Ustinov or Finney?

I say Finney. However, it took me awhile to come around. Back in the 70s I thought that he ruined the movie. Now I get it ... either that or I'm losing it.

Finney, without question. He was the only one I believed as a cunning master detective - a genuinely formidable figure with some amusing vanities. Ustinov played Poirot as a comic figure with less depth than Lansbury's Mrs. Fletcher; the crime plot was merely a vehicle for his and others' entertaining characterizations. Suchet's prissy, shall we delicately say "effete", Poirot is so laden with mannersims he becomes tiresome; his performance, an acting class exercise. And it defies credulity for Suchet to spend most of the drama mincing about, then at the climax come on as the bold, righteously angry Bringer of Justice. One watches the last ten minutes of an episode and wonders "Where did that come from?"

Also, unlike Finney, Suchet is plagued by a screenwriter who resorts to the cliche of having a native French speaker continually inject French phrases into his conversation - and to the exhausted " 'Ow you say in EEng-leesh?" These shopworn ploys make one always aware he's watching actors' contrivances, vs. falling under the spell of a performance.

I warm to Ustinov's Poirot, but it's mostly because I'm fond of Ustinov's own screen persona. I agree with the comment that he's basically playing himself with a fussy edge and a French-ish accent.

My preferred performance is Suchet's. Even though by the time he came to making Orient Express he had, if anything, overplayed the character, and the observed mannerisms had become mechanical schtick, he's still the closest to how I'd personally envisioned Poirot from reading the books.

I struggle with Finney's performance, to be honest. His Poirot is a grotesque, with many strange and disconcerting edges to him; sometimes he's downright creepy in his manner and some of his responses ring as actorish rather than true. Quite as much as Ustinov's, his Poirot seems an actor's creation rather than a believable character, and I can't see that in the world of the story anyone would take him seriously. I think I also actually prefer Suchet's version of the story to this one, dingy and squalid though it is in comparison to this lavish Hollywood confectionery. This one is more entertaining as a whole, but really, Finney's Poirot creeps me out.



You might very well think that. I couldn't possibly comment.

Ustinov

As I was watching this film the other day, I kept envisionong Peter Sellers in the role. Would've made a fine detective.

Really liked Ustinov, but Death On The Nile was an easier film to like with more going on (subsequent murders, near-misses, scenery etc).

Orient Express played out more like a dour court-room drama - but for the all-star cast would have been for Christie diehards only. Finney played it very well, and Suchet's Poirrot was a small-screen impersonation of this.


Mr Frampton, vis-a-vis your rump

I prefer Finney. Granted, he punctuated the dialogue with a few too many flourishes and his accent was a little difficult to decode. Nonetheless, I felt like his portrayal was a lot more authentic to the character that Christie had created. Also, I found Finney more witty.


Screws fall out all of the time. The world's an imperfect place.

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