Agatha Christie on Screen

This book is a comprehensive exploration of 90 years of film and television adaptations of the world's best-selling novelist's work. Drawing on extensive archival material, it offers new information regarding both the well-known and forgotten screen adaptations of Agatha Christie's stories, including unmade and rare adaptations, some of which have been unseen for more than half a century. This history offers intriguing insights into the discussions and debates that surrounded many of these screen projects - something that is brought to life through previously unpublished correspondence from Christie herself and a new wide-ranging interview with her grandson, Mathew Prichard. Agatha Christie on Screen takes the reader on a journey from little known silent film adaptations, through to famous screen productions including 1974's Murder on the Orient Express, as well as the television series of the Poirot and Miss Marple stories and, most recently, the BBC's acclaimed version of And Then There Were None.                                               

List of contents

Introduction.-  PART I. Destination Unknown.- Chapter 1. The Silent Adventures.- Chapter 2. Poirot Comes to the Silver Screen.- PART II. Appointment with Death.- Chapter 3. The Early Television Adaptations.- Chapter 4. New Prospects and Problems in Television.- PART III. Wasps' Nest.- Chapter 5. Christie Films Make an Impact.- Chapter 6. Margaret Rutherford as Miss Marple.- PART IV. Evil Under the Sun.- Chapter 7. A New Era for Agatha Christie Films.- Chapter 8. Peter Ustinov as Hercule Poirot.- PART V. Partners in Crime.- Chapter 9. Christie Comes Back to Television.- Chapter 10. New Approaches.- PART VI. In a Glass Darkly.- Chapter 11. Agatha Christie's Miss Marple.- Chapter 12. Agatha Christie's Poirot.- PART VII. Hidden Horizon.- Chapter 13. European Adaptations.- Chapter 14. Adaptations in the Rest of the World.- PART VIII. While theLight Lasts.- Chapter 15. Christie with a Twist.- Chapter 16. Looking to the Future.                                          

About the author

Dr Mark Aldridge is a senior lecturer in Film and Television at Southampton Solent University, UK, specialising in film and television history. Previous publications include The Birth of British Television, also published by Palgrave Macmillan. He has been a fan of Agatha Christie since he first saw Agatha Christie's Poirot when he was seven.                                               

Summary

This book is a comprehensive exploration of 90 years of film and television adaptations of the world’s best-selling novelist’s work. Drawing on extensive archival material, it offers new information regarding both the well-known and forgotten screen adaptations of Agatha Christie’s stories, including unmade and rare adaptations, some of which have been unseen for more than half a century. This history offers intriguing insights into the discussions and debates that surrounded many of these screen projects – something that is brought to life through previously unpublished correspondence from Christie herself and a new wide-ranging interview with her grandson, Mathew Prichard. Agatha Christie on Screen takes the reader on a journey from little known silent film adaptations, through to famous screen productions including 1974’s Murder on the Orient Express, as well as the television series of the Poirot and Miss Marple stories and, most recently, the BBC’s acclaimed version of And Then There Were None.                                               

Additional text

“It is extremely well written and very accessible to readers, both academic and general. … This book is special for two reasons. First, it is an excellent example of how to balance scholarship with accessibility for both academic and general readers. Aldridge’s book is thoroughly enjoyable to read and comprehensive in its analysis. Secondly, Aldridge focuses on both film and television adaptations, proving successfully that one can analyse both media effectively in the same context.” (Llewella Chapman, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol. 38 (1), 2018)

“This has been a book I have been dipping into over the past few months and for anyone who is interested in film and TV adaptations of Agatha Christie’s work then this is certainly the book to buy. It covers adaptations as early as 1928 and as late as the BBC’s And Then There Were None adaptation in 2015 and it even has two chapters devoted to non-UK and USA adaptations. … So overall I would recommend this book.” (crossexaminingcrime, crossexaminingcrime.wordpress.com, March, 2017)      

Report

"It is extremely well written and very accessible to readers, both academic and general. ... This book is special for two reasons. First, it is an excellent example of how to balance scholarship with accessibility for both academic and general readers. Aldridge's book is thoroughly enjoyable to read and comprehensive in its analysis. Secondly, Aldridge focuses on both film and television adaptations, proving successfully that one can analyse both media effectively in the same context." (Llewella Chapman, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol. 38 (1), 2018)

"This has been a book I have been dipping into over the past few months and for anyone who is interested in film and TV adaptations of Agatha Christie's work then this is certainly the book to buy. It covers adaptations as early as 1928 and as late as the BBC's And Then There Were None adaptation in 2015 and it even has two chapters devoted to non-UK and USA adaptations. ... So overall I would recommend this book." (crossexaminingcrime, crossexaminingcrime.wordpress.com, March, 2017)      

Product details

• Authors: Mark Aldridge
• Publisher: Palgrave UK
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 22.10.2016
• EAN: 9781349676958
• ISBN: 978-1-349-67695-8
• No. of pages: 377
• Series: Crime Files; Springer Palgrave Macmillan; Crime Files
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature; Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > English linguistics / literary studies