This episode established David Suchet as a Poirot to be reckoned with.
The mystery itself is not much of a mystery. A cook has disappeared and the frantic family enlists Poirot's help to recover her as good cooks are hard to find.
Poirot is beside himself. The great Poirot, called upon to find a cook. Suchet's rages as Poirot were always comic, so they did not put viewers off the character.
What established Suchet best (besides the smile he flashes in the opening credits) was the manner he uses with the other domestics, putting them at their ease and giving them a grin. Suchet's Poirot is a seducer.
Other Poirots have had their adherents and detractors. In "Murder on the Orient Express" Albert Finney went to great lengths to be the best screen Poirot ever. Peter Ustinov has his fans, despite his ungainly appearance and his teetering Poirot on the verge of being a completely comic character.
Suchet is the first Poirot to try to find the character's humanity (whether Christie gave him much or not). And his shows get off to a good start, just like Jeremy Brett's "Sherlock Holmes." They did not stint on production values. As far as they shot into the depth of the scene they dressed it in period 1930s mode. At the outset of the series, the shows look scrumptious.
Perhaps they wanted a mystery that wasn't much of a mystery to acquaint viewers with the Poirot character, I don't know. I do know David Suchet, despite playing a balding Poirot, steps into the role and makes it enjoyable from the start.
The mystery itself is not much of a mystery. A cook has disappeared and the frantic family enlists Poirot's help to recover her as good cooks are hard to find.
Poirot is beside himself. The great Poirot, called upon to find a cook. Suchet's rages as Poirot were always comic, so they did not put viewers off the character.
What established Suchet best (besides the smile he flashes in the opening credits) was the manner he uses with the other domestics, putting them at their ease and giving them a grin. Suchet's Poirot is a seducer.
Other Poirots have had their adherents and detractors. In "Murder on the Orient Express" Albert Finney went to great lengths to be the best screen Poirot ever. Peter Ustinov has his fans, despite his ungainly appearance and his teetering Poirot on the verge of being a completely comic character.
Suchet is the first Poirot to try to find the character's humanity (whether Christie gave him much or not). And his shows get off to a good start, just like Jeremy Brett's "Sherlock Holmes." They did not stint on production values. As far as they shot into the depth of the scene they dressed it in period 1930s mode. At the outset of the series, the shows look scrumptious.
Perhaps they wanted a mystery that wasn't much of a mystery to acquaint viewers with the Poirot character, I don't know. I do know David Suchet, despite playing a balding Poirot, steps into the role and makes it enjoyable from the start.