19 « August « 2012 « The Great Detectives of Old Time Radio

19Aug/120

Telefilm Review: Death in the Clouds

On the same weekend I watched Death on the Nile.

Hercule Poirot (David Suchet) visits Tennis' French Open in Paris. On the flight home, an elderly woman is murdered right under Poirot's nose with the apparent murder weapon, a South American dart gun, planted near his seat. Poirot determines to find the murderer and restore his reputation.

Suchet is wonderful as Poirot, turning in one of the funniest moments in the series with his attempt to re-enact the murder during flight to Paris.

The story really keeps you guessing. I give myself credit with Poirot stories not at being able to guess who the murderer is but who the murder victim is. It's usually obvious as he or she sets multiple people up with a motive in very obvious way. I really thought somone else was going to get it, but she turned out just to be a suspect. The murderered woman is an enigma and Poirot must ultimately find out who she was in order to uncover who may have wanted to kill her.

In this Hastingsless-entry, Philip Jackson turns a good performance as Inspector Japp. Although I thought he got a little belligerent with the poor French Police whose offices he acted like he owned after the French blew a tailing attempt.

While like Death on the Nile and Murder on the Orient Express, the murder occurred in an enclosed transportation vehicle, the investigation occurs off the plane in France and England due to the limitation of air travel. The movie is rich in historic atmosphere. One of the most interesting historical images from the series were men playing at Wimbledon wearing long pants: a nice historic touch.

While of the two programs I watched that week, Death on the Nile was a little more fun. Once again, I was reminded of the consistent and remarkable quality of these ITV productions and the sheer volume of films they've produced that makes Suchet as Poirot a force to be reckoned with.

Rating: 4.25 out of 5.00

This film, along with all Poirot Telefilms through Series 6, is available on Netflix Instant Watch as of this writing.

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