Poirot (TV Series) The King of Clubs (1989) User Reviews

A nice episode, slightly more style then substance.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 7/10 · 27 October 2015]

Film stars and Royalty combine for murder, with Poirot having to solve a possible murder of an odious bully.

It's a lavish production, it has some gorgeous buildings and sets on show, the set of Paul's bedroom is sumptuous. The room in which Mr Reedburn is discovered is also rather special, lots of glass and marble.

It's very well acted as usual, the main cast are on great form, Niamh Cusack is excellent as beautiful young actress Valerie, and the fiendishly handsome Jack Klaff is also very good as Paul.

It's not one of my favourite episodes to be honest, but I find it watchable enough, its not a mystery I feel you'd solve quickly, it does have a few twists and turns.

A pretty interesting, but visually appealing episode. 7/10

"To get level with a snake, you have to crawl on the ground"

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 5 May 2012]

I may be biased in liking this episode, as I have always loved Agatha Christie and the Poirot series in particular. The King of Clubs is not one of my favourites, I always admire it for how interesting it is but the ending has always underwhelmed me, mainly not only because the culprit is left unpunished(not a problem as such, but I do prefer it when he/she gets his/her comeuppance) but there have been more ingenious and suspenseful build-ups before and since(of season 1 Four-and Twenty Blackbirds and Third Floor Flat were very simple yet were still effective because of it). However, it is interesting for its look at the movie industry from the era and for the use of the filming through painting on glass technique for the effects of the opening sequence. It is as ever sumptuously made and hauntingly scored, with an on the whole clever story and intelligent, humorous dialogue("you're the matter you skunk" is another gem of the episode as well the one above). The acting is of the usual high standard, not just from the outstanding Poirot of David Suchet but also the amusing Hastings of Hugh Fraser and Japp of Phillip Jackson, Niamh Cusack as Valerie and especially a suitably tyrannical David Swift as Reedburn. Overall, a very good episode, if not quite a great one. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Minor Poirot yarn

[gridoon2024 · 6/10 · 5 June 2013]

A bossy studio boss is killed with a blow to the back of his head. The body is discovered in his library by a famous actress, who runs and finds refuge in a nearby house. Fearing that she might be implicated in a scandal, her fiancé, who also happens to be a prince, asks Poirot to find out what really happened. A minor episode in the "Poirot" series, which means it's still very watchable, but there are hardly any outstanding moments or lines in it. The clue of the title must be one of the easiest Poirot ever encountered, and his theory about what occurred on the night of the murder is largely based on a bloodstain that a) we the viewers had never seen before (unfair), and b) it seems hard to believe that Japp and his boys could have missed it even in their routine examination of the crime scene. **1/2 out of 4.

interesting Poirot from 1989

[blanche-2 · 7/10 · 28 January 2014]

A ruthless studio boss is found dead with a hole in his head. The person who found him? A famous actress, engaged to royalty, who takes refuge in the house next door. Fearing unfavorable publicity which would mean no marriage, the Prince asks for Poirot's help in solving the case.

Good episode in that we see them making a '30s film, though it looks like a bad one. The first leading man, who is also a suspect, was a John Gilbert type, a mustached alcoholic who was big in silents.

Poirot wonders why the actress ran to the house she did, when another one was more convenient, and a couple of other things missed by Inspector Japp just don't add up.

Sumptuous production as usual. The denouement is a little different. Let's just say the King of Clubs is involved.

Anaclitic Reaction.

[rmax304823 · 6/10 · 10 May 2014]

First-season Poirot, not at all bad but not outstanding. The story takes us into Parade Studios, where a kind of "Sheik of Araby" is being filmed. The director is a real brow-beating rat who tries to seduce the pretty young actress by blackmailing her about a secret which will never be revealed on this page.

The authoritarian scoundrel is found on the floor of his room, dead, his occiput stoved in, after an argument with the pretty young leading lady and after the firing of his fading older star, who looks like Errol Flynn. As is so often the case, nobody has any real reason to like the victim.

Poirot has the fulgurating intuition of Lieutenant Columbo. He notices that all the curtains of the room in which the crime was committed were drawn closed except one. And that one curtain was supposed to have been drawn closed with all the rest. Ah, yes -- but why? The pretty young actress evidently discovered the body and ran to the nearest house whose lights she saw through a copse of trees. And when Poirot and Hastings visit the neighbors' house, the occupants claim that they'd been playing bridge. BUT -- Poirot, ever alert, notices that the deck they'd been playing with contained only fifty-one cards. (Kids: That means one card was missing, the eponymous king of clubs.) When Poirot realizes this, he looks up from the card table and beams with satisfaction -- the crime, she is solved! Except that there was no crime. Well, none worth bothering with except maybe mayhem, fleeing the scene of a crime, abetting a fugitive, obstruction of justice, and first-degree fibbing. I'm still mulling over the meaning of the missing card, which eluded me.

