World War II is in the wind in "The Underdog," and this episode of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot mysteries is entangled somewhat with the war. A British firm has developed synthetic rubber, and a sub-plot is whether or not it should sell its production to Germany.
This is a 1993 production in which Chief Inspector Japp is not present. But, Miss Lemon has more of a role, and Captain Hastings has a usual supporting role. Oh, yes, and golf again is part of the story - although it has nothing to do with the crime.
The cast of characters is quite large and there are no real red herrings in this plot. But the subplots alone make it a very interesting and entertaining episode. Miss Lemon's fad in this film is hypnotism, and she's quite good at it. But not so as to be able to entice the grey cells of the super sleuth.
Rather than humor in the dialog in this film, some Poirot philosophy and psychology is particularly pithy. Here a two examples.
Hercule Poirot, "Intuition, Hastings, often describes some fact that is so deeply buried in the subconscious, that the subject is not aware of its existence."
And, still, as he unravels the mystery, he tells those assembled, "I am a student of the psychology, and throughout this case I have been looking not for a man or a woman who has the bad temper, because the bad temper is in itself a safety valve."
The modern estate used for the filming has become very familiar in the Poirot mysteries. It's sameness is beginning to have the effect of detracting from the stories. But this is a very good Poirot mystery.