This is an all-star cast Agatha Christie adaptation with a setting that could have been a TV movie. (Though the budget was decent for a feature for its time, so I wonder how much was spent on that cast.) I felt like it wasn’t the best of her plots but apparently it’s partially based on a true story so what do I know?

The cast is ridiculous. It’s like somebody wanted an all-star cast from the 1960s. With the except of Fox and Chaplin, who were ’70s stars, the leads here were major movie stars in the 1960s or even the 1950s. (Or, um, the 1940s.) I guess this casting was inspired by the mega casts of the previous adaptations, but it’s weird.

As I mentioned before, the whole thing could have been a TV movie. There are basically four locations (plus a few others) and it’s very much confined to a few places. It’s the cast that attempts to elevate this to something else.

But it’s also the script. The script is quite funny to start. I have no idea if that humour was in the original novel, but I appreciated it. It’s clear the cast are having fun with it and it’s sort of a shame that this cast and this script somehow flopped.

I do feel like it’s not one of her best reveals. Inspired in part by a real story that happened to a real actress, it still feels a little contrived. Jenn thinks there was enough in the film to guess who did it but I really didn’t catch on. Now, I wasn’t paying full attention, so that could be on me.

Anyway, I found it diverting and entertaining enough. It was nice to watch a film with such low stakes with such a huge cast.

6/10