Evil Under the Sun (1982)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Evil under the sun |
| Original title | Evil Under the Sun |
| Country of production | United Kingdom |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1982 |
| length | 117 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Guy Hamilton |
| script |
Anthony Shaffer Barry Sandler |
| production |
John Brabourne Richard B. Goodwin |
| music | Cole Porter |
| camera | Christopher Challis |
| cut | Richard Marden |
| occupation | |
| |
Evil Under the Sun is a British fiction film directed by Guy Hamilton from 1982. It is based on the novel by Agatha Christie .
action
The Belgian private detective Hercule Poirot is commissioned by the London Trojan Insurance Company to clarify the whereabouts of a precious diamond that its original owner, the multi-millionaire Sir Horace Blatt, lost in a lightning affair with a lady from show business. His investigations lead Poirot to the luxury hotel "Chez Daphne", the former summer residence of the King of Tyrrhenia on an idyllic island in the Mediterranean , which Daphne Castle, his former mistress and current hotel manager, left for "her merits".
An illustrious company is gradually emerging on the island: The young, attractive Patrick Redfern and his nervous, over-the-top form meet the couple, Myra and Odell Gardener, two show producers from New York, who are already staying in the hotel, and Rex Brewster, an author and his wife Christine and a regular guest Kenneth Marshall; He is accompanied by his teenage daughter Linda and his newlywed wife, the once celebrated but no longer very young actress, singer and dancer Arlena Marshall, née Stuart.
The allure Arlena Marshall quickly makes herself unpopular with everyone: She flirts aggressively with the sporty, well-trained Patrick Redfern, who feels flattered by the courting of the mature woman, and thereby nudges his wife Christine, a sensitive artist who is different because of her various hypersensitivities unable to take part in the summer pleasures sees deep self-doubt. Kenneth Marshall, the solid, loyal, but despite everything horny husband of the Actrice, is difficult to convince of the obvious infidelity of his wife, but does not want to abandon the principle "... until death do us part ..."; even the fact that his pubescent daughter Linda is constantly harassed by her new stepmother cannot change that. Daphne, who used to be Arlena's rival on stage and is still deeply animated with her, stands by Kenneth and his daughter. Myra and Odell Gardener, on the other hand, are desperately trying to win the once celebrated diva for their latest production, a request that she, however, harshly rejects with ostentatious reference to her new marital status. Since the rights to the show have already been sold together with the popular name "Arlena Stuart", the second-rate producer couple is threatened with bankruptcy.
The sleazy gossip reporter Rex Brewster also sees himself facing financial ruin: not least with the help of his insider knowledge from the show industry, he has just finished a biography of the former Broadway icon, which he hopes to sell for a living. However, the book has some piquant details, which is why Arlena Marshall informs him that she will not authorize the work under any circumstances. Finally, it turns out that the flighty lady is the very unappealing contemporary through whom Horace Blatt was relieved of a diamond under false pretenses and who of course does not want to (or cannot) surrender her booty.
When Arlena Marshall was found strangled by Patrick Redfern and a witness in a lonely bay the following day, everyone present had a motive for the act - but a solid alibi for its timing. Despite the adversity, Poirot succeeds in solving the case thanks to his forensic instinct and in a grand finale to present the real perpetrators, namely the Redferns.
The person Patrick called the dead Arlena, lying half-hidden under a sun hat, was in fact his wife and accomplice Christine. She had tanned herself artificially (the tanning bottle is thrown from the cliff and almost hits Rex) in order to fake Arlena's appearance, who is later strangled. Because while the witness fetches the police in the boat, Patrick stays on site and completes the deed. This maneuver, as well as a manipulation of Linda's wrist watch to provide Christine with an alibi at the time of the crime, are supposed to steer the investigation on the wrong track. In the end Poirot can clarify the fact, but initially cannot prove it. But after a carelessness on the part of Patrick while signing the check for the hotel room, the doubts are dispelled. Patrick hid the loot the Redferns were after, namely Arlena's and Horace Blatt's diamond, in his tobacco pipe , on which he chews very conspicuously for Poirot without lighting it. Finally, Poirot triumphantly presents the lost diamond and Patrick Redfern gives him a chin hook as a thank you .
Background to the production
With the exception of the ladies' hairstyles (these in the 1980s style) , the detective film, which is kept in an elaborate Art Deco style and told with a twinkle in the eye, was shot in Lee International Studios in London and on Mallorca . The island shown in the opening credits is Sa Dragonera off the mid-western coast of Mallorca. Filming locations on Mallorca were Playa de Formentor as the French south coast (scenes on Sir Horace's yacht) and Caló d'en Monjo as Daphnes Bay and Hotel (the building belonged to a German, but was later bought by the Mallorcan community and then demolished, still today you can see the remains of the foundation: 39 ° 31 '45.5 " N , 2 ° 25' 49.6" E, ). The "Gull Cove" is a hard-to-reach bay on the Formentor peninsula (Cala en Feliu ⊙ ) and the "Ladder Bay" is a bay near Camp de Mar (Cala Blanca ⊙ ). Since this bay has no sandy beach, extra sand had to be brought in and distributed for the filming. Exterior shots of Daphne's hotel were filmed on the La Raixa ⊙ estate , north of Palma, which is open to the public again. To get to Daphne's island, Poirot goes on board in Deià ⊙ on the west coast of Mallorca.