I enjoyed it, despite its relatively ordinary quality. I enjoyed watching Hastings trying to explain a piece of cubist sculpture to Poirot: "They say the artist shows all sides at once; that way you don't have to walk round the back to look at it." I enjoyed the names in the cast list, right out of an old British novel: Niamh Cusack, Jack Klaff, Rosie Timson, Gawn Grainger, Abigail Cruttenden, and Sean Pertwee. They might all have been born in Lower Muckle-on-Yare.

Reasonably interesting

[grantss · 7/10 · 29 July 2016]

Hercule Poirot and Captain Hastings visit the stage set of a film. Later that evening the head of that studio, Harry Readburn, is found dead in his house. A young actress was apparently seen running from the house around the time of his death, and she is the prime suspect. Chief Inspector Japp thinks it is an open-and-shut case, but Poirot knows otherwise. His biggest clue is a missing card from a game of bridge...

Reasonably interesting. The set up was engaging and the mystery was intriguing. Some of the usual amusing off-topic banter from Hastings (though I still have no idea why Poirot keeps him around - he is quite clueless).

The conclusion is a bit of a damp squib though. The reveal is quite subdued and Poirot's actions after that are quite odd.

Interesting and complicated Poirot mystery

[SimonJack · 9/10 · 9 March 2018]

As most fiction writers of the 20th century and since, Agatha Christie wrote a few stories set around the theater or silver screen. "The King of Clubs" is one such film. It's not the only one in which Hercule Poirot must solve the mystery, but it's a very good one. The intrigue involves a larger number of people, and therefor possible suspects.

These comments must be tabbed for spoilers because to say anything further about it being a murder mystery would be inaccurate. It has all the dressings of it. But Poirot discovers the truth and it must remain hidden from the public and, therefore the police as well. It's a very interesting case. It's not a matter of injustice or of justice not being done. It's just that the "murder" of Henry Reedburn was not a murder at all, but an accident. After Prince Paul socked him, he fell and hit his head on a chair, and that is what killed him. But to make that all known would have put the prince and Valerie Saintclair in the public eye. So, Poirot was protecting their love and intended marriage from scandal, which would have brought the scorn of his family and prohibition against marrying Valerie.

It's a very clever plot and the story is riveting. The audience doesn't get the picture until the end, but as usual, Hercule Poirot's grey cells have put it all together. A missing king of clubs is the key for Poirot to unravel this complicated mystery. This is one story that could have been made into a full-length film.

At the very end, Poirot says to Captain Hastings, "The case of Mr. Reedburn will remain, I fear, one of that great body of unsolved cases." Chief Inspector Japp is in this episode. At one point, he says to Poirot, "Little grey cells are all very nice, Poirot, but it's dogged as does it." Poirot replies, "Yes, well thank you very much, inspector, I will try and remember that." As an aside, it struck me that this is the only time in the many episodes that Hercule Poirot or anyone has called Japp "inspector," and not "chief inspector."

One other favorite line appears at the end. When Hastings is befuddled by the unfolding outcome, Poirot says, "My friend, you are barking up the wrong bush."

Poirot makes excuses for a man's death

[ctyankee1 · 9 July 2015]

I like David Suchet who plays Poirot especially his eyes and mustache. The cases are usually interesting and full of suspense.

A man that is connected with a movie studio is found dead and Inspector Japp and Poirot are involved in investigating the crime.

It so happens that one of the actresses goes to the home of the man and finds him dead then runs next store to a neighbors house.

After Poirot talks to the neighbors and the actress who is staying in the house he finds that their stories are suspicious. He also finds a newspaper clip in the dead-man's office that can explain a source of blackmail on the family where the actress went and also on the actress.

It seems in the end Poirot explains that the dead man died of head wounds from a fight. Poirot knows who the man had the fight with and exclaims this death was an accident not murder so no investigation is needed. Captains Hastings objects regarding the cause of death but Poirot does does not intend to tell the police what he knows and announces the case be "unsolved." He made me sick he was so happy with himself.

What a big disappointment for a great investigator to let people that caused the death of a man not be interviewed and also get off the hook by calling the death an "accident."

"My friend, you are barking up the wrong bush."

