Hercule Poirot and Captain Hastings visit a film set at the Parade Studios where an old friend of the latter's, Bunny Saunders (played by Jonathan Coy), is making his debut as a film director. They arrive to find that the shoot is an unhappy one. The studio boss, the obnoxious and universally despised Henry Reedburn (played by David Swift) is raging on the set and finding fault with everything that the cast and crew are doing. As a result, the leads, Valerie Saintclair and Ralph Walton (played by Niamh Cusack and Gawn Grainger), are not offering their best performances and this results in Reedburn having Walton fired who then vows to get even with him. Meanwhile, it is clear that Reedburn has some sort of hold over Valerie since he has forced her to sign a new exclusive three-year contract with his studio and he makes improper advances towards her. That night Valerie finds Reedburn dead at his home and she flees to his neighbours, the Oglanders, for help who promptly call the police and Chief Inspector Japp (played by Philip Jackson) launches a murder inquiry. Hercule Poirot is asked by the film's main financial backer, Prince Paul of Maurania (played by Jack Klaff), Valerie's fiancé, to investigate and prevent their names from being drawn into a scandal that would stop them from getting married. Poirot visits 'The Willows', the Oglanders' home, who tell him that on the night of the murder they had all been playing bridge when Valerie raised the alarm. The astute detective observes that there are only fifty-one playing cards on the table with The King Of Clubs missing. He finds it inside the box, meaning that it hadn't been taken out. "To play bridge for over an hour with only fifty-one cards is not believable", he says. He clearly knows who was responsible for Reedburn's death, but due to the severity of his character he informs Hastings that the murderer(s) will never be caught...
All in all, this is another efficient and fun addition to London Weekend Television's classic series. It provides an insight into the darker side of movie making where powerful studio bosses control and manipulate artists by resorting to tactics like blackmail. The acting is of a high standard with Niamh Cusack especially good as the popular leading lady, Valerie Saintclair, who behind the façade of glitz and glamour, has a skeleton in the closet that would ruin her if it ever got out. David Swift and Gawn Grainger are also noteworthy in their respective roles as the odious studio boss, Henry Reedburn, and the has-been leading man, Ralph Walton, struggling to maintain a career following the advent of talkies, taking to drink and muffing his dialogue on set. We see how Reedburn takes delight in his downfall when he has him fired from his picture and escorted off the premises like a common criminal. David Suchet cleverly portrays all the nuances, eccentricities and exceptional intelligence of Poirot while Hugh Fraser and Philip Jackson complement him with their fine performances as Captain Hastings and Chief Inspector Japp, his closest friends and colleagues. The film has a strong feeling for place and the 1930's period; the art-deco interior of the murdered man's home resembles that of the lavish movie palaces of the era. There are also plenty of vintage sports cars to look at and much of the mystery unfolds against a pleasant autumnal backdrop in the English Home Counties which is well photographed.
All in all, this is another efficient and fun addition to London Weekend Television's classic series. It provides an insight into the darker side of movie making where powerful studio bosses control and manipulate artists by resorting to tactics like blackmail. The acting is of a high standard with Niamh Cusack especially good as the popular leading lady, Valerie Saintclair, who behind the façade of glitz and glamour, has a skeleton in the closet that would ruin her if it ever got out. David Swift and Gawn Grainger are also noteworthy in their respective roles as the odious studio boss, Henry Reedburn, and the has-been leading man, Ralph Walton, struggling to maintain a career following the advent of talkies, taking to drink and muffing his dialogue on set. We see how Reedburn takes delight in his downfall when he has him fired from his picture and escorted off the premises like a common criminal. David Suchet cleverly portrays all the nuances, eccentricities and exceptional intelligence of Poirot while Hugh Fraser and Philip Jackson complement him with their fine performances as Captain Hastings and Chief Inspector Japp, his closest friends and colleagues. The film has a strong feeling for place and the 1930's period; the art-deco interior of the murdered man's home resembles that of the lavish movie palaces of the era. There are also plenty of vintage sports cars to look at and much of the mystery unfolds against a pleasant autumnal backdrop in the English Home Counties which is well photographed.