The King of Clubs

Film stars and Royalty combine for murder, with Poirot having to solve a possible murder of an odious bully.

It's a lavish production, it has some gorgeous buildings and sets on show, the set of Paul's bedroom is sumptuous. The room in which Mr Reedburn is discovered is also rather special, lots of glass and marble.

It's very well acted as usual, the main cast are on great form, Niamh Cusack is excellent as beautiful young actress Valerie, and the fiendishly handsome Jack Klaff is also very good as Paul.

It's not one of my favourite episodes to be honest, but I find it watchable enough, its not a mystery I feel you'd solve quickly, it does have a few twists and turns.

A pretty interesting, but visually appealing episode. 7/10

How many times have you seen this story? We see a man at his place of business. Clearly not a pleasant man. He orders one of his employees to be fired, and we see the employee come to the man's office and launch an angry attack on the man before being escorted away. We see the employee mutter "I'll show him" before staggering away to get drunk. Later we see the man at his home. A woman comes to his home, taking care not to be seen by a visitor who is just leaving. Then we see the woman entering another house nearby, and the lady of the house is calling the police, apparently to report an incident at the house next door. The detective is called in because the unpleasant man has been found dead in his home. Who is responsible? The woman who was apparently sneaking in? The disgruntled employee? One of the gypsies making camp just down the street? This could be an episode from any detective series made in the last 50 years. The fact that it features David Suchet as Poirot makes it bearable, but it's missing all the extra touches that make this series so entertaining. The writing and acting are not particularly memorable, the clues that lead to the solution have nothing to do with the actual crime, and the solution itself can be predicted from the relationship that the characters have to each other. Nothing wrong with it. Just not very interesting, I'm afraid.

A ruthless studio boss is found dead with a hole in his head. The person who found him? A famous actress, engaged to royalty, who takes refuge in the house next door. Fearing unfavorable publicity which would mean no marriage, the Prince asks for Poirot's help in solving the case.

Good episode in that we see them making a '30s film, though it looks like a bad one. The first leading man, who is also a suspect, was a John Gilbert type, a mustached alcoholic who was big in silents.

Poirot wonders why the actress ran to the house she did, when another one was more convenient, and a couple of other things missed by Inspector Japp just don't add up.

Sumptuous production as usual. The denouement is a little different. Let's just say the King of Clubs is involved.

Poirot goes to the movies as Hastings visits an old friend who is directing a film. The studio boss, Henry Reddburn is an old fashioned tyrant. He fires the over the hill star of the film and wants sexual favours from his leading lady, Valerie Saintclair who is engaged to European royalty.

When Reddburn is found dead in his home, Saintclair is a suspect. She was at Reddburn's house at the time of his death and ran into the cottage behind his house where she is seeking shelter from the family.

Poirot thinks that a card, the king of clubs left behind in the packet is an important clue.

Another episode with sumptuous art decoration, Hasting even makes a comment on modern art which could easily be applied today. You even get to see some old time filming techniques as the studio shoots through a painted glass to give a desert effect.

It all masks a minor story which looked rather flawed to me. It involves Inspector Japp missing certain clues. The denouement was just underwhelming, making this a minor story.

Hercule Poirot and Captain Hastings visit the stage set of a film. Later that evening the head of that studio, Harry Readburn, is found dead in his house. A young actress was apparently seen running from the house around the time of his death, and she is the prime suspect. Chief Inspector Japp thinks it is an open-and-shut case, but Poirot knows otherwise. His biggest clue is a missing card from a game of bridge...

Reasonably interesting. The set up was engaging and the mystery was intriguing. Some of the usual amusing off-topic banter from Hastings (though I still have no idea why Poirot keeps him around - he is quite clueless).

The conclusion is a bit of a damp squib though. The reveal is quite subdued and Poirot's actions after that are quite odd.