[bensonmum2 · 6/10 · 16 July 2015]

Not one of the my favorite episodes, but I did find The King of Clubs satisfactory up to a point. The set-up is great - Henry Reddburn, a studio boss (and an absolute horrid man), is found dead on his library floor with his head bashed in. Poirot is asked by a friend to help with the investigation as his fiancé was the person who discovered the body. But there are plenty of other suspects - everyone at the studio loathed the man. It's a classic start to a Poirot plot. Poirot investigations and questioning of those involved were as enjoyable as ever. I even followed his thinking on the King of Clubs clue and knew, like Poirot, what it meant. So, events in this episode were progressing nicely and just the way I like. But then we come to the end. I won't spoil things, but I felt so unfulfilled, for lack of a better word. It's not the kind of ending a Poirot episode should have. (I'd really love to be more specific, but that would be giving far too much away. Sorry.)

Anyway, there's still a lot here to enjoy. The acting is top notch. I was especially impressed with Niamh Cusack and David Swift. They easily held their own with the series' regulars. The sets were impressive. I was struck by the contrast between Reedburn's modernistic looking home and the more traditional, understated Willows next door. I also enjoyed taking a quick look at some the early filming techniques, like filming through painted glass. Interesting stuff. And, I got a kick out of Hastings attempt to explain a piece of modern art to Poirot.

Overall, a 6/10 from me.

Not the strongest episode but good production

[Kingslaay · 6/10 · 8 May 2020]

I am a big fan of Hercule Poirot and these productions are easy and enjoyable to watch. Great sets and good performances. The weak link is the episode and the turn it took. It was reasonable enough to watch but the end was anti-climatic. It had its twists and turns but the events and set ups were easy enough to follow. Perhaps the public's views on these incidents were different back then or maybe Poirot has a unique moral code. But I found it hard to swallow when Poirot cast a blind eye to what he called an accident. A man, despite being a terrible one, was dead and there should be an investigation. But Poirot says its not the same as Murder. Yes but what about manslaughter? Poirot's behaviour is odd in visiting the actress as if nothing happened. Somewhat enjoyable yet bizarre.

Forgettable

[kaberi-893-642316 · 7/10 · 11 September 2015]

How many times have you seen this story? We see a man at his place of business. Clearly not a pleasant man. He orders one of his employees to be fired, and we see the employee come to the man's office and launch an angry attack on the man before being escorted away. We see the employee mutter "I'll show him" before staggering away to get drunk. Later we see the man at his home. A woman comes to his home, taking care not to be seen by a visitor who is just leaving. Then we see the woman entering another house nearby, and the lady of the house is calling the police, apparently to report an incident at the house next door. The detective is called in because the unpleasant man has been found dead in his home. Who is responsible? The woman who was apparently sneaking in? The disgruntled employee? One of the gypsies making camp just down the street? This could be an episode from any detective series made in the last 50 years. The fact that it features David Suchet as Poirot makes it bearable, but it's missing all the extra touches that make this series so entertaining. The writing and acting are not particularly memorable, the clues that lead to the solution have nothing to do with the actual crime, and the solution itself can be predicted from the relationship that the characters have to each other. Nothing wrong with it. Just not very interesting, I'm afraid.

The King of Clubs

[Prismark10 · 5/10 · 5 August 2018]

Poirot goes to the movies as Hastings visits an old friend who is directing a film. The studio boss, Henry Reddburn is an old fashioned tyrant. He fires the over the hill star of the film and wants sexual favours from his leading lady, Valerie Saintclair who is engaged to European royalty.

When Reddburn is found dead in his home, Saintclair is a suspect. She was at Reddburn's house at the time of his death and ran into the cottage behind his house where she is seeking shelter from the family.

Poirot thinks that a card, the king of clubs left behind in the packet is an important clue.

Another episode with sumptuous art decoration, Hasting even makes a comment on modern art which could easily be applied today. You even get to see some old time filming techniques as the studio shoots through a painted glass to give a desert effect.

It all masks a minor story which looked rather flawed to me. It involves Inspector Japp missing certain clues. The denouement was just underwhelming, making this a minor story.

Efficient and fun addition to the series - well acted.

[jamesraeburn2003 · 7/10 · 16 August 2023]

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.

A little flat here

[VetteRanger · 7/10 · 28 February 2023]

Right from the start of this story you know the man who must die ... a movie director who seems intent on bullying, demeaning, and generally making an ass of himself to everyone on the set and in the production.

With the complication of a Prince engaged to the female lead and a leading man who can't remember his lines and is being fired, you know it can't take long.

Poirot and Hastings just happen to be visiting the set when the death occurs. There is a bit of a kerfluffle over witnesses who can't be witnesses and a card game that couldn't have been played.

And there is a dead body that wasn't killed in the traditional ways of murder. And that's about it. I enjoy most of these shows but this one just seemed to spin its wheels without ever getting anywhere.