Agatha Christie: The Pale Horse (1997)

On his way home from the theater one evening, Mark Easterbrook stumbles upon a murdered priest, accused of the crime, he must set out to clear his name. His only clue is a list of names found on the victim’s body, their only connection, a brief stay at a tavern owned by three modern day witches. DVD extras: about the author: Career & bio, cast & credits

I am perplexed

I am perplexed by the poor reviews some of the other viewers have given this movie. I thought it was great fun. There was not too much blood or gore. It can be viewed by the whole family. Also, there were no indecent scenes. It was just a fun mystery that is so typical of Christie. I can honestly say it is a film I will enjoy over and over. May 16, 2008

Christie fans won't like it -- others might

This A&E color film is difficult to review because it's very complex, clogged with numerous sub-plots and boasts quite a laundry list of characters, some of whom look a bit like others which is always confusing. Listing the main characters up front will hopefully aid the reader and potential viewer in digesting this necessarily lengthy review:

MARK EASTERBROOK - A likeable, young sculptor who is suspected of murdering a priest.
MISS HERMIA REDCLIFFE - Aristocratic fiance of Easterbrook until she's dropped for another. She remains a friend and un-offended.
KATE MERCER - An artist and Easterbrook's new girlfriend.
DR. Z. OSBOURNE - A village physician.
FATHER PATRICK GORMAN - A priest who gets himself murdered, apparently over a scrap of note paper with a few names on it.
THYRZA GREY, SYBIL STAMFORDIS, and "BELLA" - The first two are the owners of "The Pale Horse," (est 1603), which has been converted to a country manor house. "Bella" is their cook. All three are proud to be witches, quite active in practicing their dark art. Of course, all three ladies are eccentric spinsters.
JESSIE DAVIS - A victim of an unexplained illness and good for quite a bit of money. She holds a list of people's names which she slips to Father Gorman just before expiring on her deathbed.
TILLY TUCKERTON - She would have been a wealthy heiress had she lived to age 21. But she doesn't quite make it!
FLORENCE TUCKERTON - Tilly's step-mother, a panicked woman with a bad gambling habit.
POPPY TUCKERTON - Florence's daughter, who is much aggrieved by her step-sister's untimely death.
CHIEF INSPECTOR LEJEUNE - An aggressive and single-minded detective who is bent upon arresting Mark Easterbrook.
DETECTIVE SARGEANT CORRIGAN - Gently keeps his boss on track and he's shrewd as the dickens!
GORDON VENABLES - Wealthy, wheelchair-bound art collector who surrounds himself with dark characters.
RICHARD "RICKEY" FLOOD - One of Venables' dubious crew, who is observed near a murder scene.
NED THACKERY - Venables' valet, a former bank robber and ex-con.
GEORGE OMEROD and SIR DAVID HESTROTH-DUBOIS - Two of six names on Jessie Davis' list, each of whom met with a premature death. "Tuckerton" was also one of the names on the list. Everyone on this list was very rich or, rather, they would have been!
LINCOLN BRADLEY - A high-end, exclusive bookie who will bet you that your spouse is going to die prior to a particular date!
IRENE BRUNDON - A market research gal for hire. She wants to know your brand of toothpaste, mouthwash, and shampoo.

The action takes place in May, 1964.

Three witches live in "The Pale Horse," (see King James, Revelations 6:8), a very creepy old Inn which has been converted to a country estate. These three gals are very eccentric and they love to conduct their sacrifices of live chickens as they chant certain folks to their doom.

In a nearby village, sculptor Mark Easterbrook (Colin Buchanan) and his fiancé, Hermia Redcliffe are observing three OTHER witches at a very mediocre performance of "Macbeth". Mark opts out for the nearby pub while Hermia toughs out the play. Soon Mark heads for his motorcycle in the alley behind the theater to pick up Hermia and he is observed by Dr. Osborne (Tim Potter). Mark's bike has been knocked over, his toolkit scattered, and then he spots a young man in a leather jacket leaning over a body near the theater's rear exit. Mark shouts and pursues but the man escapes. Rushing to the downed man, Mark discovers a dead and bloody Father Gorman. The theater lets out and Hermia, along with friends, discovers Mark hovering over Father Gorman, blood on his hands.

