The Man in the Brown Suit

Knowing perfectly this is not and extraordinary movie, I have liked it anyway.

I find it especially light even sweet...I have been loving the book very much which is far better than the movie but I think every woman will like the romantic female (zimbalist) leading the film, though seeing the movie imagination has to work a little bit further.

The advantage of seeing this film in 2005 is that although it isn't the the 1930s period piece it should be, it's so screamingly outdated 1980s through-and-through that you still enjoy quite a "vintage" feel.

Various plot details have been adjusted, but it's still fairly true to the text. The back-story is properly there, nicely simplified. Zimbalist (Anne Beddingfeld) isn't quite gamine enough for Beddingfeld, she looks rather motherly against Dutton (The Man in the Brown Suit) in several scenes, but all in all gives a solid performance. Dutton is good eye-candy and is properly brooding, like his book version, but his voice is disappointingly light and he's not the most credible action hero. You can't really imagine him doing it tough in the Brazilian jungle, at any rate. Pedants will note that he is also not "markedly brachycephalic".

McClanahan (Suzy Blair) is basically replaying "Blanche" from the Golden Girls here, and as such is outstanding, possibly the most enjoyable thing in the film. Ken Howard (Gordon Race) isn't quite what one imagines from the book, and his romantic intentions have also been realigned, but in a way that makes for a more satisfying ending.

No surprise they change the ending vis-a-vis The Man's inheritance to please an American audience, however. It is arguably more fairy-tale like the way the film has done it.

Getting hold of this film was a nightmare, after having only seen half of it on TV years back. In the end I got it via Sendit.com, but it took nearly a year on their Search list before a copy came in, and then was only available in VHS format. I actually had to go and buy a player just for this film, (which luckily was worth it). It would be brilliant if some company could start printing DVDs-on-demand for minority interest/cult films such as this.

Uneven Agatha Christie adaptation with great locales, a swift adventure pace, and an odd assortment of acting styles from an equally odd assortment of then popular TV stars. Ken Howard ("The White Shadow") does a Humphrey Bogart spoof, Tony Randall ("The Odd Couple") does comedy skit impersonations, Rue McClanahan ("Golden Girls") plays her familiar Blanche character, Edward Woodward ("The Equalizer") is doing light theater, and Stephanie Zimbalist ("Remington Steele") at times looks like Pinocchio with wooden legs trying to balance on her two feet. I can't tell if the film was badly miscast (Tony Randall's role should really been done with an unknown unrecognizable actor), badly scripted, or just bad direction choices. My guess, a little of each. Imagine the director telling each of his actors that they were in a different type of film (spoof, mystery, adventure, drama, comedy, etc...) and you get an idea of what happens on screen. Still, the pace, humor, and locales actually make this one of the most enjoyable Christie inspired efforts and one you won't likely be nodding off to. Maybe there is a method to the madness afterall, or at least a purpose. I taped this film during it's original broadcast in 1989 and still watch it from time to time as a guilty pleasure. Go figure.

This is definitely nostalgic and reminiscent of those great unreal late 70s mystery-dramas, but this is IN NO WAY related to the Christie's book. The book is set in the early 1920s and deals with an orphan who spends her last few dollars to travel by ship to South Africa after witnessing an accident in the tube station and finding a scrap of paper (referencing the ship) on his body. This '89 version could have held its own as a made for TV piece and need not try to take credit as any sort of adaptation of the novel - because it definitely isn't. There are some great moments in this one though - the crossdresser is great but Zimbalist is FAR too precocious and the plot is ridiculous (it's filled with unreal 70s style nonsense - getting on the wrong plane by accident and ending up in Egypt for one, among others.) But all in all, it's cute if you like that early 80s made-for-TV mystery. And, incidentally, UK TV plays it periodically so even if you didn't tape it off American TV in 1989, you could still catch it from time to time in England.

"The Man in the Brown Suit", a made-for-TV movie adapted from an Agatha Christie novel, is lightweight entertainment. While its not quite in the same league as the great 1978 theatrical release "Death on the Nile" or even 1974's "Murder on the Orient Express", it's still an interesting murder mystery. Stephanie Zimbalist stars as a woman looking for adventure in Egypt. She stumbles across an accident that is linked to a recent murder. She follows a clue onto a cruise ship that features the usual assortment of odd, colorful characters. Among the passengers she meets: Edward Woodward as a man of English royalty; Rue McClanahan as a southern belle (who at times seems to be playing her "Golden Girls" character Blanche); Tony Randall as a reverend with a awkward speaking voice; and Ken Howard as a CIA operative who's tracking the mystery himself. She also meets the mystery man of the title. Most of the performances are good except for Randall who's miscast badly (especially when he turns up in a couple of different roles that I won't go into), and the film for the most part is entertaining. Worth a look if you can find it on TV.

*** (out of four)