The Veiled Lady
- Episode aired Jan 14, 1990
- TV-14
- 49m
IMDb RATING
7.4/10
1.7K
YOUR RATING
Poirot becomes a criminal himself when he agrees to help a beautiful woman recover a letter written in her youth that is being used to blackmail her.Poirot becomes a criminal himself when he agrees to help a beautiful woman recover a letter written in her youth that is being used to blackmail her.Poirot becomes a criminal himself when he agrees to help a beautiful woman recover a letter written in her youth that is being used to blackmail her.
- Director
- Writers
- Clive Exton
- Agatha Christie(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaReferring to Wimbledon supporters, Mrs Godber says, "It's been beyond all since that Fred Perry won again." Poirot later mentions that the fire is unlikely to be lit in July. These comments indicate that the episode takes place in either July 1935 or July 1936 as Perry won the Wimbledon men's singles event for the second and third times in those years.
- GoofsWhen Poirot visits the Natural History museum, Dippy the Diplodocus is displayed in the central hall. This dinosaur wasn't put on display until 1979. In the 1930's there was a display of African elephants.
- Quotes
Hercule Poirot: They fear me, Hastings. The criminals, they fear Hercule Poirot so much that they have repented of their naughty ways and have become citizens of the most upright.
Featured review
Poirot gets thrown in jail
This is one of those episodes where the extra scenes written for television are genius. By far the best of them is a scene only alluded to in the original story. Poirot and Hastings meet with a lady who says that a blackmailer has gotten hold of an indiscreet letter that she wrote to a young man years ago, and is threatening to show it to her new fiancé. Poirot finds out that that the blackmailer is going to be out of town, so he finds his address and plans to break into his house to search for the letter. In preparation for the break in, he goes to the house during the day and talks with the housekeeper. Claiming to be a locksmith, he is permitted to "refit" one of the windows with a special burglar-proof lock. Carole Hayman does an excellent job as the suspicious housekeeper; when she asks Poirot about his accent, Poirot throws out a hint: "Madame, what is the country that is full of mountains and is divided into cantons?" The housekeeper considers for a moment and then says skeptically, "You're never Chinese?" Classic.
That night, Poirot and Hastings take advantage of the modified window to break into the house. They find the letter, but just as they are leaving, they discover that the housekeeper has heard movement and gone to fetch a policeman (Hayman has another great scene here accusing Poirot of burglary.) Hastings gets away but Poirot is arrested and put in jail overnight. Hastings calls Japp, who shows up at the jail in the morning to vouch for his friend. One of the greatest lines of the episode: Japp and a constable are peering at Poirot through a small opening of the cell door. The constable asks Japp what the prisoner's name is. Japp says dryly, "No one knows his real name, but everyone calls him Mad Dog." Genius.
Towards the end, there's a scene where Poirot has confronted the criminals with the crime and they're trying to make a getaway. Most of these escape scenes lack interest for me, because they're just a way of padding the original materials and making it a bit more exciting for the viewer, but this scene is rather above average, because it takes place at what appears to be the British Museum. The criminals find a room with a lot of stuffed animals covered in dropcloths, and take refuge under one of them. The sight of Japp pulling a series of cloths like a magician, only to meet the glassy eyed stare of a giraffe or an orangutan, is very well done. Overall, a clever and funny episode.
That night, Poirot and Hastings take advantage of the modified window to break into the house. They find the letter, but just as they are leaving, they discover that the housekeeper has heard movement and gone to fetch a policeman (Hayman has another great scene here accusing Poirot of burglary.) Hastings gets away but Poirot is arrested and put in jail overnight. Hastings calls Japp, who shows up at the jail in the morning to vouch for his friend. One of the greatest lines of the episode: Japp and a constable are peering at Poirot through a small opening of the cell door. The constable asks Japp what the prisoner's name is. Japp says dryly, "No one knows his real name, but everyone calls him Mad Dog." Genius.
Towards the end, there's a scene where Poirot has confronted the criminals with the crime and they're trying to make a getaway. Most of these escape scenes lack interest for me, because they're just a way of padding the original materials and making it a bit more exciting for the viewer, but this scene is rather above average, because it takes place at what appears to be the British Museum. The criminals find a room with a lot of stuffed animals covered in dropcloths, and take refuge under one of them. The sight of Japp pulling a series of cloths like a magician, only to meet the glassy eyed stare of a giraffe or an orangutan, is very well done. Overall, a clever and funny episode.
helpful•231
- kaberi-893-642316
- Sep 16, 2015
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Filming locations
- Senate House, University of London, England, UK(As the lobby of the Athena Hotel)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime49 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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