Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received these books,and giveaway, free of charge, from the author, via Partner in Crime Book Reviews,for review purposes on this blog. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it. All opinions are my own
One Woman's Plot to Watch 201 Christie Adaptations Without Murdering the Director, Screenwriter, Cast, or Her Husband
Synopsis:
Care to match wits with Hercule Poirot? Share tea and gossip with Miss Marple? Chase spies with Tommy and Tuppence? "Agatha Christie, She Watched" will introduce you to must-see movies (and must-avoid) dogs that prove Agatha's genius depicting the hopeful and dark sides of human nature. These movies will tantalize you, mystify you, and make you laugh at the folly of humanity.
Teresa Peschel watched and reviewed 201 adaptations, from the German silent movie "Adventures, Inc." (1929) to "See How They Run" and "Why Didn't They Ask Evans" (2022). Each film was rated for fidelity to the original material and its overall quality. Each review takes up two pages and comes with six cast photos, list of major actors, and known film locations. Foreign movies with English subtitles from India, France, Russia, and Japan are included. We include eight movies in which the fictional Agatha Christie solves murder mysteries, debates Poirot, battles a space wasp (in Doctor Who), and plots to kill her husband's mistress.
“Agatha Christie, She Watched” is the only comprehensive collection of reviews about Christie adaptations. Use it to find the movies made from the novels you love, fill in your movie collection or host an Agatha Christie festival of your own.
Additional Notes from our author: These are film reviews. The films often include all of the above and I say so in my review. I also -- and we warn against this on the first page -- reveal spoilers for films. If I can avoid spoilers, I do but I can't always. The reviews are organized by detective first and then by date of release. Thus, the chapter devoted to Miss Marple begins with "Murder, She Said," (1961) with Margaret Rutherford as Miss Marple. In addition, if a film has a detective inserted who WAS NOT in the original novel, it gets placed in that detective's chapter. Thus, "The Sittaford Mystery", a non-Marple property is found in the Marple chapter. A comprehensive index, along with the detailed table of contents, makes it easy to locate a given review.
Review:
I did not realize there had been so many movies made from Agatha Christie stories! This book was a revelation in just how many there were and how varied they are. I remembered quite a few from my childhood and obviously more from adulthood, but I did not realize how many there were that I have missed. Possibly because we're from the same era, I felt most of the reviews were right on for the movies that I had seen. I quite agree about Sir David Suchet. being the ultimate Hercule Poirot, for example! In fact, reading this book, led me to watch his series about traveling where Agatha Christie traveled (BBC series), It was interesting, because knowing her background and what influenced her, it helped you to understand where some of the movies got things right and where the movies got things really really wrong. The modern adaptations where they're changing the time periods are obviously a bit and miss, but the more successful ones tried to remain as true to the story as they can, including keeping modern conveniences as such, out of the story. The beauty of an Agatha Christie mystery is that she knew how to keep the reader engaged and trying to guess who the suspect was until the resolution came. The reader wants to get to the final because if they haven't guessed it, they want to see who the suspect is. The successful Agatha Christie movies, for the most part hold to that concept, and the ones that don't are the ones that seemed to bomb at the box office. Simple formula, but shocking how many just missed the essence of the story. The author brings in lots of side notes and info about the different books/plays the movies are based on, and any Agatha fan, will want to have this book in their collection! This book will definately make you want to go out and start your own watch/review parties with your friends and family- I think Agatha would be rather bemused by that concept, and eager to join in!
Side note- the author kindly sent me the companion book, International Agatha Christoe, She Watched, which focuses on Chinese, French, German, Hungarian, Indian, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Swedish and Thai versions of Agatha's movies (a small section is in the original book). Obviously there are more animated versions (Asian movies), but there are some surprises in it-for example the Indian version of The Mousetrap, Silently He Comes. If you aren't aware, The Mousetrap is the LONGEST running stage play, and a clause in the film rights means that no movie of it an be made until the stage production ceases for 6 months, and it never has! But foreign studios didn't worry about copyright and this excellent movie was made (it's on Youtube with SUBTITLES). Reviews and side notes, like this make the seocnd book well worth reading for any Agatha fan!
Giveaway:
AGATHA CHRISTIE, SHE WATCHED by Teresa Peschel | Gift Cards
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About the Author:
Teresa Peschel never planned to become a writer, nor did she plan to become an expert on film versions of Agatha Christie stories. Then, as a supportive wife, Teresa read and edited Bill’s annotations to Agatha’s first six novels. A desire to promote the books led to writing movie reviews for the Peschel Press website, which led to Bill suggesting they could publish a collection quickly. Two and a half years later, Agatha Christie, She Watched was born. This book got Teresa — and Bill as her supportive husband — an invitation to speak at the 2024 Agatha Christie festival in England.
Like Agatha Christie, Teresa reinvented herself and because of Agatha Christie, she’s become a better writer.
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Thanks for sharing! This one sounds like it would be fun!
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