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Thirteen at Dinner (1985)An American movie actress, best known for playing dumb blondes, is Scotland Yard's prime suspect when her husband, Lord Edgware, is murdered. The great detective, Hercule Poirot, digs deeper into the case. Director:Lou Antonio |
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Title: Thirteen at Dinner (TV 1985)
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Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Peter Ustinov | ... | ||
| Faye Dunaway | ... | ||
| David Suchet | ... | ||
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Jonathan Cecil | ... | |
| Bill Nighy | ... | ||
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Diane Keen | ... | |
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John Stride | ... |
Film Director
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| Benedict Taylor | ... | ||
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Lee Horsley | ... | |
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Allan Cuthbertson | ... | |
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Glyn Baker | ... |
Lord Edgware's Butler
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John Barron | ... | |
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Peter Clapham | ... |
Mr. Wildburn
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| Lesley Dunlop | ... |
Alice Bennett
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Avril Elgar | ... | |
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Plot Summary
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Storyline
Hercule Poirot appears on a TV talk show with actor Bryan Martin who is making an action/detective movie with Jane Wilkinson. He also meets impressionist Carlotta Adams. They all go to a party and Jane asks him and Captain Hastings to go and meet her husband, Lord Edgware in regards to a divorce. They do so, to discover that the Lord had already granted her a divorce. Jane is delighted but drops hints that she could have killed the Lord if he didn't grant her the divorce. The next day Lord Edgware is found dead and all the staff at the Lord's house swear that Jane was the one who did it but witnesses at another Lord's party swear that Jane was with them. Carlotta then dies and Poirot must investigate as Inspector Japp is determined to put Jane away... Written by Lee Horton <Leeh@tcp.co.uk>
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Details
Language:
EnglishRelease Date:
19 September 1985 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Agatha Christie's Thirteen at Dinner See more »Company Credits
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| (video)Sound Mix:
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1.33 : 1
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Hercule Poirot: In a good bouillabaisse the little fish are often tastier than the big ones.
Inspector Japp: What are you talking about?
Hercule Poirot: Add poison, however, and the whole soup is polluted. Then the size of the fish are immaterial.
Inspector Japp: What's fish got to do with it?
Hercule Poirot: It was your own metaphor; I didn't bring the fish...
Inspector Japp: I didn't either!
Hercule Poirot: Stop fish then! Let's leave it out!
See more »
Did You Know?
Trivia
Appearing here as Inspector Japp, David Suchet later played Hercule Poirot in the TV series Agatha Christie: Poirot and subsequent TV specials, including Agatha Christie: Poirot: Lord Edgware Dies, another version of this story. See more »Goofs
During Poirot's solution the long tracking shot of the dinner party during the flashback has been reversed as evidenced by one of the maid's walking backwards behind the seated characters. See more »Quotes
Inspector Japp: Poirot - buzz off like a good chap, will you? I've got bigger fish to fry.Hercule Poirot: In a good bouillabaisse the little fish are often tastier than the big ones.
Inspector Japp: What are you talking about?
Hercule Poirot: Add poison, however, and the whole soup is polluted. Then the size of the fish are immaterial.
Inspector Japp: What's fish got to do with it?
Hercule Poirot: It was your own metaphor; I didn't bring the fish...
Inspector Japp: I didn't either!
Hercule Poirot: Stop fish then! Let's leave it out!
See more »
"Thirteen at Dinner" is good, solid entertainment. I recently watched it on video, and apart from the obvious, dramatic commercial pauses, it was hard to tell I was watching a made-for-TV movie. Ustinov is my favorite Poirot, and he is his usual, boisterous self in this adaptation. I love David Suchet as well, and I was delighted to see him in the role of Inspector Japp. Is there a better voice actor than Suchet? If one were to listen to this movie with closed eyes, it would be very hard to tell that Japp was being played by Suchet, so convincing is his accent and manner of speech.
This production has a very British feel to it, but apparently it was an American venture. Surprising! Also, I had a bad feeling when I saw the opening scene- Poirot appearing on the David Frost talk show! But the filmakers and screenwriters did an excellent job of taking a novel written in the '30s and adapting it to the mid-'80s. They followed Christie's original plot faithfully, keeping all the essential elements which make it such a good whodunnit. It would have been nice to see a different actress play the part of Carlotta Adams (Faye Dunaway plays both her and Jane Wilkinson.) She did a commendable job though, as did the other supporting actors. I thought the interplay between Ustinov and Johnathan Cecil (who played Hastings) was hilarious. And I really wish that Ustinov had made more Poirot movies! Oh well. Check out "Death on the Nile" for another of Ustinov's best Poirot efforts. Hard core fans will want to see "Appointment With Death" as well, but that film ranks at the bottom of my Poirot list.