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When Good Adaptations Happen to Good Books

16 Nov 09 9:13AM

In a previous column, I complained about the disasters that can result when screen adaptations of Christie novels play fast and loose with the original source material. I stand by my whining. However, I feel that I need to follow up my previous, largely negative article with a companion piece describing what I like about Christie film adaptations.

Although there have been a few hiccups along the way, the Poirot series starring David Suchet has been one of the finest programs on television for two decades and counting. The Joan Hickson Miss Marple series is another gold standard for quality mystery adaptations. Furthermore, the big-screen versions of And Then There Were None (the 1945 René Clair adaption), Billy Wilder’s Witness for the Prosecution, and Sidney Lumet’s Murder on the Orient Express are film classics. The Peter Ustinov versions of Death on the Nile and Evil Under the Sun are also among my favorites. Even in most of the more mediocre adaptations of Christie novels, there is always something that keeps me watching and interested. And I think that I need to explain why.

I know that there are people who believe that once you know the solution to the mystery, there’s no point in reading the book or watching the movie another time. I couldn’t disagree more. For the first reading or viewing, good mysteries should produce two reactions: a desperate desire to reach the end so as to learn the solution, and a strong unwillingness to see the story stop. The best mysteries need to provide a reason for subsequent visits.

Other than the fact that I find rereading Agatha Christie novels and rewatching adaptations soothing, I keep coming back to them because further study helps to improve my understanding of the art and craft of creating mysteries. In an Agatha Christie book or movie, it is a cardinal rule that the reader or viewer needs to have a fair chance at guessing the identity of the guilty party. Even if I know the ending, I watch to appreciate the screenwriter’s work at condensing extraneous clues, red herrings, and characters to fit the allotted time. I often ask myself, would I be able to guess the solution if I didn’t know it? Is the solution being made too obvious? Where does the film improve or come short compared to the original book? Making comparisons and appreciating the sheer difficulty of producing a mystery always entertains me.

Quality acting is another facet of Christie adaptations that I really appreciate. I have lauded the performances of David Suchet and Joan Hickson many times, and they deserve this praise. The supporting casts have not tended to receive their just reward from me. In a well-crafted film mystery, all of the actors need to give their all for the sake of the viewers who don’t know the solution, because up until the denouement, every character has the potential to be the most important player in the drama: the killer. It’s amazing how few actors give one hundred percent for a role for which they know they won’t win an award. One problem marring many of the American television adaptations is that the actors clearly treat their roles as just a paycheck. In a truly wonderful Christie adaptation, each potential suspect, no matter how small the role, needs to act like he very well could be the murderer.

The Christie adaptations are full of great acting. Not just the continuing performances of the actors playing the main detectives, but also on the part of dozens of actors who attempt to create little miniatures of great performances, creating an understandable suspect or sympathetic victim with only a limited amount of screen time. True, many actors fail to create anything more than another possibility in their performance, but over the years I have been routinely impressed by how many actors take a limited character and make me understand that character’s emotions, motives, and goals over as little as seven or eight minutes.

Also, since most Christie movies are period pieces, I enjoy seeing how genteel British worlds are recreated on screen. When significant time and effort are spent on developing time-specific sets and costumes, the results tend to be visually impressive.

I will continue to complain long and loud when I find things that annoy me about Christie adaptations, but I realize that I need to start praising what the adaptations do right more often. A good Christie adaptation relaxes and entertains me, as well as stimulates my mind and imagination. In the end, watching the recreation of the world of Agatha Christie is what really keeps me coming back to the adaptations. The Christieverse is a welcome respite from the crude, messy, and often unjust real world, as well as many of the other fictional or fictionalized worlds on television, and when film adaptations successfully transfer it onto the screen, I can turn on the television and for a brief period I can feel that all is right with the world… except for all the murders.

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lamorna 30 Dec 09 at 12:20a.m.

I cannot agree with the praise even half hearted for the new Christies on TV. They bear no relation to the originals at all.
I welcome new drama for TV but if they are going to write new plots why piggy back on a Christie title? And why the strange obsession with Nuns?
Sad to see fine actors in these scripts.

AndreaWilkins 21 Dec 09 at 10:26a.m.

I enjoyed reading your blog - you have some very good and interesting points :)

luigibongo 26 Nov 09 at 6:22a.m.

So true! And there's even something to be said for the bad adaptations- they tend to get one scurrying back to the bookshelf to reread how it should have been done, thereby creating another opportunity to dive into an old favorite.

wolfbridge 25 Nov 09 at 9:23p.m.

huh i liked your previous blog writings here, but i cannot give any comments here :)

kathycalculates 16 Nov 09 at 1:56p.m.

I have to laugh when an Agatha Christie comes on PBS and my husband will say, "We've already seen that!". Well, of course we have! And I will probably see it many more times. There are so many delightful characters and plot twists in a Christie that I never tire of them. I adore David Suchet and have grown to love each Jane Marple in spite of myself! I can get lost in these adaptations just as I do in the books.