Evil Under the Sun (1982 film)
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- This article is about the 1982 film. For the novel, see Evil Under the Sun.
| Evil Under the Sun | |
|---|---|
| Image:Evilunderthesun.jpeg Original film poster | |
| Directed by | Guy Hamilton |
| Produced by | John Brabourne Richard B. Goodwin |
| Written by | Anthony Shaffer Barry Sandler Agatha Christie |
| Starring | Peter Ustinov James Mason Maggie Smith Nicholas Clay Jane Birkin Colin Blakely Sylvia Miles Denis Quilley Roddy McDowall Diana Rigg |
| Music by | Cole Porter |
| Cinematography | Christopher Challis |
| Editing by | Richard Marden |
| Distributed by | Columbia-EMI-Warner Universal Pictures |
| Release date(s) | Image:Flag of the United States.svg 5 March 1982 |
| Running time | 117 min |
| Country | UK |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Evil Under the Sun is a 1982 British mystery film, based on the 1941 novel of the same name by Agatha Christie. The film was made by EMI and distributed by Columbia-EMI-Warner and Universal Pictures. It was directed by Guy Hamilton and produced by John Brabourne and Richard B. Goodwin from a screenplay adapted by Anthony Shaffer and Barry Sandler. Several Cole Porter songs were used in the film's soundtrack and also provided the motif for the film score. The cinematography was by Christopher Challis.
The film stars Peter Ustinov, James Mason, Maggie Smith, Nicholas Clay, Jane Birkin, Colin Blakely, Sylvia Miles, Denis Quilley, Roddy McDowall and Diana Rigg.
[edit] Background and production
The adaptation stayed fairly closely within the plotlines of Christie's work, but with scenes truncated for time constraints, the removal of minor characters, and the inclusion of some elements of humour that were not part of the original. The novel is set in Cornwall, but the film is set on the Adriatic island of "Tyrania".
The film was shot at Lee International Studios, Wembley, London and on location in Majorca, Spain. It made full use of its location to adequately convey the intricacies of Christie's plot, in which the hotel guests all appear to be at different parts of the island at the time of the murder.
Peter Ustinov was making his second film appearance as Hercule Poirot, having first played the Belgian detective in Death on the Nile (1978). Of the other cast members, Maggie Smith and Jane Birkin had also appeared in the earlier film whilst Denis Quilley and Colin Blakely had featured in Murder on the Orient Express (1974). The director, Guy Hamilton, had previously directed another Agatha Christie film, The Mirror Crack'd (1980)
[edit] Plot
The action takes place in the late 1930s.
The story is set on an island at an exclusive hotel, formerly the summer palace of the reigning king of Tyrania, now owned by Daphne Castle (Maggie Smith), who, we are told, received it from the King "for services rendered". Her guests include glamorous actress Arlena Marshall (Diana Rigg), Sir Horace Blatt (Colin Blakely), a self-made millionaire and recent recipient of a knighthood, Rex Brewster (Roddy McDowall), a writer engaged in writing a biography of Arlena, Odell and Myra Gardener (James Mason and Sylvia Miles), New York theatrical producers, Patrick and Christine Redfern (Nicholas Clay and Jane Birkin), a handsome young man and his mousy wife, Kenneth Marshall (Denis Quilley), Arlena's husband, and Linda Marshall (Emily Hone), Kenneth's teenage daughter and Arlena's stepdaughter.
When Arlene is discovered murdered, Poirot (Peter Ustinov), also staying on the island, quickly discovers that nearly all of the guests had a connection to her and that anyone of them could have wished her dead.
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