Old Movie Time - "Evil Under The Sun" (1982)

I have just spent a deolightful 1 hour and 57 minutes watching this 1982 movie version of Agatha Christie's whodunit of the same title.  It had everything you would want in an Agatha Christie story....a murder of someone in a confined setting....a limited number of suspects, each of whom had a motive to kill the victim and each of whom had an alibi.  Unfortunately, for the killer, Christie's most famous sleuth, Hercule Poirot also happened to be on the scene.

And as far as a movie goes, it had Peter Ustinov, once again playing Poirot brilliantly, a beautiful  setting, an exclusive resort hotel on an island in the Adriatic Sea, gorgeous costumes, music by Cole Porter, and an all-star cast including James Mason, Roddy McDowell, Sylvia Miles, Jane Birkin, and best of all...Maggie Smith and Diana Rigg.

The movie is worth seeing just to watch Smith and Rigg chew up the scenery as two old stage rivals. Rigg's character made it big time, and Smith's is now forced to running the hotel on the island.  Their meeting once again on the island gives them both some wonderfully bitchy dialog such as this between Smith as Daphne and Rigg as Arlena:

Daphne:  Arlena and I were in the chorus of a show together, not that I could ever compete. Even in those days, she could always throw her legs up in the air higher than any of us... and wider. 

and this:

Arlena : Oh, dear! I'm the last to arrive. 

Daphne: Have a sausage. You must be starving having to wait all that time in your room.

As you can see, Maggie Smith was great at delivering bitchy wisecracks long before "Downton Abbey."

There is also a great scene where Rigg hogs the attention of guests by singing Porter's "You're the Top" while Smith tries to horn in on her.  

Speaking of dialog, the screenplay for this one was written by Anthony Shaffer, who also wrote the screenplay for Hitchcock's "Frenzy", which I wrote about in this space a few days ago.  A look at his credits in IMDB includes other goodies like "Sleuth", "Death On The Nile", and "Murder on the Orient Express."  Quite a resume.

"Evil Under the Sun" will go on nobody's list of all-time great movies, but it was beautiful to look at, fun to watch, and very entertaining.  What more would you want in a movie?

Some photos of Miss Smith and Miss Rigg from the movie....

See what I mean about the costumes?

"Downton Abbey"....The Movie

Before I comment on the new movie, "Downton Abbey", allow me to cut-n-paste from my Grandstander post of March 8, 2016, a post that was made right after the final episode to this Masterpiece Theater series aired.....

• I will give no spoilers here, but I will say that the Final Episode of "Downton Abbey" that aired this past Sunday was just about perfect.  Loose ends tied up, happy endings, and just a hint of good things to happen for the various characters.  And did you notice that the final line of spoken dialog belonged to Maggie Smith, the Dowager Countess?  As it was with most of her lines over six seasons, it was perfect.

• Of course, now the inevitable talk of a "Downton Abbey" reunion movie begins.  I suppose that the money will be irresistible to all concerned, and I would be in the theater the first week such a movie opens, but a part of me thinks that it would be best to resist the cash grab. Isn't it an old show biz saying that it's always best to leave the audience wanting more?

Well, as I always like to say, I believe I had that.  The fans demanded a movie follow up, no one was able to resist coming back for what has been, essentially, a big old fashioned money grab, and there we were, sitting in the Tull Theater in Sewickley last night for a sneak preview showing of the movie, "Downton Abbey", one day before its "official" opening.  As my friend Dan like to say, we stared Julian Fellows right in the eye and said "Shut up and take our money."

So how was it?  It was great, and the double date duo of the Sproules and the Bonks loved, loved, loved it!!

The movie takes place in 1927 (no mention was made in the film of what Babe Ruth was doing over in the colonies that particular summer, so what was up with that?), and the Crawleys receive notice that King George V and Queen Mary will be traveling about and will be spending a day and a night with them at Downton Abbey!  Oh, the excitement, and oh the preparations that must take place before this Royal Visit. But, of course, there are going to be complications.  As our friend Bonny put it (she saw it earlier in the week, before we did!), many of the plot points in the movie are contrived beyond belief, but, what the Hell, that all add up to great Downton Abbey-style fun.

In the space of a two hour movie, many of the characters who were developed over the course of a six year series are reduced almost to cameo status (Mr. Bates, for example, and maybe even Robert Crawley, the Earl of Grantham himself), and the filmmakers seemed to try perhaps a bit too much to get everyone involved in a piece the action, so that it seems a bit forced, but, again, so what?  If you were a fan if the series, you are going to love every bit of the soapy silliness of the movie.

Not surprisingly, the best lines throughout the movie were given to Maggie Smith as the Dowager Countess as she traded barbs with with Penelope Wilton's Isobel Merton.   And she also was a part of the most touching scene in the film when she spoke with Lady Mary, played by the beautiful Michelle Dockery.

The movie is also just flat out gorgeous to look at.  Beautiful scenery, beautiful costumes, and beautiful people.  A jolly good show!

I doubt that anyone other than fans of the TV series will see this movie, and that will surely be enough to make this a box office smash.  I only hope that the producers will resist the urge, and the urge will surely be there, to make another  Downton Abbey movie.  Please don't overdo it.  But if they do, The Grandstander will no doubt show up and force Julian Fellows and company to take his money.

Because of some of the aforementioned plot contrivances, I might be tempted to give this one Three and one-half stars, but I'm going to get caught up in the fanboy aura that emanates from "Downton Abbey"  - it gets the full Four Stars from The Grandstander!!!

This and That

Cleaning out the Mental In-Box.....

• I will give no spoilers here, but I will say that the Final Episode of "Downton Abbey" that aired this past Sunday was just about perfect.  Loose ends tied up, happy endings, and just a hint of good things to happen for the various characters.  And did you notice that the final line of spoken dialog belonged to Maggie Smith, the Dowager Countess?  As it was with most of her lines over six seasons, it was perfect.

• Of course, now the inevitable talk of a "Downton Abbey" reunion movie begins.  I suppose that the money will be irresistible to all concerned, and I would be in the theater the first week such a movie opens, but a part of me thinks that it would be best to resist the cash grab. Isn't it an old show biz saying that it's always best to leave the audience wanting more.
• We are three weeks into Spring Training, and Pedro Alvarez had FINALLY signed on with a team, the Orioles.  I really wish him nothing but the best, but we know what the Orioles are getting...a .230 or so hitter, who can't field, can't hit left-handers, and who strikes out a lot, but he CAN hit the most incredible and prodigious home runs that you will ever see.  

• Speaking of the Pirates, they are now playing practice games, and we have even been able to see them on TV for a few of those.  Nice watching some baseball again, even though after about six innings you become Butch Cassidy when watching and saying "Who are those guys?"
• And farewell to Peyton Manning.  Very classy retirement speech yesterday.  I don't really need to sum up his accomplishments, do I?  He goes out with his final game being a victory in the Super Bowl. Perfect. Perhaps the producers of "Downton Abbey" should take note.