Born September 15, 1890 in Devon, England, Agatha Christie is the best-selling novelist of all time. Her books have sold more than 4 billion copies worldwide. Her works rank third after those of The Bible and William Shakespeare as the most widely published books of all time. Her best-selling novel is And Then There Were None with more than 100 million copies sold to date. Her play The Mousetrap, which opened in London in 1950 is still running, is the longest running play in the history of the world. The 1945 film version of And Then There Were None, which reflects the ending of the 1943 play rather than the original novel, and the 1957 version of Witness for the Prosecution, based on a short story turned into another play, are far and away the best film versions of her works made prior to the 1960s.

Christie’s first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, featuring her detective Hercule Poirot, was published in 1920. The first film made form one of her works was 1928’s The Passing of Mr. Quin based on one of her short stories. Poirot first appeared on screen in 1931’s Alibi played by Austin Trevor. Her other famous detective, Miss Marple, was introduced in a short story in 1927 but did not appear on screen until a 1956 TV version of A Murder Is Announced in which she was portrayed by Gracie Fields.

Neither of her two famous detectives became film and TV staples until the 1960s. Marple was first as impersonated by Margaret Rutherford in four film made between 1961 and 1964. A disastrous 1965 film of The ABC Murders featured a woefully miscast Tony Randall as Poirot. It took the likes of Albert Finney and Peter Ustinov in the 1970s to restore the little Belgian’s dignity and provide the kind of box office nobility he deserved. Miss Marple did not appear on screen again until Angela Lansbury portrayed her in 1980’s The Mirror Crack’d which led to Lansbury’s casting in the long-running TV series Murder, She Wrote in which her character Jessica Fletcher had more than a little in common with Miss Marple.

In the 1980s American television did justice to both Poirot (played by Peter Ustinov) and Marple (played by Helen Hayes) in a series of popular telefilms.

More recently Marple has been the subject of two long-running British series: Joan Hickson played her from 1984-1992; Geraldine McEwan from 2004-2007 after which Julia McKenzie took over in 2008 and continues to play her to this day. David Suchet has pretty much cornered the market on Poirot, having played him on TV from 1989 to the present.

Christie herself has been the subject of a film. Michael Apted’s 1979 film, Agatha based on her never explained 1926 disappearance, starred Vanessa Redgrave as Christie and Dustin Hoffman as a reporter.

Twice married, with two children and several grandchildren, Christie’s estate is currently managed by one of her grandchildren. Dame Agatha Christie, the Queen of Crime, died on January 12, 1976. She was 85.

ESSENTIAL FILMS

AND THEN THERE WERE NONE (1945), directed by René Clair

The first and best of several film versions of Christie’s biggest best-seller, or more accurately the play she adapted from it, the marvelous René Clair directs with his customary wink as ten guests are invited to spend the weekend at a secluded island cut off from the rest of the world until a boat arrives Monday morning. The host is not there and one by one the guests are murdered. Will any survive, and if not, why not? If you’ve read the novel, but haven’t seen any of the film versions, you may be surprised but hopefully not disappointed.

The cast includes a veritable who’s who of 1940s character greats from Barry Fitzgerald just off his Oscar win for Going My Way; Walter Huston three years out from his win for The Treasure of the Sierra Madre; Judith Anderson five years after her nomination for Rebecca; Roland Young eight years after his nomination for Topper and Mischa Auer nine years after his nomination for My Man Godfrey. They are joined by never nominated Louis Hayward; June Duprez; C. Aubrey Smith; Richard Haydn and Queenie Leonard.

WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION (1957), directed by Billy Wilder

This was a tantalizingly brilliant murder mystery in which the protagonist appears to have been set up by his wife, a German war bride who seemingly no longer loves him. The ending of the film provides one shock after another as the layers are pulled back and the truth is revealed.

Tyrone Power plays the accused in his last completed film, and he’s fine, but he is outflanked by Marlene Dietrich as his troublesome wife; Charles Laughton as his wily defense attorney; Elsa Lanchester in a role written especially for the film as Laughton’s nurse and Una O’Connor as the murdered woman’s hard-of-hearing housekeeper. John Williams and Henry Daniell are also quite good as other attorneys.

Laughton and Lanchester were nominated for Oscars. Rumor had it that Dietrich’s failure to be nominated was due to her allegedly having been dubbed in a key scene but it isn’t true. The performance was all Dietrich’s.

MURDER AT THE GALLOP (1963), directed by Gregory Pollock

Margaret Rutherford’s delightful, if unique, portrayal of Miss Marple in 1961’s Murder She Said, 1962 in the U.S., was a major art-house hit. It ran for more than a year in New York and elsewhere. It was so successful that MGM abandoned the boutique showing for her follow-up film, Murder at the Gallop, opening it wide. It was a major hit and helped secure Rutherford her Oscar for the same year’s The V.I.P.s in which she played a dilapidated pill-popping duchess on the verge of bankruptcy, a film she stole out from under the “it” couple of the day, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.

Murder at the Gallop is the best of Rutherford’s four Marple films, featuring marvelous performances from Robert Morley and Flora Robson.

MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (1974), directed by Sidney Lumet

Albert Finney’s portrayal of Hercule Poirot was quite different from anyone else’s interpretation. Appearing in heavy make-up with a deeper than usual voice, I don’t think any actor could withstand that kind of pressure over a long period of time. It’s probably just as well that he didn’t play the character again.

Murder on the Orient Express is one of Christie’s most clever stories, but once you know the outcome you don’t ever forget it. You don’t re-watch this one for the thrills; you re-watch it for Richard Rodney Bennett’s thrilling score; for Geoffrey Unsworth’s breathtaking cinematography; for Tony Walton’s fabulous costume designs and above all for the one-of-a-kind ensemble cast that includes Lauren Bacall; Sean Connery; Vanessa Redgrave; John Gielgud; Wendy Hiller; Rachel Roberts; Anthony Perkins; Richard Widmark; Michael York; Jacquline Bisset and the incomparable Ingrid Bergman in the role for which she won her third Oscar.

DEATH ON THE NILE (1978), directed by John Guillermin

Finney’s loss was Peter Ustinov’s gain in the first of his six outings as Hercule Poirot, three for the big screen and three for TV.

Ustinov’s portrayal of the Belgian detective is closer to our imaginings from the novels than Finney’s. Unlike Finney, Ustinov doesn’t overpower the character or overwhelm the story. The bravura acting is left to the superb cast playing the suspects in the murder of an heiress on a Nile steamer.

Bette Davis; David Niven; Maggie Smith; Mia Farrow; Simon McCorkindale; Lois Chiles; Jon Finch and Jane Birken all have their moments; but topping them all is Angela Lansbury as a drunken mystery novelist friend of Poirot’s. Lansbury; Davis and Smith reportedly shared a dressing room during the filming. One can only imagine the conversations that must have taken place.

AGATHA CHRISTIE AND OSCAR

• Witness for the Prosecution (1957) – six nominations; no wins
• Murder on the Orient Express (1974) – six nominations; one win – Oscar – Best Supporting Actress
• Death on the Nile (1978) – one nomination; one win – Oscar – Best Costume Design