Murder, My Sweet (1944) Edward Dmytryk

January 18th 2024

BRIDGET JONES’S DIARY 2001

It is a truth universally acknowledged that when one part of your life starts going okay, another falls spectacularly to pieces.

Donald Douglas-Nancy Kelly "Su majestad la farsa" (Show business) 1944, de Edwin L. Marin.

"THE A.B.C. MURDERS" (1992) Review

"THE A.B.C. MURDERS" (1992) Review As I had pointed out in my REVIEW of the 2018 adaptation of "THE A.B.C. MURDERS", the 1936 book upon which it is based is one of my favorites written by Agatha Christie. And as I had pointed out, there have been at least four adaptations. In this review, I have decided to focus on the 1992 television adaptation from the "AGATHA CHRISTIE'S POIROT" series.

Starring David Suchet as the Belgian-born detective, Hercule Poirot, "THE A.B.C. MURDERS" begin with Poirot welcoming his old friend Captain Arthur Hastings, who has traveled from his Argentina ranch for a visit to Britain. Poirot reveals a letter he had recently received from a possible serial killer named "A.B.C.", who declares his or her intention to murder a citizen of Andover, whose name starts with an "A". Following the death of one Alice Ascher in Andover, Chief Inspector Japp and Scotland Yard becomes involved when Poirot receives a second letter from the killer, who needles the detective with his/her intent to kill a second victim in a seaside town called Bexhill-on-the-Sea. After the murderer kills a third victim, an elderly millionaire from Churston; Poirot recruits the victims' relations and loved ones to assist him and Hastings in the hunt for the killer. And unbeknownst to Poirot and the police, a non-descript, middle-aged stockings salesman named Alexander Bonaparte Cust found himself present at the locations of each victim. As much as I liked the 2018 adaptation of Christie's 1936 novel, I must admit that I prefer this version over it. Unlike the former, this television movie managed to adhere a lot closer to Christie's novel. Unlike many, I would not consider the latter as a requisite for a good adaptation. I can think of a few first-rate Christie adaptations that were not that faithful to the original source. But in the case of "THE A.B.C. MURDERS", I believe Clive Exton was wise to be as faithful as possible to Christie's 1936 novel. Why? I believe it is one of her best creations and it is a personal favorite of mine. It seemed very rare for mystery writers - especially those like Christie - to create a story about a possible serial killer. The only other time I can recall Christie creating something similar was her 1939 novel, "AND THEN THERE WERE NONE". Another aspect of this story that I enjoyed was the sense of urgency in Poirot and the police's hunt for "ABC" after the second murder had been committed. This was especially apparent in Exton and director Andrew Grieve's use of fast-paced moments of newspaper headlines, newsreel narrations and close-up shots of A.B.C. railway guides. And thanks to Grieves' direction, along with performances by David Suchet and Donald Sumpter, the television movie included an excellent scene that featured Poirot's interview with the arrested Cust. Although "THE A.B.C. MURDERS" is a favorite of mine, it is not perfect. Once again, the series brought in Scotland Yard's Chief Inspector Japp to serve as the main police investigator in this story. I have always enjoyed Poirot and Hastings' interactions with Japp, but I do get weary of the series using Japp as the main police investigator in nearly every episode or television movie. Especially since none of the murders in this story were committed within Scotland Yard's jurisdiction. Arthur Hastings appeared in the form of two problems for me. One, I was not a fan of the running joke involving the dead Amazon Cayman that Hastings had shot and brought with him from South America. I did not find it funny or amusing. And two - as much as I have enjoyed Hugh Fraser's performances as Hastings over the years, I found Exeter's portrayal of him as this idiot rather excessive. Although I consider this adaptation superior to the 2018 miniseries, I must admit that the latter seemed to more style and punch in its production. This movie's first half had style. But after the fourth victim, I had to struggle to stay awake, due to the second half's more plodding style . . . at least until Poirot's revelation of the killer. I have a complaint about the casting, but I will bring it up later. But I do have one last complaint. The movie featured one of those scenes in which involved the police chasing the murderer after Poirot exposes the latter. God, I hate them. The "AGATHA CHRISTIE'S MISS MARPLE" with Joan Hickson was the first to utilize this trope. And unfortunately, "AGATHA CHRISTIE'S POIROT" continued it every now and then. The performances in "THE A.B.C. MURDERS" struck me as first-rate. David Suchet gave his usual fine performance as the Belgian-born private detective, Hercule Poirot. As stated earlier, I was especially impressed by his performance in a scene in which Poirot interviews the major suspect. Although I had an issue of how Captain Arthur Hastings was written for this TV movie, I cannot deny that actor Hugh Fraser gave his usual excellent performance as Poirot's companion and best friend. Philip Jackson was excellent as usual as the tart-tongued Chief Inspector Japp. There were two other performances that stood out for me. One came from Pippa Guard, who gave an excellent performance as Megan Barnard, the blunt and tart-tongued sister of the second victim, Betty Barnard. But the one stand-out performance came from Donald Sumpter, who portrayed the stocking salesman, Alexander Bonaparte Cust. Sumpter did a superb job in making such a non-descript personality so interesting and slightly creepy. The rest of the cast provided first-rate support - including Nicholas Farrell, Cathryn Bradshaw, Nina Marc, David McAlister, Ann Windsor, Peter Penry-Jones, Vivienne Burgess and Donald Douglas. Speaking of the latter - he had been cast as Franklin Clarke, the younger brother of the killer's third victim, Sir Carmichael Clarke. I have been aware of Douglas ever since I was a kid and have always regarded him as a first-rate actor. But I believe he had been miscast as Franklin Clarke, who had been described as a handsome, charming and charismatic man in his early-to-mid 40s. Although attractive, Douglas had been in his late 50s when he portrayed Franklin. Also, he seemed to come across more like some hale and hearty Englishman than what Christie had described the character in her novel. I have no problems with the television movie's production values. In all honestly, I would rate the movie's production as solid. There was nothing mind boggling about it. Rob Harris' re-creation of London and other parts of Great Britain struck me as solid. Only his discovery of the De La Warr Pavilion in Essex struck me as a godsend. I found Christopher Gunning's score solid, but not memorable, along with Peter Wenham's art direction. However, I must admit that Carlotta Barrow's set decorations; especially in scenes that featured Alice Ascher's store, the De La Warr Pavilion, Cust's apartment and various hotel rooms, and Poirot's own apartment; struck me as above par and worthy of notice. But I have to give kudos to Barbara Kronig, whom I believe did a superb job of re-creating the 1936 fashions for characters from various backgrounds and personalities. Anyone with common sense would know or realize there is no such thing as a perfect movie or television production. This certainly applies to "THE A.B.C. MURDERS", the 1992 television adaptation to Agatha Christie's1936 novel. The pacing for the movie's second half had threatened to bog down during a small period of time. The joke surrounding Arthur Hastings' dead cayman had become tiresome and never-ending. And I believe one of the characters had been miscast. However, these flaws seemed trifling in compared to the movie's virtues. The cast led by David Suchet struck me as first-rate. Most of the television movie possessed an energy and style, thanks to Andrew Grieve's direction. And screenwriter Clive Exton had written a first-rate adaptation. I believe he did this after recognizing the excellent quality of the source material. "THE A.B.C. MURDERS" is one Agatha Christie novel I will enjoy for years to come.

