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Sparkling Cyanide (1983) (TV) More at IMDb Pro »

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2 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
A work of Sue Grafton, not Agatha Christie, 30 April 2000
Author: jaybabb (jaybabb@clearwire.net) from Lewiston, Idaho

This is an enjoyable film...good fluff-that's about it. I don't think the writers of the script understand what Agatha Christie had in mind. I read quite a few of her novels-and I wonder if Agatha Christie's name should be taken off the title of this film. Let's call it "Sue Grafton's Sparkling cyanide"

Sue Grafton is a great writer-her novels are always best sellers, but-no female mystery writer has ever captured the time and place settings, not to mention the scene of the crime as has Agatha Christie.

I like this film, though-but it's no Agatha Christie. I like Anthony Andrews-at least they put a British actor in this film. No matter how you slice it-in order to get the feel of what Agatha Christie put into the story-you need to read "Agatha Christie's Sparkling Cyanide" Before you bother seeing "Sue Grafton's Sparkling cyanide"

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4 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
A bland wallow, 12 November 2001
Author: lucy-66 from London

If you want to wallow in 80s blandness, dive into this movie. An updated Christie that already looks extremely dated. The hair! The make-up! And above all the cloooooothes! The heroine plays her big scene in a .... white crocheted top!!!!! One of the actors is Pamela Bellwood from Dynasty - get the picture? The climactic scenes are set in a cheesy restaurant with a tacky floorshow (I'd love to see the menu), and everybody's bedroom looks like a hotel suite. Actually, all involved do a good workmanlike job of telling the story and there's not a little humour provided by the likes of Aunt Lucilla and the tarty girl who's taken up painting by numbers. Will we ever wear scarlet sequins and navy eyeshadow again? xxxxxxxxx

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Cyanide in the eighties, 13 July 2008
7/10
Author: Iain-215 from United Kingdom

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Like most of the TV movies made from Agatha Christie's books in the eighties, this one is remarkably faithful to the source material. All the names and relationships are unchanged (I think) - they even include Sandra's parents and make them just like their literary counterparts. Yes it is updated to the eighties and yes it is re-set in America but really, apart from that, it's almost word for word from the book. The character of Iris is rather more worldly and 'spunky' than she is in the book and Deborah Raffin plays her very winningly I think. I always find that Anthony Andrews plays pretty much everything he does exactly the same and his role here as Tony Browne is no different - he's suave, charming, cheeky and rather irritating! The other players all do very well and all in all the story is very well served.

A few points knocked off because one can't escape the 'cheese' of the eighties TV movie and it's accompanying terrible music.

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Pretty good Agatha Christie murder mystery, 29 May 2008
7/10
Author: gridoon2008

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

In the small pantheon of "movies made-for-TV, based-on-Agatha-Christie-novels, but-not-featuring-any-of-her-famous-detectives", "Sparkling Cyanide" is well ahead of "Murder is Easy", and although "The Man in the Brown Suit" has higher production values, "Cyanide" has a more engaging story. Some people have complained about the updating to the 80's, but frankly, unlike "Murder is Easy", which clumsily tried to incorporate computers into the plot, there is very little in this story that would have happened differently if it was set a few decades earlier. The direction is unobtrusive, allowing for the story and the actors to drive the film, which they do: there are plenty of suspects and red herrings, and the two leads, Anthony Andrews and Deborah Raffin, get an unforced chemistry going. Raffin is a sweet, adorable actress with a lovely smile, and I'm surprised that I'm not more familiar with her. There are some striking similarities between "Sparkling Cyanide" and "Yellow Iris", an AC short story that was adapted in a 50-minute episode of the "Poirot" series with David Suchet. The method of the murder(s) is pretty much the same, but (thankfully) the culprit(s) are different. One omission in the film is that they never fully explain how exactly the first murder was executed. But on the whole, a good offering for mystery fans. (***)

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Not bad to kill a couple of hours.........., 20 April 2008
5/10
Author: musicmike702 from United States

......but, wow, are there any movies or TV shows that are more dated nowadays(in 2008) than movies made in the 80's? Dated hair, clothing, home furnishings...I was cringing at the bad hairstyles and clothes in this movie. It truly has little to do with Agatha Christie but the title and while it wasn't bad to watch, I just can't figure out why the producers had to transport it to Pasadena in the early 80's. Was it cheaper to film? What it reminded me of was an episode of Murder She Wrote, with the same types of actors etc. I've read lots of Agatha Christie's writing although I have to admit it's been a while and I'm sure this would have been a better movie with more period correct settings. It was nice to see Deborah Raffin, though--she did some great work in her career and I'm sad not to see her doing much acting lately.

