"Elephants Can Remember" is another superb film from Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot mysteries. This is one of the last of the many made for TV films of Christie's famous Belgian detective, as played by David Suchet. Although a number of actors before him had played the character in one or more films, Suchet's character is the Poirot who will be remembered and watched far into the future.
This mystery is also one of the most captivating and intriguing of Christie's Poirot stories and films. It starts with a background scene in 1925, and then the mystery is investigated and unfolds 13 years later in 1938, with Poirot and his friend, the crime fiction writer, Ariadne Oliver. There are two stories, with three crimes that overlap and the plot is ingenious as to how Poirot and Oliver wind up together after pursuing separate cases. She had been prodding him to look into an old case, but he had been nudged out of retirement by the murder of an acquaintance, Dr. Willoughby.
By halfway into this film, I had guessed that Lady Ravenscroft and her sister were twins. So, I suspected some skullduggery with General Ravenscroft. But I didn't see what the real events were. One wonders if Christie and/or the screen writers for this mystery didn't plan it so that audiences would begin to suspect the solution, only to have it as a sort of red herring for what really happened . And, then, how the latest murder of Dr. Willoughby happened - with the answer to Hercule Poirot's insistence that there was someone else there during the time of the of the first tragedy. That was the apparent murder and suicide of the general and Lady Ravenscroft.
This is not only one of the more intriguing and complex Poirot mysteries, but it's conclusion and solving leaves one with a vexing question. If Poirot's acquaintance, Dr. Willoughby, had not been murdered, was it very likely that he would have delved into and solved the suicide-murder mystery from 13 years earlier?
Kudos to all involved in this superb film and portrayal of one of the fantastic mysteries of one of the greatest mystery writers of all time. Here are some favorite lines from this film.
Julie Carstairs, to Ariadne Oliver, "You are so modern. No one else in my circle has speaking engagements."
Julie Carstairs, "In this part of the world, Ariadne, one either hunts or one has affairs."
Ariadne Oliver, "You and I are elephants, you know. We're good at remembering." Hercule Poirot, "No, no, no, madame, we are human beings. And human beings, mournfully, they can forget."
This mystery is also one of the most captivating and intriguing of Christie's Poirot stories and films. It starts with a background scene in 1925, and then the mystery is investigated and unfolds 13 years later in 1938, with Poirot and his friend, the crime fiction writer, Ariadne Oliver. There are two stories, with three crimes that overlap and the plot is ingenious as to how Poirot and Oliver wind up together after pursuing separate cases. She had been prodding him to look into an old case, but he had been nudged out of retirement by the murder of an acquaintance, Dr. Willoughby.
By halfway into this film, I had guessed that Lady Ravenscroft and her sister were twins. So, I suspected some skullduggery with General Ravenscroft. But I didn't see what the real events were. One wonders if Christie and/or the screen writers for this mystery didn't plan it so that audiences would begin to suspect the solution, only to have it as a sort of red herring for what really happened . And, then, how the latest murder of Dr. Willoughby happened - with the answer to Hercule Poirot's insistence that there was someone else there during the time of the of the first tragedy. That was the apparent murder and suicide of the general and Lady Ravenscroft.
This is not only one of the more intriguing and complex Poirot mysteries, but it's conclusion and solving leaves one with a vexing question. If Poirot's acquaintance, Dr. Willoughby, had not been murdered, was it very likely that he would have delved into and solved the suicide-murder mystery from 13 years earlier?
Kudos to all involved in this superb film and portrayal of one of the fantastic mysteries of one of the greatest mystery writers of all time. Here are some favorite lines from this film.
Julie Carstairs, to Ariadne Oliver, "You are so modern. No one else in my circle has speaking engagements."
Julie Carstairs, "In this part of the world, Ariadne, one either hunts or one has affairs."
Ariadne Oliver, "You and I are elephants, you know. We're good at remembering." Hercule Poirot, "No, no, no, madame, we are human beings. And human beings, mournfully, they can forget."