Triangle at Rhodes

I know that I've read the short story on which the Triangle at Rhodes is based, but fortunately, I don't remember anything about it. I say "fortunately" because I would have hated to have any of this wonderful episode ruined. It's so good. In this one, Poirot is vacationing in Rhodes when one of the other guests, Valentine Chantry (Annie Lambert), is murdered. As the poisoned drink had been ordered some time earlier by Commander Chantry (Jon Cartwright) for himself, it appears to most everyone that he, not his wife, was the intended victim. The police immediately suspect another guest, Douglas Gold (Peter Settelen), based on his infatuation and flirtations with Valentine. He's arrested and appeals to Poirot for help. Can Poirot unravel this love triangle?

I'll start where the other reviewers have - the scenery. It's simply gorgeous. This is big-budget, theatrical movie quality - not something you expect on television. I was immediately reminded of the outstanding location shots from the 1982 Poirot film Evil Under the Sun. It's really that good. But as much as I was impressed with the wide-open land and seascape photography, I equally enjoyed the scenes on the tight streets of the old city. The scene with the blind Italian woman in her cramped house is as expertly filmed as anything in the episode. Everything looks amazing. The direction is quite good and the episode has a nice flow. The mystery elements work and (because I can't remember reading the story) the finale really surprise me. Other technical aspects (lighting, set decoration, costuming, etc.) are also top notch.

As far as the acting goes, this is another aspect of Triangle at Rhodes I really enjoyed. The cast, including the amazing David Sucheet, is as good as I've seen in the series. Two members of the cast (however) really stood out to me: Annie Lambert as the doomed Valentine and Frances Low, whose Pamela Lyall fills the Hastings role more than capably. In fact, I enjoyed Ms. Low's performance so much, I didn't miss Hastings at all. Toward the end, when Pamela says to Poirot, "I hope we shall meet again.", I couldn't have agreed more. But, alas, this is her only appearance. What a shame.

A very strong 8/10 from me.

Poirot, Hastings and Miss Lemon have all gone off on holiday. Poirot's in Rhodes having a well earned rest, but of course The great Detective cannot escape one thing, murder.

The scenery is utterly breathtaking, no studio based sets here, beautifully filmed in Greece. It all works impeccably well for the time period. There are some wonderful costumes on show, it's a good reminder of how glamorous the era was, Annie Lambert (Valentine) looks sensational at times.

I love the music throughout the episode, so different, it adds to the exotic feel of the episode.

Fourteen minutes in you see that Poirot's newspaper is blank. It only has a front cover.

I love Triangle at Rhodes, not just for the visuals, I love the story too, I love the twist in the tale. It's an incredibly watchable episode. 9/10

As the two previous reviewers have mentioned, it is the beautiful photography of the beautiful island of Rhodes that makes this episode special. Although I think that the mystery with its well done misdirection is good. This happens to be one of the very few short stories that I actually remembered how it ended even though it has been decades since I read it. The story is a simple one - two couples, the Chantrys and the Golds meet on a beach on Rhodes and later, one of them is poisoned. But was the "right" person poisoned or was the intended victim someone else? Frances Low as Poirot's sidekick does a very good job but I prefer the shows with the regular sidekicks of Hastings, Japp and Lemon and the humor and interest they add to the shows. But there are no bad Poirot shows only some that are not as good as others.

As I have said before, London Weekend Television lavished money on this series, it really was no expense spared.

We are still in the first series and Poirot has gone on vacation in Rhodes, meaning overseas location shooting.

Rhodes at the time was under Italian control and Poirot finds himself investigating the murder of beautiful enchantress Valentine Chantry (Annie Lambert) by a poisoned drink. It seems her husband might had been the intended victim and the main suspect is Douglas Gold (Peter Settelen.) Gold is visiting the island with his wife but he is mesmerised by Valentine and soon arouses her husband's jealousy as well as upsetting his own wife.

Poirot is stripped here of his regulars with no Hastings and Japp. He does have a character who he gets friendly with during his investigation. The drama is leisurely paced, sumptuously filmed and tries to wrong foot you with a wrong kind of triangle.

Towards the beginning of this episode, Poirot, while on vacation on the island of Rhodes, points out to a fellow tourist that he is intrigued by the behavior of English people on vacation in foreign countries. On this point, as so many others, I am inclined to agree. Any government official who happened to watch this episode could certainly be excused for eying any potential English tourist with grave suspicion.

Right from the beginning, and throughout the episode, one is struck by the stunning depiction of the location. From the costumes, to the archaeological sites, to the shots of the sunset, they could have won awards for the cinematography alone. And, because the story is set in the mid 1930's, there are a number of references to the growing unrest of the time. (Apparently Rhodes was then part of the Italian empire.) In some ways, the location makes up for the overly melodramatic acting and the curious sequence of events. In this adaptation of the story, Poirot is scheduled to leave the island and is at the harbor ready to get on a boat when the murder takes place at the hotel. Despite being stopped by harbor officials and "detained", apparently suspected of espionage, when someone from the hotel comes running to fetch him to help solve the murder, Poirot merely hands his business card to the official and, not only is he allowed to return to the hotel unimpeded, but shortly afterword he is seen being informed about the case by the Italian police inspector. Really? So, the plot holes are an issue, but I was so charmed by the location, the scenes of people shouting in Greek and Italian, and the blatant depiction of the English making idiots of themselves, capped off by the line I've used for the title of this review, that I can overlook those other details this time.