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AGATHA CHRISTIE'S POIROT: THE MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR AT STYLES (TV)

Summary

One in this series of Agatha Christie mysteries featuring Belgian dandy and private detective, Hercule Poirot. In this special feature-length mystery based on Christie's first Poirot book, the Belgian detective investigates the poisoning of a family matriarch. As the program begins, Lieutenant Hastings, having returned to England from the front lines of World War I, visits his friend John Cavendish at his family estate in Styles St. Mary where Cavendish and his wife Mary are staying with his mother, Mrs. Emily Inglethorp, and her new, much younger husband, Alfred. Tensions are high in the household as neither her children, her companion Evie Howard, nor her young protégé Cynthia Murdoch believe Alfred -- who will inherit the Cavendish money should Emily die -- to be a proper husband for Emily. The mood in the house is such that Hastings is more than pleased to run into his friend, Hercule Poirot, who happens to be staying in Styles with a group of Belgians. The atmosphere at the manor takes a turn for the worse, however, when early one morning Emily has a fit and suddenly dies. When Doctor Wilkins declares her death the likely result of strychnine poisoning and demands a post-mortem, Lieutenant Hastings convinces John Cavendish -- against his brother Lawrence's objections -- to ask Hercule Poirot to investigate what now looks like a murder. Poirot and Hastings search Emily's bedroom, where Poirot finds the following clues: a case containing documents, some thread in the maid's door bolt, a ground coffee mug, a fresh coffee stain, an empty box of sleeping powder, candle grease on the floor and a fragment of paper in the fireplace. When the lawyer arrives, he and Poirot determine Emily wrote a new will before her death, a possible motive for her murder. Searching the document case, Poirot and the lawyer find that someone has broken into it and stolen the documents inside. Poirot concludes that the contents of the case were the one link between the murderer and the crime.

During the inquest hearing into Mrs. Inglethorp's death, Alfred Inglethorp is fingered as the most likely suspect. However, Lawrence insists his mother died of natural causes, Mary refuses to admit hearing Alfred and Emily's domestic row the afternoon before Emily's death, and Alfred denies both the argument and buying the poison, though the chemist swears it was Alfred who made the purchase at his shop. Poirot convinces Scotland Yard's inspector Japp to delay Inglethorp's arrest, which he does against his boss's wishes. Poirot and Hastings proceed to discover items that appear to prove Inglethorp was framed, and Inspector Japp, having determined that Emily's last and presumably destroyed will would have cut off John, arrests John for his mother's murder. At his murder trial in London, John testifies that the letter his mother had in her possession was not a will but a promise of a loan to a local widow, Mrs. Raikes -- the same woman with whom the court and Mary believe he is having an affair. Though the evidence presented at trial seems likely to convince the court of John's guilt, Poirot is not convinced, and voices his frustrations that he was unable to piece all the clues found in the bedroom after Emily's death together. Something Hastings says jogs Poirot's memory and he races off to Styles Court, leaving Hastings et. al. in London, confused by Poirot's sudden and seemingly untimely departure. Their confusion is short-lived as when the Styles household and Inspector Japp gather at the London house at Poirot's request that evening, Poirot reveals both the solution to the crime and the identity of the murderer.

Details

  • NETWORK: ITV (United Kingdom)
  • DATE: September 16, 1990
  • RUNNING TIME: 1:43:32
  • COLOR/B&W: Color
  • CATALOG ID: T:26886
  • GENRE: Drama, mystery/suspense
  • SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, mystery/suspense; International Collection - United Kingdom
  • SERIES RUN: ITV (United Kingdom) - TV, 1990
  • COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

  • Nick Elliot … Executive Producer
  • Brian Eastman … Producer
  • Ross Devenish … Director
  • Agatha Christie … Based on the book by
  • Christopher Gunning … Music by
  • Gillian Barge … Cast, Mrs. Inglethorp
  • Penelope Beaumont … Cast, Mrs. Raikes
  • Allie Byrne … Cast, Cynthia Murdoch
  • Anthony Calf … Cast, Lawrence Cavendish
  • Michael Cronin … Cast, Alfred Inglethorp
  • Beatie Edney … Cast, Mary Cavendish
  • Hugh Fraser … Cast, Lieutenant Hastings
  • Michael Godley … Cast, Dr. Wilkins
  • Philip Jackson … Cast, Inspector Japp
  • Lala Lloyd … Cast, Dorcus
  • Joanna McCallum … Cast, Evie Howard
  • Tim Munro … Cast, Edwin Mace
  • David Rintoul … Cast, John Cavendush
  • David Suchet … Cast, Hercule Poirot