There are few authors who are more associated with the genre of the mystery novel than Agatha Christie. During her long life, she wrote many mystery stories, though some of her most popular books center on either her private detective Hercule Poirot or the spinster Miss Jane Marple.
Two of her novels, Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile have received prestige cinematic treatment in recent years, and so it’s worth taking a look to see which of the other acclaimed novelist’s works deserve a similar adaptation.
Appointment With Death
Appointment with Death is one of Christie’s best novels, and it has already been successfully adapted into a feature-length movie with Peter Ustinov (it remains one of the best adaptations of Christie's work). It focuses on Poirot’s attempts to uncover who was responsible for the death of the domineering and terrifying tyrant of an American family. What’s more, it features an exotic setting, this time in the Middle East, so it would fit in quite well with the aesthetic already established by movies like Death on the Nile.
Evil Under The Sun
Some of Christie’s best books have a little bit of everything: theft, mistaken identity, and of course the central murder. Evil Under the Sun is one of those books and, like Appointment with Death, it was made into a successful movie with Ustinov. Given the many twists and turns that the plot takes as Poirot gets ever closer to discovering who was responsible, this is the perfect novel for Branagh to attempt to make, and it’s easy to imagine it being filled with numerous A-list movie stars.
Curtain
Curtain is easily one of the best, and saddest, of the Poirot novels, since it is the last case that the venerable detective ever solved. As with many of Christie’s later works, it shows Poirot thinking a great deal about aging and dying, and the enemy that he faces is one of the subtlest and most diabolical in his long career.
If and when Branagh decides to retire from playing this particular character, he should consider adapting this particular novel as his swan song.
Murder In Mesopotamia
Given the fact that she spent quite a lot of time in the Middle East and elsewhere on archaeological digs, it’s not surprising that Christie would put that experience to use in her novels, as she does in Murder in Mesopotamia. There are several grisly murders in this novel, which would make it an ideal fit for the big-screen treatment (it would certainly keep the audience guessing). And the revelation of the true murderer is suitably shocking, relying as it does on another instance of someone stealing another person’s identity.
Death In The Clouds
Although some of Christie’s novels can take many twists and turns as Poirot draws closer to his intended target, Death in the Clouds is a rather simpler affair. Nevertheless, there are at least two murders in the book, with some rather unusual connections.
Thus, it would be fairly easy to adapt it into a lush production of the sort that Branagh has already shown himself very adept at making, especially since the original murder takes place in an airplane and the action takes place in several different locations.
Cards On The Table
Even though many of Christie’s novels involve travel of some sort, Cards on the Table is a bit of an exception. Instead, most of the action, including the murder of a man who has a habit of accruing secrets about his guests, takes place during a card game. Even though there are only a limited number of suspects, the novel still keeps the reader guessing until the very end as to who was responsible for the killing. Though it made one of the better episodes of the ITV adaptation of Poirot, it would also be suitable for a big-screen adaptation.
A Murder Is Announced
There have been many actresses who played the venerable and sharp-minded Miss Marple, so it’s easy to imagine A Murder is Announced making a good big-screen movie. Like all of the best of Christie’s novels, there’s something more than a little tragic about the final revelation of just who was responsible for the several murders that take place during the action. The novel also features a very eclectic group of characters, rendering it an even better candidate for the Death on the Nile treatment.
The Mirror Crack’d From Side To Side
This is another Christie novel that has already been made into a big-screen movie, which starred none other than Elizabeth Taylor in one of her best roles. The novel focuses on a movie star who may or may not have committed murder. It is also based on a real-life incident in which a Hollywood actress contracted a perilous disease because of a fan. Given the wide range of characters that appear in the movie, as well as the aura of Hollywood glamor that is central to the plot, it would be an ideal candidate for a movie adaptation.
The Big Four
Even though many of Christie’s novels are straight-up mysteries, The Big Four is a bit of an interesting case, because it focuses more on espionage and on the threat of global organizations controlling the actions of many people. In that sense, it is very unlike other Poirot mysteries. However, it’s precisely the fact that it doesn’t fit into the other, more typical novels that makes it such an ideal choice for those who want to adapt something new and interesting for the screen.
A Caribbean Mystery
For the most part, Miss Marple is the type of person that stays at home in England. A Caribbean Mystery, however, sees her going to an island in the Caribbean, where she has to solve two murders that take place. Given that so many of the other big-screen adaptations of Christie’s work – including Death on the Nile – succeed because of the fact that they are set in an exotic locale, that would make this an exemplary addition to the cinematic Christie canon.