No murder weapon is immediately discovered but Chief Inspector Lejeune (Trevor Byfield) and Detective Sargeant Corrigan haul him in to the local police station for a statement and fingerprinting. Mark is released after a short time but Lejeune believes that he's found his man.

Just prior to his own death, Father Gorman had administered last rites to Jesse Davis, a rich lady who had fallen gravely ill and even her hair was falling out for no apparent reason. At the last moment of her life, Jessie pressed a mysterious list of six names on Father Gorman. Jessie's heiress, sitting nearby, witnessed the entire episode.

The next day, Hermia gets Mark to visit a sick girlfriend, Tilly Tuckerton (Anna Livia Ryan) at a nearby country estate. Tilly lives with her flighty step-mother, Florence, and her friend and younger step-sister, Poppy (Catherine Holman). Tilly's best friend, Kate Mercer (Jane Ashbourne), is also visiting. Tilly had almost reached age 21, a time at which she would inherit her late father's estate. But Tilly is clearly near death and her hair is falling out as well. Tilly dies the very next day, leaving the fortune to her step-mother, a woman who is eager to leave the village in a hurry.

Mark is quite taken with Kate Mercer who is very suspicious about Tilly's premature death. Kate knows that, for some reason, Tilly had wanted to go away to London just to put distance between herself and The Pale Horse, a place about which Tilly had expressed unexplained terror.

Kate talks Mark into helping her to investigate Tilly's death, adding that she feels certain that both Tilly's passing and the murder of Father Gorman must be somehow connected. So Mark and Kate pay a nighttime visit to Mr. Gordon Venables (Michael Byrne), a man purported to have considerable knowledge concerning The Pale Horse and the three "witches" who reside there. Armed with Venables' advice on how to approach the three witches, Mark and Kate depart - but nearby, along the dark road, Mark again spots the man in the leather jacket whom he saw leaning over Father Gorman's lifeless body. They stop the car but the man again escapes into the night before Mark can give chase.

I can't take the story beyond this point without revealing some major spoilers. Just be assured that there's a LOT more movie further along and it's bulging with many additional clues and sub-plots to come before it ends.

This 1996 film is conveyed in the full-screen format (aspect 4 x 3) and the sets, locations and cinematography are all very positive features of the end product. The casting is also quite excellent. However, for me, the movie has its share of problems, which I will go over now.

First and foremost, the Director (Charles Besson) took a lot of artistic license with how the story was conveyed. If this was ever conceived as a British formula cozy murder, (my personal expectation), then all traces of that paradigm were erased by the British rock music hits of The Kinks and The Searchers, and by posters promoting Chuck Berry along with an arty one of Mick Jagger. I'm a big fan of those groups and personalities but not in this context. This inappropriate caveat just sucked all the good, old, snooty, aristocratic British atmosphere right out of the film!

The "original music," by Colin Towns, also somewhat failed to punctuate the film with that "tasteful creepiness" which most of us are seeking in a Christie movie. This music is lightly orchestral, sometimes featuring the flute and, at other intervals, it was "finger-poppin' time". While I didn't find this music particularly distracting, neither did it add anything positive to the film.

A secondary failing of the overall picture is due to a lack of focus, either on the director's part or perhaps that of individual actors. Sometimes the movie takes on the tongue-in-cheek approach, ergo Inspector Lejeune. In other places, actors such as Michael Byrne (Venables) and Tim Potter (Dr. Osbourne) always presented their roles as highly dramatic and serious. The two styles failed to tenon in any way and the overall result is confusion for the viewer.

As far as the screenplay goes, it's just way too complex and it's extremely difficult to remember who's who as new characters and sub-plots emerge, one after another. Believe me when I tell you that, in my own all-too-lengthy rendering here, I have much simplified what you'll see in the movie.

