Murder in Three Acts (1986)

In Acapulco, Hercule Poirot attends a dinner party in which one of the guests clutches his throat and suddenly dies. The causes seem to be natural until another party with most of the same guests produces another corpse.

Director:

Gary Nelson

Writers:

Agatha Christie (novel), Scott Swanton (teleplay)

Stars:

Peter Ustinov, Tony Curtis, Emma Samms

Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Peter Ustinov	...	Hercule Poirot
Tony Curtis	...	Charles Cartwright
Emma Samms	...	Egg
Jonathan Cecil	...	Hastings
Fernando Allende	...	Ricardo Montoya
Pedro Armendáriz Jr.	...	Col. Mateo (as Pedro Armendariz)
Lisa Eichhorn	...	Cynthia Dayton
Dana Elcar	...	Dr. Strange
Frances Lee McCain	...	Miss Milray
Marian Mercer	...	Daisy Eastman
Diana Muldaur	...	Angela Stafford
Nicholas Pryor	...	Freddie Dayton
Concetta Tomei	...	Janet Crisp
Jacqueline Evans	...	Mrs. Babbington
Ángeles González	...	Housekeeper (as Angeles Gonzalez)

Storyline

Hercule Poirot's assistant, Hastings, calls him down to Acapulco in Mexico where he can write his memoirs but Hastings drags him to a party populated with Hastings' new friends. There's Janet Crisp - the writer, Daisy Eastman and her daughter 'Egg', Ricardo Montoya, Dr. Strange, Miss Milray the housekeeper and Charles Cartwright the famous American actor. But at the party another guest - Rev. Babbington - dies from poisoning and when Dr. Strange also dies from poisoning, Poirot must swing into action before the serial killer strikes again...

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Plot Keywords:

poisoning | memoir | dinner party | writer | hercule poirot | 

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Taglines:

Movie Stars. Martinis. Murder. All in Romantic Acapulco.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 September 1986 (USA)

Also Known As:

Agatha Christie's Murder in Three Acts

Filming Locations:

Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros. Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The setting has been transferred to Acapulco, and the character of Mr Satterthwaite was replaced by Poirot regular Hastings.

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Goofs

The first murdered victim is named "Stephen Babbington". However, when Mrs Eastman is talking with Mrs. Dacres in Mrs. Dacres' shop, he is referred to as "Richard".

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Quotes

Hercule Poirot: Porot is only on the side of one thing... and that is the truth.

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Connections

Follows Dead Man's Folly (1986)

User Reviews

Enjoyable Whodunit

This is a fine movie. Watching Peter Ustinov play Poirot is always a treat. The dialogue between him and Hastings provides adequate humor. And the Agatha Christie whodunit puzzle is fairly good.

The film suffers though when compared to two previous Ustinov films: "Death On The Nile", and "Evil Under The Sun", both of which were grand and stately big-budget theatrical productions. By contrast, "Murder In Three Acts" is a made-for-TV movie, and therefore seems small and cheap. The scenery, the music, and the casting cannot compete.

Further, the suspects in "Murder In Three Acts" seem too "normal"; there are no really eccentric characters. The women especially seem bland and undifferentiated.

Still, if you can avoid the temptation to compare this film to other Hercule Poirot films, as well as Christie's source novel, the movie "Murder In Three Acts" is still entertaining.