Murders, She Wrote: Agatha Christie’s Best Big Screen Adaptations

On Agatha Christie’s 125th birth anniversary, we revisit five of the best on-screen adaptations of her novels.

Agatha Christie (September 15, 1890 - January 12, 1976)

(This story is from The Quint’s archives and was first published on 15 September 2015, to mark Agatha Christie’s birth anniversary.)

The Guinness Book of World Records lists Agatha Christie as the best-selling novelist of all time, selling roughly 2 billion copies, behind only Shakespeare’s works and the Bible. Christie, the grand dame of crime fiction, has kept the world on tenterhooks with remarkable characterisation and gripping plots in her vast body of work. Her position as the undisputed queen of trickery is beyond question.

On the 126th birth anniversary of the plotting genius, watch the best five adaptations of her works.

Murder, She Said (1961)

Margaret Rutherford as Miss Marple in Murder, She Said

Though Christie didn’t approve of this adaptation, this film is a sparkling entertainer only thanks to Margaret Rutherford’s quirkily mannered performance. It starts with a bang when Miss Marple reports witnessing a murder, but the police are hell-bent on dismissing her as an imaginative spinster. This only awakens Marple’s sleuthing instincts, and she begins her own investigation. Rutherford differs a great deal from Christie’s depiction of the old detective, but that doesn’t deter it from being a murder mystery with non-stop fun. This is the first of Margaret Rutherford’s four outings as Christie’s Miss Marple which was followed by Murder at the Gallop (1963), Murder Most Foul (1964) and Murder Ahoy! (1964).

Death on the Nile (1978)

Peter Ustinov as Hercule Poirot in Death on the Nile

Following the format, and perhaps with an aim to emulate the success of Sidney Lumet’s Murder On The Orient Express (1974), this film has Peter Ustinov as the great Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot. The film introduces an eccentric bunch of people, all with a reason to murder, on a luxurious cruise on the Nile River. When an heiress is found murdered on board, Poirot has to identify the killer as stakes continue to rise. With an exotic setting like Egypt, and a star-studded cast which includes Mia Farrow, Maggie Smith, Bette Davis, George Kennedy, David Niven, Angela Lansbury, Olivia Hussey and our very own, IS Johar, this romp may not be as brilliant as Lumet’s film, but it is nonetheless an absorbing watch.

Murder On The Orient Express (1974)

Albert Finney as Hercule Poirot in Murder On The Orient Express

Christie mostly disliked most of the adaptations of her works, but this was a rare one that she really enjoyed. Shot in glorious Technicolor, this film has the grandest ensemble of stars as suspects: Jean-Pierre Cassel, Anthony Perkins, John Gielgud, Lauren Bacall, Ingrid Bergman, Michael York, Jacqueline Bisset, Wendy Hiller, Rachel Roberts, Sean Connery, Vanessa Redgrave, Denis Quilley, Colin Blakely, and above all, Albert Finney as Mr Poirot. A complicated but well-oiled mystery, the stars act as if they are on board to relish their characters, and Lumet finely salutes old world filmmaking with great style. The locomotive mystery since its release has enjoyed great popularity, both with the masses and the critics, which is why it is no surprise that it is gearing up for another reboot by Kenneth Branagh.

And Then There Were None (1945) / Gumnaam (1965)

A scene from And Then There Were None

The best-selling mystery novel in the world, And Then There Were None was originally published in 1939 as Ten Little Niggers, is also known as Ten Little Indians. Widely considered a masterpiece, this book has had multiple adaptations in different parts of the world, but René Clair’s 1945 version is undoubtedly the most compelling one. Ten people trapped on an isolated island, and the intrigue of murder looming large on the dwindling survivors, this exhilarating plot gets a deft handling by Clair who maintains the suspense taut and thrilling till the end.

A record cover of Gumnaam

If you love a little song and dance, watch Raja Nawathe’s Gumnaam which is hardly a patch on the first adaptation. We would vote for Lata’s haunting title song, and Mehmood’s brazen comedy.

Witness For The Prosecution (1957)

A scene from Witness For The Prosecution

The best adaptation of any Agatha Christie work, this courtroom drama adapted from a short story generates excitement with each turn of the plot. Tyrone Power plays Leonard Vole who is accused of murder, and hires Sir Wilfrid Robarts (Charles Laughton), an aging barrister as his defense attorney. Marlene Dietrich brings the necessary heat as Vole’s wife Christine. Power and Dietrich were billed as stars, but it’s Laughton who runs away with the show as he shifts his moods with the change of pace in the plot. The courtroom scenes are staged like the ancient tradition of theatre, a fabulous touch. Billy Wilder, at the peak of his magnificent run during the golden age of Hollywood, shows his command over characters sprouting mouthful dialogues and the required melodrama.

(The writer is a journalist and a screenwriter who believes in the insanity of words, in print or otherwise. Follow him on Twitter: @RanjibMazumder)