Crime stories are very effective material for movies. The dark side of humanity has always attracted the writer’s pen because of its inherent excitement. Detective stories are particularly intriguing, since the readers or viewers get to solve the crime along with a clever sleuth. Arguably, the most famous fictional detective is Sherlock Holmes, who was created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in the Victorian Era. There are many others, of course, including Edgar Allan Poe’s C. Auguste Dupin and Agatha Christie’s two detectives, Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple.
Hercule Poirot, a Belgian detective, was first written by the British authoress in a 1920 novel, “The Mysterious Affair at Styles,” which was her first detective book of any kind. Christie wrote fifty-one short stories, thirty-three novels, and two plays about Poirot, and other writers have continued the story since her death. The famous detective has been brought to life many times on the stage, in movies, on television, and even on the radio. Kenneth Branagh recently played the mustachioed Belgian detective for the third time in “A Haunting in Venice,” a detective story and horror film that came out this month.
The Latest
“A Haunting in Venice” was released on Sept. 15. Kenneth Branagh also played Hercule Poirot in “Murder on the Orient Express” (2017) and “Death on the Nile” (2022). Mr. Branagh directed and co-produced all three films, as well as starring in them as the detective. This latest film was based on the 1969 Christie novel “Hallowe’en Party,” but the film’s adaptation of it is somewhat loose. Along with the title change, the setting was changed to Venice from England. The story was dramatized, as well. This is the first time “Hallowe’en Party” has been the basis of a movie, although it has been adapted for television and radio before.This movie takes place ten years after “Death on the Nile,” shortly after World War II. Hercule Poirot is now retired and living in Venice in a self-imposed but somewhat depressed exile. He meets his old friend Ariadne Oliver (Tina Fey), an Agatha Christie-like writer who claims credit for his fame because she has written about his sleuthing. She invites him to a séance in a haunted old palazzo hosted by supposed medium Joyce Reynolds (Michelle Yeoh), hoping to gain material for another hit book. The palazzo is owned by former opera singer Rowena Drake (Kelly Reilly). At the séance, Joyce plans to summon the spirit of Rowena’s dead daughter, Alicia (Rowan Robinson), to find out who murdered her. During the process, one of the attendees ends up dead. Poirot, back in action, locks everyone in the palazzo until he discovers whether the killer was among the dead or the living.
When writing about recent releases based on classic literature, it’s easy to compare them with classic films based on the same source. Interestingly, although Hercule Poirot was a popular literary character as early as the 1920s, also appearing in plays written in 1928 and 1939, he didn’t make it to the screen until the 1960s. I thought of comparing this movie to one of the fourteen classic Sherlock Holmes movies made in the 1930s-40s starring Basil Rathbone, but none had similar enough plots. Although “A Haunting in Venice” is a detective story, it’s different than your typical whodunit because it adds the terror elements of a dark house horror film. Thus, I decided it was most comparable to “Miracles for Sale” from 1939.
The Greatest
“Miracles for Sale” doesn’t feature one of literature’s most famous detectives, but it was based on the book which introduced a popular series detective, The Great Merlini. The book, published in 1938, was called “Death from a Top Hat” by Clayton Rawson, and it was the first of four books about Merlini. The movie was an MGM film, starring Robert Young as the detective, whose name was changed to Mike Morgan, a.k.a. The Amazing Morgan.Mike Morgan (Young) is a retired expert magician who invents and sells tricks of the trade to other illusionists rather than performing sleight of hand himself. He also makes it his goal to expose charlatans who profit from deceiving gullible people. One day, a mysterious blonde, Judy Barclay (Florence Rice), comes into his shop to beg for his help, but demonologist Dr. Sabbatt’s (Frederick Worlock) presence keeps her from explaining herself. Eager to find out more, Mike follows Judy to Dr. Sabbatt’s apartment building, which she soon flees. That night, the detective discovers Sabbatt was murdered in his locked apartment. Mike works with Inspector Gavigan (Cliff Clark) to unravel the facts, but the retired magician may have to use his own powers of deduction to determine whether or not the killing was supernatural.
These films have many similarities, starting with the fact that they both are about a detective, although only Poirot is or has been a formal investigator. Both men are retired from their professions, Poirot from investigation and Morgan from magic. Both are lured into a mystery and subsequent apparent murder by a woman, Ariadne in the later film and Judy in the earlier. Neither man can resist the drive to solve the case, although Morgan works with a police inspector, while Poirot singlehandedly runs the investigation at the murder site. The most obvious similarity is both feature a murder that is thought to have been possibly committed by a ghost or spirit being, with hints at supernatural occurrences which must be proven or disproved. Naturally, both casts feature an eclectic collection of living murder suspects. Finally, both films feature a séance scene in which the medium (Michelle Yeoh and Gloria Holden, respectively) appears to contact a dead person to find out who murdered her or him.
The Terrifying Difference
“Miracles for Sale” is proof that dark subjects like intrigue, crime, murder, and even occultism could be depicted while the Motion Picture Production Code influenced Hollywood films’ moral content (1934-1954). A Code movie may make chills run up your spine, but it won’t leave you traumatized for days afterward. In contrast, I was terrified after just watching the trailer for “A Haunting in Venice,” which includes more frightening content than the average true horror trailer. The film itself includes a lot of gory violence and frightening imagery, turning what could have been an intriguing, intelligently chilling suspense film into a horrific slasher film that Robert-Ebert.com’s review describes as almost past PG-13.It’s a shame that “A Haunting in Venice” wasn’t made with some artistic restraint, since its premise is very clever. The rapid decline in movie quality since the Code’s demise in the late 1950s is much scarier than the fictional horror stories in modern movies. Compare the current supernatural detective flick with “Miracles for Sale” or another classic whodunnit movie to see the difference!