I Love You Again (1940)

I Love You Again by #WSVanDyke starring #WilliamPowell and #MyrnaLoy, "Powell never lets a single moment wane without delivering a great deal of charismatic charm,"

W.S. VAN DYKE Bil’s rating (out of 5): BBB USA, 1940. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Story by Leon Gordon, Maurine Dallas Watkins, Screenplay by Charles Lederer, George Oppenheimer, Harry Kurnitz, based on the novel by Octavus Roy Cohen. Cinematography by Oliver T. Marsh. Produced by Lawrence Weingarten. Music by Franz Waxman. Production Design by Cedric Gibbons, David S. Hall. Costume Design by Dolly…

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God damn your god damned old hellfired god damned soul to hell god damn you and goddam your god damned family's god damned hellfired god damned soul to hell and god damnation god damn them and god damn your god damn friends to hell.

Letter from a citizen to President-elect Abraham Lincoln, November 25, 1860.

I can't prove it, but I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that this citizen didn't vote for Lincoln.

Great western engines

nighttime with the little dudes! douglas havin a great time, oliver wanting duck to stop being a nuisance, duck... being a nuisance and donald zonked out snoozemode (fella loves falling asleep to a monologue)

✨The Scottish Twin✨

Oliver and Toad done, Donald and Douglas done, Duck will coming soon :3👌

Overdrawn at the Memory Bank | 1983

Sir Topham Hatt: on the twelfth day of Christmas my engines sent to me:

Emily: twelve truck a-troubling

Oliver: eleven grumpy passengers

Douglas: ten tonnes of damaged goods

Donald: nine delayed trains

Duck: eight OSHA violations

Toby: seven derailed tar trucks

Percy: six safety valves a-popping

James: FIVE CLASS ACTION LAWSUITS!!!

