Agatha Christie Collection featuring Peter Ustinov DVD: Review By Courtney O.

This is an entertaining collection of three made-for-television movie renditions of Agatha Christie novels. In this series Peter Ustinov plays the cleverly intelligent, immodest detective, Hercule Poirot.

The set includes: Thirteen at Dinner (1985), Dead Man's Folly (1986) and Murder In Three Acts (1986).

They are all very good, even if the acting is sometimes less than "Hollywood." Peter Ustinov more than makes up for any shortcomings in other character portrayals. In my own personal opinion, he is the perfect Poirot.

No Special Features. It would have been wonderful to have 'Features' section with a little history on the great sleuthing Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot. Maybe next time?

The movie is: Not Rated. Run Time: 279 minutes, Closed-captioned, Available Subtitles: English, Spanish, Korean. Color, NTSC, Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1

English (Dolby Digital 1.0)

Boxed three-disc set with a head shot of my favorite mustachioed, dapper Belgian sleuth, Hercule Poirot, on the front cover. The back cover has thumbnails of the 3 individual discs along with another equally sexy picture of Monsieur Poirot. Each of the 3 slim cases inside features the detective on the cover and on the back, shots of the cast members, the movie description, and some technical specs. Warner Bros. made a very nice little package definitely worth adding to your mystery collection.

Bring out the tapas, Manchego, and Valdepenas...the weather is getting colder, so go ahead and light the fire. Cuddle up and enjoy. When you're watching Dead Man's Folly, look out for the beautifully painted ceilings in the English manor house at West Wycombe Park, Buckinghamshire, where this movie was filmed, and which was once inhabited by Sir Francis Dashwood. While you're at it, check out the very interesting history of Sir Francis.