MOST PROBABLY CONTAINS *SPOILERS*
STARRING Stephanie Zimbalist, Edward Woodward, Tony Randall, Rue McClanahan, Ken Howard, Simon Dutton, Nickolas Grace, María Casal
I must start by saying that I have loved Agatha Christie's works for as long as I can remember. As a teenager I spent ages (and a berluddy fortune) tracking down her books at book exchanges and book fairs, and was always there with a tape in the VCR to record any Agatha Christie movie that came on TV.
Every Christie-phile worth their weight in doughnuts absolutely loves the Christie film classics: You know, Murder on the Orient Express; Death on the Nile; The Mirror Crack'd; Evil Under the Sun. David Suchet's Poirot series (though plodding at times) has proven very popular, as has Joan Hickson's wrinkly Miss Marple series. And there is of course an audience for the lesser Christies: The TV-movie adaptations, for example, Dead Man's Folly; Sparkling Cyanide; Murder in Three Acts; and, The Man in the Brown Suit - the subject of this review.
While not the best Christie film, and by no means the most colourful, The Man in the Brown Suit makes for pretty good TV-movie fodder, with a fairly engaging plot, decent enough production values, and interesting African locales. What really makes this TV-movie watchable is the fantastic cast of actors. And, I mean, who really gives two hoots that most of them are TV Land Staples. Witness ... if you dare: Stephanie "Remington Steele" Zimbalist; Edward "The Equalizer" Woodward; Tony "The Odd Couple" Randall; Rue "The Golden Girls" McClanahan; Ken "Dynasty" Howard; Simon "The Saint" Dutton; Nickolas "Robin of Sherwood" Grace. Phew!
American actress Zimbalist plays lead character Anne Beddingfield (an Englishwoman in the book, by the way) as a kind of tough, adventurous and resourceful heroine in a nod to the Indiana Jones series, and is ably supported by Suzy Blair, played by McClanahan (who doesn't seem to mind playing her Golden Girls character, Blanche - Or maybe she was forced at gunpoint to do just that??). Dutton plays man-on-the-run Harry Lucas, a handsome Brit who possesses not only some important information, but a secret hankering for some down-and-dirty time with foxy Anne. Woodward has a ball (and I do mean a ball) playing crook Sir Eustace Pedler, and Tony Randall amuses as the fumbling, bumbling, and mumbling Pedler henchman/chameleon.
What's hilarious is that throughout the movie the characters keep running into each other, like, Africa's the equivalent of some small town, you know, where bumping into one's neighbors is a sure bet.
And finally, no review of The Man in the Brown Suit would be complete unless it included comment on that zingy little Spanish starlet María Casal, who plays bad girl with matching bad haircut, Anita. Casal's Anita spends most of her screen time writhing around in the back of a beatup taxi staring at a scrap of paper with some ridiculous code scribbled on it, all the while beaming from ear to ear like some grinning idiot! Now that's what I call acting! Pity she gets blown away by bad guy Pedler moments later. That'll teach her not to wear her seatbelt!
SEE IT OR ELSE!
STARRING Stephanie Zimbalist, Edward Woodward, Tony Randall, Rue McClanahan, Ken Howard, Simon Dutton, Nickolas Grace, María Casal
I must start by saying that I have loved Agatha Christie's works for as long as I can remember. As a teenager I spent ages (and a berluddy fortune) tracking down her books at book exchanges and book fairs, and was always there with a tape in the VCR to record any Agatha Christie movie that came on TV.
Every Christie-phile worth their weight in doughnuts absolutely loves the Christie film classics: You know, Murder on the Orient Express; Death on the Nile; The Mirror Crack'd; Evil Under the Sun. David Suchet's Poirot series (though plodding at times) has proven very popular, as has Joan Hickson's wrinkly Miss Marple series. And there is of course an audience for the lesser Christies: The TV-movie adaptations, for example, Dead Man's Folly; Sparkling Cyanide; Murder in Three Acts; and, The Man in the Brown Suit - the subject of this review.
While not the best Christie film, and by no means the most colourful, The Man in the Brown Suit makes for pretty good TV-movie fodder, with a fairly engaging plot, decent enough production values, and interesting African locales. What really makes this TV-movie watchable is the fantastic cast of actors. And, I mean, who really gives two hoots that most of them are TV Land Staples. Witness ... if you dare: Stephanie "Remington Steele" Zimbalist; Edward "The Equalizer" Woodward; Tony "The Odd Couple" Randall; Rue "The Golden Girls" McClanahan; Ken "Dynasty" Howard; Simon "The Saint" Dutton; Nickolas "Robin of Sherwood" Grace. Phew!
American actress Zimbalist plays lead character Anne Beddingfield (an Englishwoman in the book, by the way) as a kind of tough, adventurous and resourceful heroine in a nod to the Indiana Jones series, and is ably supported by Suzy Blair, played by McClanahan (who doesn't seem to mind playing her Golden Girls character, Blanche - Or maybe she was forced at gunpoint to do just that??). Dutton plays man-on-the-run Harry Lucas, a handsome Brit who possesses not only some important information, but a secret hankering for some down-and-dirty time with foxy Anne. Woodward has a ball (and I do mean a ball) playing crook Sir Eustace Pedler, and Tony Randall amuses as the fumbling, bumbling, and mumbling Pedler henchman/chameleon.
What's hilarious is that throughout the movie the characters keep running into each other, like, Africa's the equivalent of some small town, you know, where bumping into one's neighbors is a sure bet.
And finally, no review of The Man in the Brown Suit would be complete unless it included comment on that zingy little Spanish starlet María Casal, who plays bad girl with matching bad haircut, Anita. Casal's Anita spends most of her screen time writhing around in the back of a beatup taxi staring at a scrap of paper with some ridiculous code scribbled on it, all the while beaming from ear to ear like some grinning idiot! Now that's what I call acting! Pity she gets blown away by bad guy Pedler moments later. That'll teach her not to wear her seatbelt!
SEE IT OR ELSE!