Autumn in August pays a call on Northanger Abbey

For our final matinee of Autumn in August this year, the venue chosen is none other than Jane Austen’s posthumous scary satire known as Northanger Abbey.

While the 1987 version of this story does have it’s strange charms, that film is more suited for those seeking a Mystery Science Theater experience (which I do like!) than a real attempt at bringing this lively little adventure to cinematic life like the 2007 adaptation before us today.

Our leading lady is Catherine Morland (Felicity Jones) who leads a rather quiet life with her family and friends and whose knowledge of the world comes from the Gothic novels that she eagerly devours.

When given the opportunity to accompany the local well-to-do neighbors Mr. and Mrs. Allen to the city of Bath, Catherine is thrilled in more ways than one to have the chance to maybe find some of that book bound excitement on her own.

 Throughout the film, she does tend to fantasize about being caught up in a Gothic situation with men fighting over her which is dramatically amusing indeed:

While in Bath, Catherine does meet a nice enough man, Henry Tilney(J.J. Feild)who wins the approval of Mrs. Allen for his depth of knowledge about muslins (Henry happens to be a clergyman not a professional clothing designer,btw!).

She also makes a new gal pal In Isabella Thorpe(Carey Mulligan), whose obnoxious brother John turns out to be school buddies with Cathy’s brother James. Isabella says she is romantically interested in James but her eye does wander quite a bit there. Not to mention that her air of worldly sophistication is mostly fueled by gossip and passive aggressive behavior:

Eventually, Catherine is invited to the title estate that is owned by the Tilney family and while Henry and his sister Eleanor are happy to have her stay, they are suspicious of their overbearing father’s intentions towards her as he insists upon his children marrying into wealth (of which Catherine has none).

Catherine does sense some secrets and lies being connected to the Tilney family, especially regarding the sudden demise of  Mrs. Tilney several years ago. Is Catherine right about the wrongs done at Northanger or has she taken her love of Gothic novels a bit too much to heart?

As Jane Austen fans already know, this slyly sweet wink at the popular storytelling tropes of Austen’s day is a low key charmer and this adaptation honors that intention very well there. It’s engagingly good and the two main leads have a solid cup of romantic chemistry brewing for audiences to slowly sip and savor on a stormy night:

Even if you’ve never read Austen, this movie would be a nice introduction to her work or if you just haven’t read this particular book by her,  this version of Northanger Abbey is a delightful way to get that fall feeling flowing. Think of it as the pumpkin spice latte of literature, if you will!

Thank you, one and all, for sharing this experience of seasonal expectation with me either for the first time or once again. I’m not sure what next year will bring for Autumn in August but hopefully, we will be enjoying the eerie anticipation together with a dash of humor and horror:

 

Autumn in August reflects upon The Mirror Crack’d

 Thank you once again for attending the LRG midsummer matinee known as Autumn in August . We had just left Hercule Poirot and now paying a call on Agatha Christie’s Miss Jane Marple in the 1980 feature film version of The Mirror Crack’d.

Angela Lansbury plays the friendly yet formidable sleuth whose knowledge of humanity and it’s negative tendencies comes from her seemingly quiet life in the village of St. Mary Mead. 

We get a nice sample of that English small life right from the start as Miss Marple handily gives her friends and neighbors the solution to the murder mystery movie that was interrupted by camera malfunction. Given that this story has a former Hollywood diva set to arrive soon, the meta effect is smoothly done indeed:

The diva in question is Marina Gregg(Elizabeth Taylor) who is planning her big cinematic comeback by starring in a Mary, Queen of Scots film. The local celebration of her arrival is going well for the most part, despite the presence of her co-star Lola Brewster(Kim Novak, to whom bitchiness seems to come naturally), until one of the locals, a woman named Heather Babcock, up and dies on the spot.

With Heather being a young and rather healthy person, clearly her death is due to foul play. Of course up

to that point, the only lethal weapons in the room were the razor sharp barbs that Marina and Lola were deliciously trading like Pokémon cards with each other:

As it turns out, Heather was poisoned but the glass she drank from was not her own; after her guest’s drink was spilled, Marina offered her own beverage as replacement. Now the question is, who wants to kill Marina Gregg?

