RIP Prince

A shock too to hear of the sudden death of Prince (1958-2016), aged 57 (American gossip sites have been speculating on a music superstar who has been ill recently ...). I loved Prince back in the day, he has been rather off the radar for us UK people in recent years. I loved his 1979 album PRINCE with "I Wanna Be Your Lover" and his original "I Feel For You" - even better than the 'Chaka Khan, Chaka Khan' cover version, which defines 1984 for me ....' Prince though was one of those Rock geniuses up there with Elvis, Bowie, Lennon, Michael Jackson and, er, mid-period Madonna - and like Stevie Wonder he had endless songs still to release. His androgynous looks and style were trailblazers too, just like Bowie - to lose them both in the same year barely four months in, is tough.. How we liked those hits and videos, esp. "Sexy MF", "When Doves Cry", "1999", "You Got The Look", Kiss", "Cream" and of course he also wrote "Nothing Compares to U". etc. Like all tortured geniuses he had peaks and troughs as he fought the music scene - rather like Joni Mitchell who retired from it all (He liked Joni too, they got on well). But 57 is far too young to go. Again like Bowie, he had to cope with being seriously ill in recent years .... Its a legacy that we will explore in more detail ... its a good job he did not die yesterday or the news here would be hard pressed to decide which would be the top story, the passing of Prince or British 'national treasure' Victoria Wood, while today is all about The Queen being 90 ....

• Guy Hamilton (1922-2016), aged 93. Another veteran British director, who helmed four Bonds including GOLDFINGER, boys own adventures like FORCE TEN FROM NAVARONE and BATTLE OF BRITAIN, as well as camp delights like EVIL UNDER THE SUN and THE MIRROR CRACK'D. Not a stylist like Losey or Schlesinger so the movie buffs won't be chiming in, but he certainly knew how to create popular entertainments. 

How not to do Agatha Christie ?

Another AND THEN THERE WERE NONE - from the BBC shown three nights after Christmas. Reviewers and some bloggers have liked it (hello Mark), but am I the only one who found it excruciating? - dragged out to three hours, the life seemed sucked out of it. I have not read Christie' original or seen the 1945 film version, but my sister assures me it followed the book faithfully, with everyone dead at the end, leaving a puzzle for the police when they finally get to that deserted island with 10 bodies, off the coast of Devon, in 1939.

Well I much prefer the glossy 60s and 70s versions: TEN LITTLE INDIANS in 1965 where Hugh O'Brien and Shirley Eaton are the main young couple, Fabian and Daliah Lavi provide the glamour and the oldies are Wilfrid Hyde White as the judge and Dennis Price as the doctor, plus Stanley Holloway and Leo Genn. That was a zippy Harry Alan Towers production set in a Swiss mountain top fortress. 
The 1974 AND THEN THERE WERE NONE was a very glossy international production with the bonus of being filmed in Iran, with leads Oliver Reed and Elke Sommer, French stars Stephane Audran and Charles Aznavour (who croaks one of his hits before being the first to expire), Richard Attenborough and Herbert Lom were judge and doctor, and we had not one but two Bond villains: GOLDFINGER Gert Frobe and Adolfo Celi. (see Christie label for more on these).

SPOILERS AHEAD: Both of the above had the main young leads surviving at the end, as that gun had some fake bullet - so they were able to spoil to real killer's plot ...... This new BBC version is very dark and gloomy, cue lots of bad weather and thunderstorms,  but also lots of unnecessary flashbacks, but the casting is the thing here: POLDARK's Aidan Turner shows how to wear a towel - as a low-slung sarong, Douglas Booth - he of the cheekbones one could grate cheese on - is the first to go, Toby Stephens looks very dashing, Sam Neill, Miranda Richardson, and Charles Dance ..... but in all it a long way from those glossy 80s all-star Christie adaptations one can enjoy any time.

Now for the BBCs new WAR AND PEACE, in 6 hours (their previous one in 1972, with a young Anthony Hopkins) ran for 20 episodes .... and includes sex scenes which Tolstoy "forgot to write" according to veteran adapter Andrew Davies ..... we have been warned!

Something camp for the weekend 3: a lesser Agatha Christie

A star-laden Agatha Christie from 1974: AND THEN THERE WERE NONE. We quite like those camp all-star Agatha Christie adaptations popular in the '70s and '80s, started by MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS and getting camper as they went along: DEATH ON THE NILE, EVIL UNDER THE SUN, THE MIRROR'S CRACKED (see Christie label). A lesser one is AND THEN THERE WERE NONE, which features a fascinating round-up of Euro-players, and is set in a luxury hotel in Isfahan, Iran - and features rare footage of the little-seen ancient city of Persepolis, where Alexander the Great hung out. Despite all this, there is something cheap about it though, its very much a minor Christie, but none the less camp for all that. 