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2 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
A Mystery From a Purse Knocked Off a Table, 11 April 2004
Author: richard.fuller1

No, I have not read the book, nor read any Agatha Christie (when so many of them are done into movies? Why read?) but I would see this one on the telly years ago and I guess I strived to actually solve it to see how intelligent I was and there was no way I would have guessed the ending.

Now I don't know how it occurred in the book, but the little glitch in this movie with Nancy Marchand being the last person to leave the dinner table was about the most remarkable plot twist I have ever seen.

I really didn't follow how it could be recreated with Anthony Andrews changing his seat toward the end with only two other people, but the main dinner table scene, actually I think it was the second murder, totally blew me away.

I could have stood to watch it become a stronger focus of the story actually.

Yes, the movie is updated, very eighties. Truthfully I think I would rather have seen this story done in the thirties or forties, but if this stands as the only available imagery of this story available (apparently there was one made in 2003. I wonder if that one was any good.) then it is worth checking out if you aren't a diehard Christie fan and just like to watch a decent mystery.

It definitely was a different mystery, that's for sure.

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0 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
Christie in the '80s?, 7 August 2000
Author: AlAnn from Albuquerque, New Mexico

This was fun to watch, mainly because of people like Anthony Andrews whom I feel I don't see enough at best. I think it would have been far more entertaining and taken more seriously, had it not been billed as "Agatha Christie". One look at the scenery, sets, and costumes tells us that it was not set in Christie's originally-intended places nor at the times she knew. When movie-makers start toying with the author's intent, the result is questionable and sometimes disastrous. Because the cast was good, this one was not disastrous, but definitely questionable; if we tune in for a good old-fashioned Christie, we'll be disappointed because this clearly isn't it! If we view it just on its own, and don't think of it as Christie, we'll have a better chance of enjoying it on its own merit. I think it's worth a couple of hours of viewing, but I'd also recommend reading the book and trying to find a version that's truer to the original.

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0 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
Anthony Andrews was Hilarious!, 8 November 1999
Author: ldinkins from Maryland

OK, I may be biased, because I would watch Anthony Andrews read from the phone book. I thought the film was a nice bit of 80s fluff. I haven't read the book, so I can't speak to how far it ventured away from the author's intention, but it is a nice way to spend a couple of hours. No, you won't find this on PBS' Mystery! series, but its a cute little made for TV mystery. And Anthony Andrews' droll delivery is well worth the price!

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0 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
No match to the novel., 1 October 1999
Author: RyGuy-3

This rather poor video was a cheap make of the excellent novel by Dame Agatha Christie. It was updated to match the current time period when the film was made, and therefore, was too modernized for my taste. If you do watch it, don't let it alter your opinion of the book if you haven't yet read it.

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1 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
80's tack but great for Anthony Andrews fans, 4 November 2006
10/10
Author: Sue from United Kingdom

I'm only giving this 10 because I love Anthony Andrews. And Colonel Potter from MASH is in this too! Hurrah!

It's a typical 80's murder-mystery. Fun, tacky, full of shoulder pads and bad hair. But Anthony Andrews looks as lovely as ever. So....what's a girl to do?

The plot isn't blindingly obvious which is good. I'm not sure the transfer of events from England to the US really works, but I'm sure they had good commercial reasons for doing so. If you're a fan of the 80s you'll love it. There's even an actress from Dallas in there! It's pure eighties-fest and if you like Anthony Andrews and heavy eye makeup you'll love it!!

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