"The Pale Horse" runs for 101 minutes and is a production of Anglia Television Entertainment. The screenplay was written by Alma Cullen. You won't guess the ending but it may well be that you'll simply fail to make it that far.

I've tried to be as detailed as possible in my review of this film because, ironically, people with little or no previous exposure to the works of Agatha Christie, and/or adaptations of those works, may actually like this film a great deal. I can state, to the movie's benefit, that it's not hokey in any way or otherwise lacking in overall quality.

But, to finalize, veteran Christie fans should pass this one by and instead watch entries from the David Suchet as Hercule Poirot series for a more gratifying viewing experience. "The Hollow" would be a good choice.
March 21, 2008

Are we at war with England?

If we can rise above the transatlantic sniping, dispense with ad hominem finger-wagging over whose sense of syntax is lacking (on this site I've read as many contortions of the Queen's English from overseas as I have from the heartland), and put aside whether or not this version of 'The Pale Horse' ought to be called a movie, a television mystery-drama or Prince Albert in a can, I believe a crosscultural consensus can be reached.

Anyone who has read the book will agree that this interpretation takes license with the story. Its producers, while keeping the basic mystery intact, have chosen to alter some plot elements and retain others and, presumably as a way of tying in the setting with the period during which Christie's novel was published, tap the 1960s as a campy backdrop, all in an effort to make the whole affair hipper and more fun. The result is not in the same league with the BBC's top stock (the Roy Marsden P.D. James series, for instance, Alec Guinness's Smiley, or the playful adaptations of Christie's 'Seven Dials' or 'Evans'), but it is, if ultimately forgettable, eminently watchable. Some (myself included, granting it only a 2 1/2-star rating) may find TPH dull going-- the action is stilted, the dialog at times dim and the acting uneven-- but that's nothing to get up in arms about. After all, despite its flaws, it still prevails in quality, as do four out of five British productions, over the average American made-for-TV fare, not to mention the garbage coming out of Hollywood today.

Life is short. We're patriots and allies. Let's have a little more respect for each others' opinions, well-articulated or not. February 16, 2007

Agatha Christies Pale Horse

One of the rare Christie stories that does not contain any of her 3 famous protagonists (Marple, Poirot, Tommy & Tuppence). However it is one of her most interesting tales. Well acted, it keeps you guessing all the way. An excellent translation of the original. A must for Christie fans. January 11, 2007

delightful take on Christie

Having read all the other reviews, I have to agree with the British reviewers. The ones who are American, give me strength, seem to be illiterate. Nothing wrong with not liking a program, but basic English might be nice. I'm American, and I cringed while reading their attempt at an opinion.

Preposterous as the storyline is, the narrative still manages to intrigue, the characters are enjoyable if a couple are not always believable, and the keen sense of atmosphere make it a totally delightful take on the Christie mystery. I'm an Agatha Christie fan, and an avid reader of mysteries/detective stories, especially the British ones. I read The Pale Horse years ago, but don't recall the plot. So I came to this version, relatively fresh.

I'm also dedicated fan of Dalziel & Pascoe mystery series, so it was also a treat to see the delectable Detective Pascoe (Colin Buchanan) on the other side of the law, with the suitably fluffy hair of the 1960s to boot. The whole 60s-era -- memorabilia, clothes, music and other set decor-- was subtle and cleverly evoked throughout the story. When Mark Easterbrook (Buchanan) is hit on the head for the second (!) time, he staggers to his feet, and leans against a poster advertising Chuck Berry. Likewise, a Lolita movie poster decorates his studio. Hermia's clothes and fake eyelashes are a hoot, and totally in character of the aristocratic Bohemian wannabe.

All the actors were excellent, although the Chief Inspector's obtuseness was too like Inspector Japp of Poirot fame for comfort -- the actor playing the role did what he could with it. Andy Serkis of Lord of the Rings fame was a delight, and the two key female roles well played.

Altogether, a two-hour entertainment well worth the watching.

Adrienne Jones December 17, 2006

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