A group of ten people, strangers to each other, have all travelled to a hotel located deep in the deserts of Iran. Upon arrival they discover that their host is mysteriously absent. Though some find this odd they decide to make the best of the situation and settle into the isolated but luxurious hotel. But soon they are accused by a tape recording of having committed various crimes in the past which went unpunished by the law. Then one victim dies of poisoning. Then another is strangled .... and the remaining guests deduce that their unseen host is determined to kill them one by one .... and as there is no-one else at the hotel, the killer has to be one of them ..... finally, there are just two left - one of them has to be the killer - or is there a twist ? 

This hoary old Christie chestnut has been done several times. I have not seen the 1940s one, but this 1974 version follows the amusing 1965 British TEN LITTLE INDIANS almost line by line, scene by scene - they are almost comedies. That black and white one was set in an Alpine fortress and had a fascinating 1960s cast with Bond girl Shirley Eaton and Hugh O'Brien, exotic Daliah Lavi, and Fabian, with British stalwarts Dennis Price, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Stanley Holloway and Leo Genn.  

Here in '74 we have Oliver Reed and Elke Sommer as the rather bland leads, with French Stephane Audran and Charles Aznavour, and two Bond villains Gert Frobe and Adolfo Celi, plus Brits Richard Attenborough and Herbert Lom. If you know the twist its reasonably amusing. This one is a Harry Alan Towers polyglot co-production, directed by Peter Collinson. At least it reminds us how much we like the very slinky Stephane Audran, who is marvellous here. Aznavour sings one of his popular hits "Dance in the old fashioned way" before he croaks .... and thats when the fun starts ! Oh, and the voice on the tape machine is Orson Welles ! 

Sunday fun: 2 The Mirror Crack'd.

What fun to get up Sunday mornng, and see THE MIRROR CRACK'D on early tv. I just have to include this hilarious scene when Taylor and Novak try to out-bitch each other. For priceless camp its  almost as good as that scene in VALLEY OF THE DOLLS when Helen Lawson (Susan Hayward) and Neely O'Hara (Patty Duke) meet in the powder room .... (Trash label).

THE MIRROR CRACK'D though is the clunkiest of those all-star Christies, always good for a laugh, with the '50s period detail laid on with a trowel - it lacks the wit and fun of EVIL UNDER THE SUN or DEATH ON THE NILE. Liz and Kim seem to be enjoying themselves while Hudson and Curtis seem sadly diminished, and Angela Lansbury is a very odd Miss Marple.  .... (see Christie label).  

Summer fun: high camp

Is there anything camper than those lush Agatha Christie adaptations, starting with 1974's all-star MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS, as directed by Sidney Lumet. Its spot the stars here (Ingrid Bergman is particularly droll as the rather dim Swedish missionary, and Wendy Hiller a splendid Princess Dragomiroff) ... its a bit overlong and turgid though, as to a degree is DEATH ON THE NILE in '78 though the double act of Bette Davis and Maggie Smith keeps one amused, and Angela Lansbury chewing the scenery as novelist Salome Otterbourne! Mia Farrow is terrific here too, one of the few times I like her. 

The campest of all though has to be 1982's EVIL UNDER THE SUN with Dames Maggie Smith and Diana Rigg both at the top of their form. Its marvellous seeing Maggie in her prime here, and Diana's superbitch Arlena is a wow too, particularly when she wows us with Cole Porter's "You're the Top" as she vamps Nicholas Clay, 
who runs around a lot in those swim-trunks .... his mousey wife Jane Birkin makes a stunning transformation for the climax, while Roddy McDowell essays a vicious queen, and its nice to see old-timers James Mason and Sylvia Miles having a paid vacation in the sun. Marvellous Dennis Quilley is also to hand; its a terrific setting in the Med as well - what's not to love? Ustinov and Niven amuse too, though Albert Finney is just all wrong as the ORIENT EXPRESS Hercule.

THE MIRROR CRACKED in 1980 is the least of them, though generated a lot of publicity at the time, with the teaming of '50s legends Elizabeth Taylor and Kim Novak, both bitching marvellously together. Rock Hudson and Tony Curtis are sadly aged here, and Angela Lansbury is a rather odd Miss Marple ... the English village is nicely depicted, and splendid Margaret Courtenay is ideal as Dolly Bantry, while Elizabeth seems to be chanelling The Queen Mother. These Christies are ideal summer re-views, and are always on show at Christmas and the like. A box of chocolates to hand is also essential for viewing these delirious concoctions.