Murder in Three Acts (1986)

Hercule Poirot (Sir Peter Ustinov) attends a dinner party in which one of the guests clutches his throat and suddenly dies. The cause seems 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 (Sir Peter Ustinov's) assistant, Captain Arthur Hastings (Jonathan Cecil), calls him down to Acapulco, Mexico, where he can write his memoirs, but Hastings drags him to a party populated with Hastings' new friends. There's Janet Crisp (Concetta Tomei), the writer, Daisy Eastman (Marian Mercer) and her daughter "Egg" (Emma Samms), Ricardo Montoya (Fernando Allende), Dr. Strange (Dana Elcar), Miss Milray (Frances Lee McCain) the housekeeper, and Charles Cartwright (Tony Curtis) the famous American actor. But at the party another guest, Reverend Babbington (Philip Guilmant), 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 | hercule poirot | writer | memoir | dinner party | 

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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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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 September 1986 (USA)

Also Known As:

Убийство в трёх актах

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

Originally published under the title "Three Act Tragedy" in 1934.

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Goofs

Approximately 59:30 into the movie, Charles Cartwright (Tony Curtis), Angela Stafford (Diana Muldaur), and Janet Crisp (Concetta Tomei) are having a conversation on the balcony. The cup of coffee Muldaur is holding throughout the conversation changes from right hand to left hand repeatedly throughout the various shots of the conversation.

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Quotes

Hercule Poirot: Colonel, we have stirred the pot. We soon shall see what comes to the surface.

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Connections

Version of Poirot: Three Act Tragedy (2010)

User Reviews

Enjoyable if rather bland Agatha Christie movie

Murder In Three Acts certainly isn't terrible, but compared to Death On the Nile and Evil under The Sun, it has a certain blandness to it. That I can understand because it is a TV film, so would be limited in budget in comparison. There is some lavish scenery, costumes and locations, and the acting is good on the whole. Peter Ustinov certainly seems to be enjoying himself as the dapper detective, while Tony Curtis, Lisa Eichlorn and Emma Samms give able support. Jonathan Cecil is wonderfully naive as Hastings as well. However despite a good cast, and the lovely production values, the film does have a number of failings. One was the script, badly underdeveloped in places, and bore little resemblance to the book, which is brilliant by the way, I suggest you read it. There are numerous plot changes too, even characters's names were changed, Hermione Lytton Gore's name was changed to Jennifer for some obscure reason, and Bartholemew Strange's portrayal wasn't at all what I imagined. And I did think the murders were clumsily handled. However, there are a number of redeeming qualities, it is very entertaining and enjoyable, but isn't like the book. 7/10 Bethany Cox