Kenneth Branagh: AudioBook and Movie - Murder on the Orient Express

From HarperCollins:

Kenneth Branagh, the director and star of the forthcoming motion picture adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express, has recorded a new audiobook version of the Queen of Mystery’s bestseller for HarperCollins. The new digital audio is on-sale October 31st, prior to the nationwide release of Murder on the Orient Express in the United States on November 10th.

Kenneth Branagh, who plays Poirot in the Twentieth Century Fox adaptation, recorded the new audiobook for HarperCollins UK. He is the latest actor to take on the legendary detective, following portrayals from actors including Charles Laughton, Albert Finney, Peter Ustinov and David Suchet.

HarperCollins Publisher of Estates, David Brawn, said: “Agatha Christie has been a jewel in HarperCollins crown for nearly half of our 200 years of publishing, so how wonderful that in our anniversary year comes one of the most exciting Christie adaptations in many years. Murder on the Orient Express is one of her most important and celebrated works, and of course it features probably her greatest creation, Hercule Poirot. Kenneth Branagh is inspired casting and it is wonderful that, as well as directing and starring in the film adaptation, he is narrating a new audiobook of the original text, which will mesmerise fans new and old.

November 2017 will see the release of 20th Century Fox’s feature film adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express. The film will be directed by five-time Academy Award nominee Kenneth Branagh, who will also star as Poirot. Branagh helms an all-star cast that includes Judi Dench, Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Penelope Cruz, Olivia Colman, Willem Dafoe, Daisy Ridley, Tom Bateman, Derek Jacobi, Josh Gad, Leslie Odom Jr, Sergei Polunin and Lucy Boynton.
 

David Suchet's Poirot: The Last Four Cases

ITV released this trailer for David Suchet's final four films featuring Agatha Christie's Poirot.

David Suchet has played this role since 1988. His first film, The Adventure of the Clapham Cook, was broadcast on January 8, 1989. The Big Four is  the first of the final four mysteries for the sleuth to be followed by Dead Man's Folly, The Labours of Hercules and Curtain: Poirot's Last Case.

Wonder when they'll be shown here.

A Christie for Christmas: The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL! And, since we know longer have a Christie for Christmas from the Queen of Crime, I thought I'd share these covers of Agatha Christie's The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding! Recipe sans poison below!

MRS BEATON'S OLD-TIME RECIPE FOR CHRISTMAS PLUM PUDDING: 
Too late for this year, you can start now for next! :-)

Adapted from Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management (1865), a compendium of the quintessential dishes of Victorian England.

Ingredients
340 gr (12 oz) raisins
230 gr (8 oz) currants
230 gr (8 oz) mixed peel
170 gr (6 oz) bread crumbs
170 gr (6 oz) suet
4 eggs
1/2 wineglassful of brandy

Method
1. Stone and cut the raisins in halves, but do not chop them
2. Wash, pick, and dry the currants, and mince the suet finely
3. Cut the candied peel into thin slices, and grate down the bread into fine crumbs
4. When all these dry ingredients are prepared, mix them well together
5. Moisten the mixture with the eggs, which should be well beaten, and the brandy
6. Stir well, that everything may be very thoroughly blended, and press the pudding into a buttered mould
7. Tie it down tightly with a floured cloth
8. Boil for 5 or 6 hours. It may be boiled in a cloth without a mould, and will require the same time allowed for cooking.
9. When the pudding is taken out of the pot, hang it up immediately by a hook, and put a plate or saucer underneath to catch the water that will drain from it. Leave it to dry out until Christmas Day.

Poirot Returns to PBS

Agatha Christie is back! Six by Agatha on Masterpiece Mystery! starts on Sunday, June 21 on PBS. There will be two episodes of Poirot and four episodes of Miss Marple.

David Suchet revives his role as Poirot, and he's at the top of his form. He's such a fine actor. Suchet is Poirot in this his signature role as the Belgian private eye who uses his 'little gray cells' to crack the case. This is Suchet's 20th year as Poirot, and he says," The time has flown by. It's wonderful that people see a character who is cocky, proud, and boastful, and yet they want to spend time with him. There is enormous affection for the little man." Read an interview with David Suchet here.

I've seen the first Poirot, Cat Among the Pigeons, and it's a wonderful production. Everything I expect from a Christie is here--costuming, setting, plotting. I particularly like the unusual camera angles in this new series, and that carries over to the Miss Marples, as well. Very successful. Watch a clip of Cat Among the Pigeons, here.

Julia McKenzie is the new Miss Marple, and she does an excellent job. Past Miss Marples have included Margaret Rutherford, Angela Lansbury, Joan Hickson (my favorite) and Geraldine McEwan. Julia McKenzie does a smashing job, and I'll blog about that later when closer to the the first in that series, A Pocket Full of Rye, scheduled for July 12.

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