Agatha evergreen?

 

HALLIE EPHRON: I recently spent several evenings watching new adaptations of Agatha Chrstie novels: AGATHA CHRISTIE'S SEVEN DIALS (on Amazon) and WHY DIDN'T THEY ASK EVANS (on Britbox).

WHY DIDN'T THEY ASK EVANS starts as golf caddy and all around swell guy, Bobby Jones, witnesses a man plummet from a cliff onto rocks below. He gets to the body in time to hear the man say, "Why didn't they ask Evans," but too late to save him.

Bobby becomes embroiled in the investigation (was the man pushed?) with a shove from a plucky, smart, quintessentially Christie-an female sleuth, Lady Frankie Derwent.

It has an amazing cast that includes Hugh Laurie (who also directed it) and a cameo by Emma Thompson (I think she's Lady Frankie's mother).

What happens from there is so complicated that I couldn't begin to explain it, and in fact I was barely follow the lookalike identities, hulking mean goons, precipitous will, fancy estate with nearby mysterious mental hospital... I just went along for the smart talk and colorful ride... and waiting for Emma Thompson to reappear.

SEVEN DIALS is a locked room (with a fireplace mantle and seven... or was it six?) ticking alarm clocks that go off to tip the house residents that there's been a murder. Also featuring a plucky, upper crust, female sleuth (Lady Eileen "Bundle" Brent). Supporting cast includes Helena Bonham Carter as (I think) Bundle's mother.

I enjoyed both series, but the plot lines are SO COMPLICATED I don't even know for certain who did it for either series or why. Honestly the main thing I remember are the clocks of one and the reveal of who Evans is in the other.

Whodunnit? Not so much.

Which leads me to my question: Why are Agatha Christie stories so evergreen? Is there a "formula" and does it work today?

RHS BOWEN: Hallie, I’ve watched all of the recent Agatha Christie TV movies. They alter the plot and make them much more suspenseful and violent than the books. I really loved the original Why Didn’t the Ask Evans?” when I first read it but reading it again makes it annoyingly outdated. Her bright young things protagonists take stupid risks, get into households containing murderers, sneak into clubs full of people who would easily kill them. I suppose the world was a safer place in those days.

I remember reading Enid Blyton’s Famous Five when I was a child. I loved the books but again so unrealistic. They trap the smugglers in their cave and then men say “We’re sorry” instead of shooting the kids.

I’ve been quite a student of Agatha. I’ve written a couple of learned articles for books on her and even a piece for the Washington Post on Miss Marple. I think this is where she is at her best. The simple village murder, gentle sleuth, clever clues. All make reassuring and predictable reading. We know good will prevail. The bad guys will get caught. When she tries to move to a bigger canvas… more thrilleresque, she is no longer believable. Read the book of the Seven Dials. It’s quite good, apart from the risks they take.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I watched an episode or two of WHY DIDN'T THEY ASK EVANS when it was first released, and I remember I thought the protagonists were cute. But then it got really confusing and unbelievable and I gave up. I think for the Christie adaptations I much prefer the Poirot/Marple series format as it seems they stayed a bit closer to the original books.

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Oh, I have SO many opinions. First off, one of the things I love about all the various screen adaptations is getting more depth to the characters.

Dame Agatha was wonderful with her series sleuths (and no, I don’t need to find out about Miss Marples’ beau who died in WWI or Poirot’s dead lady friend who ALSO dies in WWI. People can just be single, folks.) But she’s not great at fleshing out the one-off characters, and those people really come alive with skill performers.

I also love the beautiful settings and costumes of the BBC adaptations of the past decade or so. They spend a lot of money and it shows, and they’re accurate with their period details. (Hallie, I turned off SEVEN DIALS after the first episode because the hair and clothing was such an inaccurate muddle!)

But some of the most faithful adaptations are the ones from the 40s through the 80s. Yes, the hair and clothing is usually wrong, but I don’t expect it to be; that wasn’t really a thing back then. Watch the 1981 THE SEVEN DIALS MYSTERY. I loved it.

JENN McKINLAY: Chiming in as the person who hasn’t watched nor attempted to watch any Christie adaptations–cynical me thinks they’re evergreen because Christie is evergreen as in “bankable”. I think the Christie connection means potential money maker to the studios but I could be wrong. I don’t think so but…

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Oh, my goodness, thank you. I was beginning to doubt my brain cells. I tried to watch EVANS, really I did, and after about 10 minutes, I had NO idea what was going on. None. And I kept thinking, yeah, why didn't they ask him? Woulda been so much easier. I gave up.

As for Seven Dials that was RIDICULOUS because ((spoiler)) but I watched every bit anyway because Bundle is a wonderful name and she was fun to see. And the clothes.

And I think they are evergreen because on the page, at least, they are truly entertaining. And the dialogue is so wry. And from time to time, talking to you, Orient Express and Roger Ackroyd, they are truly spectacular mysteries.

It's odd, though, thinking about it now, because shouldn't they be EASIER to understand on TV? But sometimes, they aren't.

HALLIE: So what do you all think. There really is something special about Dame Agatha’s novels that continues to make them fodder for dramatization. But what is it??