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Peter Ustinov: Agatha Christie
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Synopsis: Peter Ustinov stars once more as Hercule Poirot, Agatha Christie's insufferably brilliant Belgian detective. Unlike many of Ustinov's earlier Poirot vehicles, which were set in the 1930s, the made-for-TV Dead Man's Folly takes place in contemporary England. Jean Stapleton costars as an AmericanRead More
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Agatha Christie's Murder in Three Acts represents Peter Ustinov's fifth appearance as Dame Agatha's brilliant, insufferable Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. The scene is Acapulco, where retired actor Tony Curtis hosts two separate parties--both of them were blighted by the fatal poisoning of a guest. The police think the butler did it (honest!), but Poirot activates his "little grey cells" to pinpoint the killer amongst a group of wealthy and eccentric suspects. Filmed in Mexico, Murder in Three Acts was the latest (and to some reviewers the least) in a long line of Agatha Christie TV-movie specials produced by Stan Marguiles. Ustinov was Poirot in three of these, having first essayed the role in the theatrical feature Death on the Nile (78). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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Synopsis: In this mystery, Peter Ustinov reprises the role of Hercule Poirot, the fussy and flower-tending detective from Belgium created by Agatha Christie. In 1937, Mrs. Emily Boynton (Piper Laurie) is on an archeological dig in Palestine; she inherited the wealth of her recently deceased husband andRead More
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Ustinov began his film career as the Roman emperor Nero in the film Quo Vadis? (1951), based on a novel (1896) by Polish writer Henryk Sienkiewicz, and received an Academy Award (see Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Academy of) as best supporting actor for his roles in the films Spartacus (1960) and Topkapi (1964). He performed many television roles and won three Emmy awards for best television actor of the year for playing English writer Samuel Johnson in an episode (1952) of “Omnibus” (1952–59), Greek philosopher Socrates in “Barefoot in Athens” (1966), and a rural shopkeeper in “A Storm in Summer” (1970). He took on the role of Hercules Poirot, the unconventional detective of a number of Agatha Christie mystery stories, in the films Death on the Nile (1978) and Evil Under the Sun (1982), as well as in a series of television productions. His last film role was in 2003, in Luther, about the life of the 16th-century Reformation leader Martin Luther, in which he portrayed Prince Frederick the Wise of Wittenberg.
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Subsequently, Ustinov won two Best Supporting Actor Academy Awards for his portrayal of slave-trader Lentulus Batiatus in Spartacus (1960) and as the duped con man in Topkapi (1964). He went on to appear in more of his own plays in such films as Romanoff and Juliet (1961), a laudable version of Herman Melville's Billy Budd (1962) and Lady L (1966). Beginning with Death on the Nile (1978), he has played Agatha Christie's Belgium sleuth Hercule Poirot, a role he again essayed in Evil Under the Sun (1982) and Appointment with Death (1988). In latter years he established a considerable reputation as a raconteur and was an ambassador for charity Unicef. Ustinov was appointed CBE in 1975, and knighted in 1990.
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Agatha Christie