's lost Roddy Winter; Roddy's soon-murdered new love..Mary Gerrard.Christie does not make simple good/bad characters. I hope writing this book helped her work through her personal pain. This book was published over 10 years after her marriage broke up. Her second marriage...to Max Mallowan...was a success. I "imagine" Elinor Carlisle and the kind Dr. Lord in a similar good marriage...

Robert J. Maxwell This tale of the sad death of a dowager who strokes out carries with it a deep moral message which all of us should heed. If you're going to die at all, it is far better to die rich than poor. When you're terribly wealthy, old, and ill, friends and relatives rush to your country estate and lavish their affections on you. They pay attention to your every need. Did you take your medicine? How about another shot of morphine? Would you like some tea? Did you make a will? And when you finally shuffle off this mortal coil, it's from an overdose of morphine which, if you have to go, is the way to do it.The old woman of course had a household full of servants and was being visited by her closest relative, Elinor, Elinor's fiancé Roddy, and the old lady's protégé, the cute blond Mary. Mary and Roddy fall for each other in next to no time and the stricken Elinor returns Roddy's engagement ring. There are several hints that Roddy and Elinor have been playing doctor on a pre-conjugal basis, two lascivious animals. But I don't think Roddy had the time or the opportunity to get it on with Mary. Too bad for him. There is a doctor involved too, who loves Elinor from afar, but he looks a lot like Gabriel Byrne so we may dismiss him as a suspect at once.Elinor (Elisabeth Dermot Walsh) is actually an attractive women but make up has done its best to render her less radiant than the wall-eyed but sensual Mary. Elinor hates Mary.The old lady dies and leaves all her estate to Elinor who is obsessed by her bitterness. In a curious scene involving Elinor, a maid, Mary, and jars of salmon paste and crabmeat, Elinor serves the maid and Mary tea and sandwiches -- English sandwiches, meaning two slices of crust-free bread with a thin film of something in between. Mary winds up dead, poisoned by morphine too. Elinor is found guilty of murder and sentenced to death.I don't want to get into the rest of the plot. As usual it's more twisted than it looks and contains intrigues, greed, illegitimacy, daughtercide, jealousy, adoption, family ties, and class borders. It has a terrible scene in which the director uses what it sometimes called the Vertigo shot. We see Mary's lovely face turn into a rotting, grinning skull. It's horrifying but then Poirot wakes up and thrusts his sweating face into the camera with a grunt. Will we never see the end of this hoary cinematic cliché? Poirot winds up pleased with himself and two lovers ride off happily into the sunset. No Japp, no Hastings, no Lemon, but it's an interesting story.

TheLittleSongbird Sad Cypress is one of my favourite Poirot episodes, along with Five Little Pigs and Peril At End House everything about this adaptation was stunning. I do admit I did cry two or three times. It is faithful to the book, apart from a slight misjudgement about the rose. The plot is quite a complex one, but it is very well constructed here. The look of Sad Cypress was absolutely exquisite- you can never go wrong with dazzling photography, splendid scenery and lovely costumes- this adaptation had all three of those things. The music was gorgeous, haunting yet tragic, and I think it was this that reduced me to tears. The script is very good, beautifully written, and does have a hint of faithfulness about it. The acting was exceptional, although he looked tired, David Suchet turned in an impeccable performance as Poirot. I do consider Suchet the definitive of the Poirots, like Jeremy Brett was the definitive Sherlock Holmes. Elizabeth Dermott Walsh was beautiful beyond words as Elinor Carlisle, just perfect for the role, and Rupert Penry Jones perfectly conveys his flawed character. Diana Quick and Phyllis Logan are fine actresses, and they were superb in their roles. The final solution was very well done, not quite as good in construction as the one in the book, but still effective. I have to say when I first saw this adaptation, I was extremely disturbed by Poirot's dream of Mary Gerrard and her decompsing face. All in all, highly recommended. 9/10 Bethany Cox

gee-15 I was pleasantly surprised to come across the adaptation of another Agatha Christie novel starring the inimitable David Suchet. He really IS the definitive Hercule Poirot.While pleasantly surprised, I was mildly dismayed to realize that it was an adaptation of "Sad Cypress", one of Christie's "minor" Poirot mysteries and certainly not her best. However, I couldn't have been more wrong. This has to be one of those rare cases where the movie is better than the book. In the book, much of the action is discussed within the context of Elinor's trial, making it come across as a sort of Britishized Perry Mason mystery. The movie, while narratively framed by the trial, wisely jettisons most of it to focus on the characters and, of course, Poirot.The actors are all very good with special kudos to actress Elizabeth Dermot-Walsh as the wrongly accused (or is she?) Elinor Carlisle. Her performance is heart-breaking. And it doesn't hurt that she's one of the most interesting-looking women I've seen in a long time.The only weakness comes in the middle of movie as the shift of Roddy's affections from Elinor to Mary seem to be rather rushed and not well-explained. But overall, the movie is time well-spent.