The Adventure of the Western Star
- Episode aired Mar 4, 1990
- TV-14
- 50m
IMDb RATING
7.2/10
1.4K
YOUR RATING
After receiving threatening letters, an aristocrat is robbed of her famed diamond in front of Poirot's eyes.After receiving threatening letters, an aristocrat is robbed of her famed diamond in front of Poirot's eyes.After receiving threatening letters, an aristocrat is robbed of her famed diamond in front of Poirot's eyes.
Struan Rodger
- Henrik Van Braks
- (as Straun Rodger)
Jill Goldston
- Street Seller
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- Clive Exton
- Agatha Christie(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- GoofsPoirot is seen placing a card with the words "Mlle. Marie Marvelle." on top of the flowers he has brought with him to the apartment before putting final touches to the tea table. When he gazes at the bouquet before he picks it up later on, the card is nowhere to be seen.
- Quotes
Captain Hastings: You know, you say you have the particular sensitivity to women and all that, Poirot. It seems to me that all you did for Mrs. Marvelle is to lose her her husband.
Hercule Poirot: A blackmailing, adulterous husband who is also the thief. That is such a great loss, Hastings?
Featured review
Season 2: Continues in the vein of the first season to produce a roundly entertaining season
I'm not sure why I never watched Poirot when I was younger, particularly considering how I was basically brought up with Perry Mason and Columbo on Saturday afternoons in front of a good coal fire. Perhaps it was the day that ITV screened it originally, since in my house television on Sundays was generally frowned upon and not encouraged – so while people were enjoying the show it just passed me by. The later "big deal" specials I generally found to be good but I only watched now and again as I did feel like I was walking in on the end of something. Watching the first season for the first time about 25 years after it was made was a real good experience and I was pleased to find that the second season continues in the same vein.
In terms of the plot I cannot comment on the faithfulness of the adaptations but I would say that the episodes are generally very engaging because they are accessible and take the viewer with them. My reluctance with some of the BBC Marple films, for example, always came from the feeling that the focus was to be as difficult as possible and just fill time with crisp Englishness before pulling out the conclusion from the hat. With Poirot I didn't have this feeling because the stories were engaging, developed well and most importantly kept the viewer with it – OK Poirot himself may be ahead of us, but it was never a case of me not knowing what was going on and just waiting for Poirot to tell me. There were maybe a few moments where I wasn't sure how we came to certain conclusions or information, but mostly it was not the case.
That it does this is one thing but I also continue to love the extent to which the show is complimented by light comedy and entertainment. While the mysteries are the main thing, it doesn't take itself too seriously and has lots of nice asides and comic moments and they are often very well done. A simple flicker of confusion across Poirot's face when Japp said he was riding an invisible bike was typical of the very effective comic touches, but of course there is a lot of very funny and enjoyable material in there which is built in and around the mystery stories to make for a very strong package. The best example is the episode The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim which has plenty of great lines but is never better than the short scene starting with the line "I've got a parrot for Mr Poy-rot".
Suchet makes for a great lead again. His mannerisms and delivery of jumbled sentences is very good, as is his little impatience and arrogance but he is excellent the closer you look as he has lots of very fine detail in his delivery which adds to the production. His comic timing is also very good and he frequently made me laugh with the smallest touch. Fraser is forever the sidekick but his performance is also very good and he works very well alongside Suchet to produce a likable partnership. Jackson's Japp is also well pitched – the police character can often be just made bumbling or inept in this type of show (Lestrade in most versions of Sherlock for example) but here he is a good character who again fits well into the dynamic. Support turns throughout the season are generally good. The choice of locations remains good and even though time has aged the look of the episodes, the creation of time and place is very good with excellent costumes and design – locations are very well selected even if a couple of them get re-used as different places in different episodes.
The second season of this show continues the very high quality of the first; good mysteries which are told in an accessible and inclusive way, very good performances, material that is funny and entertaining and production design and detail which adds a feeling of quality and depth to each episode. Very enjoyable and very good viewing.
In terms of the plot I cannot comment on the faithfulness of the adaptations but I would say that the episodes are generally very engaging because they are accessible and take the viewer with them. My reluctance with some of the BBC Marple films, for example, always came from the feeling that the focus was to be as difficult as possible and just fill time with crisp Englishness before pulling out the conclusion from the hat. With Poirot I didn't have this feeling because the stories were engaging, developed well and most importantly kept the viewer with it – OK Poirot himself may be ahead of us, but it was never a case of me not knowing what was going on and just waiting for Poirot to tell me. There were maybe a few moments where I wasn't sure how we came to certain conclusions or information, but mostly it was not the case.
That it does this is one thing but I also continue to love the extent to which the show is complimented by light comedy and entertainment. While the mysteries are the main thing, it doesn't take itself too seriously and has lots of nice asides and comic moments and they are often very well done. A simple flicker of confusion across Poirot's face when Japp said he was riding an invisible bike was typical of the very effective comic touches, but of course there is a lot of very funny and enjoyable material in there which is built in and around the mystery stories to make for a very strong package. The best example is the episode The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim which has plenty of great lines but is never better than the short scene starting with the line "I've got a parrot for Mr Poy-rot".
Suchet makes for a great lead again. His mannerisms and delivery of jumbled sentences is very good, as is his little impatience and arrogance but he is excellent the closer you look as he has lots of very fine detail in his delivery which adds to the production. His comic timing is also very good and he frequently made me laugh with the smallest touch. Fraser is forever the sidekick but his performance is also very good and he works very well alongside Suchet to produce a likable partnership. Jackson's Japp is also well pitched – the police character can often be just made bumbling or inept in this type of show (Lestrade in most versions of Sherlock for example) but here he is a good character who again fits well into the dynamic. Support turns throughout the season are generally good. The choice of locations remains good and even though time has aged the look of the episodes, the creation of time and place is very good with excellent costumes and design – locations are very well selected even if a couple of them get re-used as different places in different episodes.
The second season of this show continues the very high quality of the first; good mysteries which are told in an accessible and inclusive way, very good performances, material that is funny and entertaining and production design and detail which adds a feeling of quality and depth to each episode. Very enjoyable and very good viewing.
helpful•62
- bob the moo
- Mar 4, 2014
Details
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- Runtime50 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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