VividSimon Simply Perfect

Stometer Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Onlinewsma Absolutely Brilliant!

Casey Duggan It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Robert J. Maxwell This rather long adaptation of Agatha Christie's novel (which I haven't read) is pretty highly stylized -- one or two steps removed from Monty Python's sketch, "Race of the Upper-Class Twits." Not that there's anything stupid about these characters, except a few eccentricities. It's just that it's so awfully easy to imagine that the twits came from the kind of milieu we see here.Nine young people, just past college age, are spending a weekend at a country estate belonging to John Gielgud, in a hilarious performance as a doddering and superior Feudal Lord. The murder of one of the guests upsets him. "A stranger! One expects family to die at one's home, but a complete STRANGER?" Another guest is later shot. "You don't just go about shooting people. They don't LIKE it." Before dying, the young man mutters something about the "seven dials" and one or two other clues. After this, the plot becomes a little tangled. The Seven Dials turns out to be some secret society, but I won't go into it because medical discretion and a lack of comprehension forbids it.The location shooting and photography are superb, reminiscent of series like Sherlock Holmes and David Suchet's Poirot. The cars are spiffy antiques and so is the garb. Cheryl Campbell, as "Bundle", becomes one of those recreational detectives impelled by arrogance and curiosity. She overacts triumphantly in a perky, pop-eyes, open-mouthed way that's not at all offensive once you get used to it. Gielgud and Harry Andrews, though present, don't have that much screen time.I want to note, somewhere along the line, the disdain with which the servants treat their masters. It's all delicately expressed -- an upturned nose, a question with the contours of total disbelief, a certain quiet joy in disturbing the master in some minor way while going about their business.

Andrew Goss Since this TV movie was made every story Christie ever wrote has been reworked into a Marple story, with only the plot, characters, and setting altered. What this Seven Dials Mystery has going for it is that it sticks quite closely to the original novel. Alas, that is about all that can be said in its favour. The old quip, "less than the sum of its parts" sums up the effect of a good cast, excellent locations, some really classic 30's cars, feeble script, evident lack of rehearsal, "don't follow me I'm lost" direction, and clumsy editing aimed more at fitting in the commercial breaks than generating a sense of drama.John Gielgud gives us a splendidly vague yet canny Marquis of Caterhan, while the acclaimed Cheryl Campbell does her best to interpret Lady Eileen 'Bundle' Brent, with little help from the script and presumably none from the director, as the character never really emerges. Stalwarts Harry Andrews, Leslie Sands, and Terence Alexander have easy two dimensional characters to work with and need no direction to be convincing. James Warwick's Jimmy Thesiger bears a disturbing resemblance to a Michael Palin Monty Python character.The standout for me was Lucy Gutteridge, who made Lorraine Wade the only character who I cared about.Checking out the future careers of the actors was far more fun than watching the film itself. Some of the names you only see on the Full Cast and Crew page, such as Roger Sloman, ended up with bigger careers than some of the principals.

scott-palmer2 Fans of Agatha Christie's novels will be pleased with this 1981 TV film, which nearly exactly sticks to the original 1929 written work. A good period atmosphere with nice outdoor filming, as well as good casting also helps.Harry Andrews is as always great, here he plays Superintendent Battle (one of the rare times we see the character on film)and also Sir John Gielgud. Cheryl Campbell is fine as Lady Eileen and James Warwick-soon to appear as Tommy in the Partners in Crime series, is also winning in the role of Jimmy Thesiger. Representing the older generation Terence Alexander, Leslie Sands, and Noel Johnson are excellent, and the younger crowd is well-played by Lucy Gutteridge, John Vine, Robert Longden, and Christopher Scoular.Agatha Christie's house in Devon-Greenway-was used in this production. The period costumes are excellent, as are the tech credits. It is obvious that a lot of care on all fronts went into the making of this production. Most of the same people were responsible for making the TV film Why Didn't They Ask Evans? the previous year.

Rosabel I found this movie to be quite an enjoyable mystery, and very true to the early Agatha Christie style in its plot device of British state secrets being stolen and sold to foreign enemies. Although some of the interior scenes, especially right at the beginning of the film, have that slightly claustrophobic "soundstage" feel, this is quickly forgotten as the characters become more familiar and the mystery gets underway. The acting is very good, and Cheryl Campbell brings a lot of energy to the part of the flapper-heroine, Lady Eileen Brent, and James Warwick, as Jimmy The singer, joins her in playing upper-class amateur sleuth with a great deal of humour. Sir John Gielgud, as usual, steals every scene he appears in, and Harry Andrews is terrific as the stolid, slow-spoken Inspector Battle. The story follows the usual pattern of complicated twists and red herrings, but the conclusion came as a complete surprise to me, which I take as the mark of a good mystery.