''Dead Man's Folly'' is a 1986 British-American
made-for-television
A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...
mystery film
A mystery film is a film that revolves around the solution of a problem or a crime. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur Detective, sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of an issue by means of clues, ...
featuring
Agatha Christie
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English people, English author known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving ...
's Belgian detective
Hercule Poirot.
It is based on Christie's 1956 novel ''
Dead Man's Folly''. The film was directed by
Clive Donner and starred
Peter Ustinov
Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov (16 April 192128 March 2004) was a British actor, director and writer. An internationally known raconteur, he was a fixture on television talk shows and lecture circuits for much of his career. Ustinov received #Awa ...
as Poirot.
The cast included
Jean Stapleton
Jean Stapleton (born Jeanne Murray; January 19, 1923 – May 31, 2013) was an American character actress of stage, television and film. Stapleton is best known for her portrayal of Edith Bunker, the perpetually optimistic and devoted wif ...
,
Tim Pigott-Smith,
Jonathan Cecil,
Constance Cummings and
Nicollette Sheridan. It was shot largely on location at
West Wycombe Park
West Wycombe Park is a country house built between 1740 and 1800 near the village of West Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England. It was conceived as a pleasure palace for the 18th-century libertine and dilettante Sir Francis Dashwood, 2nd Baro ...
in
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...
, England.
Plot introduction
Hercule Poirot and his associate, Captain
Arthur Hastings, are called in by his eccentric mystery author friend,
Ariadne Oliver, to a manor house in
Devon
Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...
. Oliver is organizing a "Murder Hunt" game for a local fair to be held at Nass House, but she is troubled by something she cannot quite put her finger on.
Things take a turn for the worse when during the "Murder Hunt", Marlene Tucker, the girl playing the "dead" body, is murdered for real. Soon afterwards, Hattie Stubbs, the lady of the manor mysteriously disappears and Merdell, an old man's, body is pulled from the river. Poirot must discover who and what are behind these seemingly unconnected events.
Cast
Sequels
In 1974,
''Murder on the Orient Express'' was released, starring
Albert Finney as
Hercule Poirot. As Finney was unable to reprise his role in 1978, for the sequel,
''Death on the Nile'',
Peter Ustinov
Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov (16 April 192128 March 2004) was a British actor, director and writer. An internationally known raconteur, he was a fixture on television talk shows and lecture circuits for much of his career. Ustinov received #Awa ...
was cast. He reprised the role for ''
Evil Under the Sun
''Evil Under the Sun'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in June 1941Chris Peers, Ralph Spurrier and Jamie Sturgeon. ''Collins Crime Club – A checklist of F ...
'' in 1982 and later committed to several
made-for-television-films. Apart from ''Dead Man's Folly'', ''
Murder in Three Acts'' and
''Thirteen at Dinner'' were released. Another screen adaption of one of Christie's novels in 1988,
''Appointment with Death'', marked Ustinov's final portrayal of the
Belgian detective.
References
External links
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1986 television films
1986 films
1980s mystery films
American mystery television films
British mystery television films
1980s English-language films
Films based on Hercule Poirot books
Films set in Devon
Films shot in Buckinghamshire
CBS films
Warner Bros. films
Fiction about child murder
Films directed by Clive Donner
1980s American films
1980s British films
English-language mystery films
Murder mystery films
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