Gordon: four smashed up buffers

Henry: three striking engines

Edward: two twins a-scheming

Thomas: AND A GIANT GAPPING HOLE IN THE STATION MASTER’S HOUSE!!!

does ANYONE HERE like LAB RATS??!?

this whole scene is so silly to me. i know it was meant to be funny but the idea that kaz, who if i remember correctly has like 50 siblings, has no idea how to act around a baby is so odd. you’re telling me that this boy who would have done anything for his baby brother to think he was cool is actually an absolute goof with kids? you’re telling me that chase davenport, smartest man in the world, gave his all when doing one of those fake baby assignments, doesn’t know how to pick up a baby? also i love how william unger was a father in real life for pretty much the entirety of the show, he actually had to go out of his way to pretend like he knew nothing about kids.

Traintober Day 3: Twins

Donald and Douglas cosplaying as The Twins from Bullet Train. Double the train content.

[headcanon] donald and douglas have a unique skill where they can call anyone a nickname ans no one ever gets mad at them. Even the people who you'd expect to get mad (or find nicknames should be reserved for more intimate times).

List of names the twins somehow get away with

Thomas: Tommy, Tom, Massy/Mossy. Low-tier but Thomas usually gets huffy being called Tommy

Oliver: Ollie. Classic, easy. Tho one of them called him Liver for a whole day once and that was beginning to get onto thin ice.

Duck: Duckie, Monty. They are the ONLY people who ever get away w calling Duck Monty (Donald more so than Douglas) (i'm a 8x9 shipper, sue me)

James: Jim, Jimmy, Jimbo, Jammy, Jimjam, any other annoying derivatives they can think of. James is so goddamn fed up with them but has given up protesting becauae Donnie and Douggie are an unstoppable force

Edward: Eddie, Ed, Ted, Teddy, Theodore. 'Ted' can be derived from both Theodore and Edward, you see. Edward finds it amusing and endearing.

Bill and Ben: William and Benjamin. Donald and Douglas are the only engines who can lengthen the names and Bill and Ben can hear it from and not assume they're in trouble.

Henry: Hank. Henry doesn't get annoyed by this so much as confused.

Harold: Harry. Harold gets miffed because only Percy calls him that ò///ó

Gordon: Gordie. WARNING: Use Sparingly. Only when Gordon is in a good mood/up for a joke. They have received the scariest death glares trial-and-erroring this one.

Percy: Perce. Nice n straightforward. Duck likes Percy too much for them to give Percy an annoying or mean nickname.

Emily: Emma, Emmy, Milly. She tolerates it/finds it about as endearing as Edward does

They call Rebecca many variations on her name and she's too new and too ^-^' to ask why they do it. She Has politely requested they don't call her Becky, though

They also call the fat controller Hattie. But Never Ever to his face. (Not as brave as Junior tatmr, clearly. lmao)

It's 1am and i cant think of any more examples but yeah <3

Something I’ve always liked about Lab Rats, even back when it first aired, is how untraditional the family structure is. Not only is the family a mixed race, but is also blended family.

Once you add the idea of Donald being the biological uncle of Adam, Bree, and Chase it doesn’t take away from Donald being the father figure to the trio and they don’t start calling Douglas ‘Dad’. Donald raised them. Douglas even moves in and he’s more like uncle to Leo and the trio despite being the biological father. Going even further, Donald is father figure to Leo yet Leo never calls him dad. In fact, the trio doesn’t call him dad either. Still it’s very clear that Donald is the father figure.

What is even more interesting is how quickly Leo and the trio accept each other as siblings. It’s never step-siblings or adopted siblings, it’s always brothers and sister. This happens in like episode 2. The fact that Leo and trio are siblings are never questioned by anyone. It’s just accepted, even the villains.

Tasha from what we see from the show is quick to accept Adam, Bree, and Chase as members of the family. She even seems to pretty okay with Douglas. Granted, she never really interacts with Douglas, but we are never given any reason to think she has any issue with Douglas.

I think Daniel even adds another layer to this messy family. He’s sibling no one knew about, but calls Douglas ‘dad’. It always felt to me as someone trying really hard to fit in when calls Douglas ‘dad’. It’s implied that Daniel has an adopted family that he is very close with. Still, everyone just accepts Daniel as family right away. Daniel is interesting, unexplored, and underdeveloped part of the show.

The only person who has an Dooley-Davenport Family as unit is Rose Dooley aka Leo’s grandma/Tasha’s mom. She doesn’t like Donald all that much and seemed a little freaked out by Adam, Bree, and Chase. She never interacted with Douglas as far as I remember(correct me if I’m wrong). The narrative of the show frames this as wrong point of view. Rose is always has to learn the lesson that Donald and the trio are family and good for Tasha and Leo.

The Dooley-Davenport family is messy and confusing from an outsider’s point of view. There are tons of people in real life with confusing family structures like this. Some people are raised by grandparents or uncles or family friends. Sometimes, people can be close to cousins like they are siblings. Families are messy, but that’s okay as long as there is love. That’s really why I’ve always loved the Dooley-Davenport family it’s messy and non-traditional like so many people’s in real life.