Unfortunately, Jane has sprained her ankle during the festivities and has to do most of her detective work remotely with the help of her  young housekeeper Cherry(Wendy Morgan) and her nephew(Edward Fox) who just happens to be a Scotland Yard Inspector Detective.

Plenty of suspects abound, including Lola and Ella(Geraldine Chaplin), the personal secretary to Marina’s director husband Jason Rudd(Rock Hudson). As time goes on, however, the sinister spotlight soon focuses on the true killer but not without some pity.

This movie was the first and sadly only time Angela Lansbury played Miss Marple on screen and while this role did lead to her beloved TV series Murder She Wrote, it is a shame that she didn’t get the chance to play this character a couple of more times.

When it comes to Agatha Christie adaptations, the preference for major Hollywood versions tend towards standalone material (like And Then There Were None, for example) or Poirot tales; the latest one from Kenneth Branagh, A Haunting in Venice,is due out this fall. 

Granted, The Mirror Crack’d wasn’t a big hit but that never stops filmmakers from trying again and again. True, Miss Marple has been well represented on the small screen but still, Lansbury was delicately dazzling here and it’s too bad another onscreen opportunity was not given to her. 

Perhaps when both of the artist’s strikes are properly settled in Hollywood, someone might consider taking a chance on bringing Miss Marple back to the silver screen , we shall see there:

For our final Autumn in August presentation, we will be going further back than Agatha Christie although I wouldn’t be surprised if that author didn’t get a little inspiration from Jane Austen’s satirical salute to the Gothic novel craze in Northanger Abbey.

While the 1987 adaptation has it’s bizarre charms, it’s a bit too much like Halloween for this series (yes, I do know that some folks enjoy “Summerween” these days but that’s too soon for my taste). 

The 2007 version is grand fun with such up and coming stars as Felicity Jones and Carey Mulligan getting their Regency romp on that it shouldn’t be missed!:

Autumn in August seeks some shade from Evil Under the Sun

Welcome back to Autumn in August for another round of Agatha  Christie style killer cocktails via 1982’s Evil Under the Sun.

Peter Ustinov once again plays Hercule Poirot (his second time portraying that particular character onscreen; he did at least four films as that iconic detective) who winds at an island resort on the behalf of a jilted millionaire wanting to reclaim a valuable piece of jewelry from a potential fiancé.

That woman in question is the infamous stage actress Arlena Stuart(Diana Rigg), who quickly dropped one rich man for another more vulnerable one;widower Kenneth Marshall(Denis Quigley) and is taking their honeymoon at a remote island resort run by Daphne Castle(Maggie Smith).

Daphne clearly has a bit of a crush on Kenneth, a regular visitor to the resort(and is certainly nicer to his daughter Linda than Arlena is). As it turns out, Daphne and Arlena were chorus girl rivals back in the day and the torch is lit for that diva feud to strike up again:

In fact, Arlena is pretty much surrounded by people who can’t stand her such as Rex Brewster(Roddy McDowell) a celebrity biographer who Arlena refuses to allow to publish a book about her, the Gardiners(James Mason and Sylvia Miles), husband and wife Broadway producers who Arlena ran out on during a major production and want her to make up to them by starring in a new show.

Most importantly, Christine Redfern(Jane Birkin) has very good reason to despise Arlena as her husband Patrick(Nicholas Clay)is carrying on a very blatant affair with the now Mrs. Marshall right under their mutual new spouses noses.

In fact, Arlena arranged for the handsome yet low wage earning Latin teacher to be on the island with his sickly and cross bride, which certainly raises a few eyebrows there!

However, when Arlena is found dead on a secluded beach, just about everyone has an alibi for the murder. Especially the Redferns, which has Poirot puzzled to be sure. Nevertheless, his little grey cells find a way to solve the case and reclaim that missing diamond brooch to boot.

While Evil Under the Sun is not as intense as Death on the Nile, there is plenty of fun to be found.

Maggie Smith is delightfully amusing at times whether she’s engaging in bitchy comments with Diana Riggs or trying to play amateur detective with Poirot(most of her theories come from crime novels). It’s a charming supporting character performance that displays the talents of the future Dowager Duchess at Downton Abbey perfectly.

Ustinov has a lighter touch with Poirot in this film and it makes his scenes all the more enjoyable. He attempts to amuse the understandably dour Linda with a magic trick, annoy the resort staff with his finicky food requests and his idea of taking a swim has to be seen to be believed:

All in all, Evil Under the Sun is a beach book kind of movie; a lively romp that will make you long for summer in the depths of winter and yet still feel new to you whenever you take it up again.