Peter Ustinov played the role of Hercule Poirot for the second time after his death on the Nile . Jane Birkin and Maggie Smith had also worked in the film adaptation of an Agatha Christie novel , Denis Quilley and Colin Blakely in Murder on the Orient Express . Guy Hamilton, known as the director of numerous James Bond films , previously directed Mord im Spiegel .
The novel was remade in 2001 as part of the English television series Agatha Christie's Poirot . Evil under the sun takes place there, as in the novel, on Burgh Island and not in the Mediterranean.
German version
Evil Under the Sun is one of only seven films in around 50 years in which, unlike in the Hercule Poirot crime thriller Death on the Nile , shot four years earlier , the very good German-speaking Peter Ustinov himself dubbed himself in German and to it simulated another French accent.
A noticeable feature in the German version is the name of the hotel employee 'Andreas', who is called 'Gino' in the original, which cannot be spoken lip-synchronic from the accent - the actual name of the actor is Dimitri Andreas.
| role | actor | Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Hercule Poirot | Peter Ustinov | Peter Ustinov |
| Christine Redfern | Jane Birkin | Andrea Heuer |
| Sir Horace Blatt | Colin Blakely | Wolfgang Völz |
| Patrick Redfern | Nicholas Clay | Manfred Lehmann |
| Odell Gardener | James Mason | Ernst Wilhelm Borchert |
| Rex Brewster | Roddy McDowall | Horst Gentzen |
| Myra Gardener | Sylvia Miles | Gisela Trowe |
| Captain Kenneth Marshall | Denis Quilley | Christian Rode |
| Arlena Marshall | Diana Rigg | Regina Lemnitz |
| Daphne Castle | Maggie Smith | Eva Katharina Schultz |
| Linda Marshall | Emily Hone | Madeleine proud |
| Mr. Flewitt | Richard Vernon | Friedrich W. Building School |
Awards
- In 1983 the film was nominated for the Edgar Allan Poe Award in the Best Picture category.
Reviews
On Rotten Tomatoes , the film received mostly positive reviews, getting a rating of 83% based on six reviews.
“This Agatha Christie film adaptation by James Bond director Guy Hamilton has numerous stars up to the supporting roles. As in 'Death on the Nile', the great Peter Ustinov acts as master detective Hercule Poirot. The whole thing is not always logical, but still quite entertaining. "
“In the sophisticated art deco design of the 1930s, a film adaptation of a novel by Agatha Christie; stereotyped and staged without tension. "
"'Evil Under the Sun' by Guy Hamilton is the latest example of the series ('Murder on the Orient Express', 'Death on the Nile', 'Murder in the Mirror') that uses a novel by Agatha Christie as an excuse To gather an exquisite star ensemble in a more or less exotic setting - and to strain the spectator's patience. [...] While the gentlemen (Peter Ustinov, James Mason, Roddy McDowell, Nicholas Clay), wedged in knickerbockers, stiff linen and strangle ties, fight a hopeless battle with wooden lines of dialogue, the ladies (Diana Rigg, Jane Birkin, Sylvia Miles, Maggie Smith) at least the impression of having entered the competition for a place in the world's best list of the most strikingly dressed ladies. "
"Elegant mystery puzzle for eager fellow thinkers."
Adolf Heinzlmeier and Berndt Schulz mean in the lexicon “Films on TV” : “Realized with great effort in the art deco style of the 1930s; Unfortunately too top-heavy, which affects the cinematic implementation. ”(Rating: 1½ out of four possible stars = moderate).
media
- Evil under the sun . DVD, Kinowelt Home Entertainment 2004
- Cole Porter : Evil Under the Sun. World Premiere Release of the Music from the Original Soundtrack . DRG, New York no year, sound carrier no. DRG 12615 - Original film music recording conducted by John Lanchbery
- Agatha Christie : Evil Under the Sun. Roman (Original title: Evil Under the Sun ). German by Ursula Gail. Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2006, ISBN 3-596-17143-1
Web links
- Evil Under the Sun in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Evil under the sun in the German dubbing index ; Retrieved May 16, 2011
- ↑ Evil Under the Sun at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
- ↑ Evil Under the Sun. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ Time. October 8, 1982, No. 41.
- ↑ Evil Under the Sun - Film - Cinema . Retrieved December 19, 2014.
- ^ Adolf Heinzlmeier, Berndt Schulz: Lexicon "Films on TV". (Extended new edition). Rasch and Röhring, Hamburg 1990, ISBN 3-89136-392-3 , p. 104.