A nice touch right from the start are the opening credits which showcase a set of sketches (similar to the ones that a character uses to set up their alibi) that give the story a subtle bookish air. Too bad that device wasn’t used for the end credits as well but it still ends nicely there:

Please join us next time for Autumn in August when our Agatha Christie sleuth is Miss Jane Marple in The Mirror Crack’d.

It’s going to be quite the all star event as we not only have Angela Lansbury on deck but the likes of Rock Hudson, Tony Curtis and the great lady herself, Elizabeth Taylor as a once acclaimed movie star who might possibly be the target of a murder plot. Popcorn must be properly popped for this one!:

 

Autumn in August discovers Death on the Nile

 Welcome to LRG’s summer series, Autumn in August, where we look at films that just give you that Fall feeling during one of hottest months of the year (which is rapidly changing due to climate change but let’s take a break from reality at the moment there).

Agatha Christie’s works have always lent themselves to cinematic adaptations and I plan to highlight three of those movies starting with 1978’s Death on the Nile.

It’s a Hercule Poirot mystery with Peter Ustinov playing the Belgian (as he repeatedly has to keep telling his fellow travelers) detective who finds himself dealing with the death of heiress Linnet Ridgeway(Lois Chiles) onboard a cruise ship down the title river.

While Linnet happens to be traveling with a great number of passengers who wish her dead, a rather obvious suspect is eliminated from suspicion right away or should I say two suspects as Linnet is on her honeymoon with Simon(played by Simon MacCorkindale) who met her through his then current fiancé Jacqueline “Jackie “ de Bellefort(Mia Farrow).

Jackie did not take Simon’s switching his affections over to her very wealthy friend quite so well and has been haunting them during their entire trip. 

Poirot at one point had been asked to convince Jackie to give up her fury quest but such a betrayal is hard to get over. Honestly, I’m kind of on her side at first and her sudden appearances at certain spots with handy tourist facts are charmingly passive aggressive:

However, during the time that Linnet was killed, Jackie and Simon had a falling out that resulted in her shooting him in the leg, which lead to Simon being unable to walk on his own and Jackie going into hysterics that required sedation. 

That whole sequence is a pivotal part of the story that gets replayed during the investigation as other passengers are quizzed by Poirot and his friend Colonel Rice(David Niven) as to what they might have seen and possibly done during that time. Mia Farrow is quietly compelling in this role and this scene showcases her considerable acting powers grandly in my opinion:

Old school murder mysteries like this tend to attract great casts and Death on the Nile features some iconic legends such as Angela Lansbury who plays drunken romance writer Salome Otterbourne, who is being sued for libel by Linnet and therefore a suspect. 

She not only steals every scene she’s staggering in, her character even gets a “I know who the murderer is!’ speech that foreshadows her future role as Miss Marple a few years later(The Mirror Crack’d, which is on the AIA schedule).

My ultimate favorites, however are Bette Davis as Mrs. Van Schuyler, a cranky widow with a too eager eye on other people’s jewelry and Maggie Smith as Bowers, her nurse companion whose family was financially ruined by Linnet’s late father.

Watching the two of them sharply snipe at one another is just a masterclass in acting and my only regret is that they don’t get more screen time:

The mystery is well played out and I personally enjoy Ustinov’s take on Poirot; he exudes a kindly yet eccentric uncle vibe that can command serious attention when necessary there. 

While we get a couple of over dramatic moments (a cobra placed in Poirot’s cabin is needless tension thrown in), most of the film deals with the emotional stakes of the characters that makes it so richly satisfying to savor onscreen (and no, I haven’t seen the remake and don’t plan to.) 

Death on the Nile has that sophisticated sinister summer vacation energy that sits well in the shade indeed:

Speaking of sinister summer outings, our next Autumn in August feature film is Evil Under the Sun as Poirot goes island hopping and runs into Maggie Smith again, this time as a resort owner looking to boost her failing business.

The arrival of obnoxious actress Arlena Stuart(Diana Rigg) might be helpful in that department but she brings a lot of baggage with her that , of course, leads to murder. Please join us next week for more Christie capers and a sassy singalong to boot: