If not David Suchet, which Hercule Poirot actor?

Because my Detective Fiction class is going to take an exam later this week, they have a much lighter assignment for the first half of this week: watch and discuss Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile.

Within a single email, I impressed upon my students no fewer than four times that they MUST watch David Suchet in Agatha Christie’s Poirot, Season 9, Episode 3. Under no condition should they consider substituting in the Kenneth Branagh version since his 2022 Death on the Nile—while just as star-studded as his 2017 Murder on the Orient Express—is not nearly as “faithful” an adaptation as the Granada/ITV production. And since we were studying the cinematic version as a time-saving device in lieu of reading the novel itself, it was important that we attempt to find as accurate a depiction as possible for Agatha Christie’s most famous sleuth.

Here’s just a short clip with David Suchet as Hercule Poirot:

Of course, some of my students were surprised that anyone would prefer such an old 2003 (!) version over a much more recent 2022 entry. After all, wouldn’t we all prefer to see Branagh, Gal Gadot, Annette Bening, Letitia Wright, Armie Hammer, Russell Brand, and Sophie Okonedo?

Luckily, a student who works at a local public library affirmed that co-workers who saw her checking out the David Suchet DVD declared that no other actor came close to putting on film the appearance and mannerisms of the Belgian detective. It was anathema to these seasoned mystery lovers that someone supposedly knowledgeable about detective fiction would assign another version. Whew, thank goodness for opinionated librarians!

But, of course, that got me thinking. If faithfulness to Christie’s vision of Poirot had not been my top priority, would I have chosen a different Poirot actor—and which film?

If I were to stick with Death on the Nile NOT headlined by David Suchet, I believe I would still skip over Kenneth Branagh’s and opt instead for Peter Ustinov’s 1978 version. It is more comic than the original novel—cue the tango scene with Angela Lansbury!—and Ustinov (similarly as with Branagh) isn’t exactly the actor the mind’s imagination conjures up when reading the physical description of Poirot. However, the mystery is more faithful to the novel, and there are not nearly as many distracting tonal shifts and creative liberties as in Branagh’s version.

Aside from the aforementioned Angela Lansbury, the Ustinov version also included Bette Davis, Mia Farrow, David Niven, Maggie Smith, Michael York, and Olivia Hussey. Quite the cast!

And if I were to choose Murder on the Orient Express—Branagh’s first attempt at Christie—you guessed it: I would still skip his and assign instead the version that earned Ingrid Bergman a Best Supporting Actress Oscar: Sidney Lumet’s 1974 movie that featured Albert Finney as Hercule Poirot in possibly even a more star-studded cast than Ustinov’s Death on the Nile. Lauren Bacall, Jacqueline Bisset, Sean Connery, John Gielgud, Vanessa Redgrave, and more. For myself, I find Finney’s Poirot a bit flat, caricaturish without being fun, but the rest of the cast is excellent.

Yet another Murder on the Orient Express adaptation from 2001—and set in our modern times—stars Alfred Molina as Poirot. Clearly Molina is comfortable donning a French (Belgian!) accent as he does later as Inspector Armand Gamache in the Louise Penny(-inspired) series Three Pines. While I usually find Molina’s acting top-notch and feel that he could make a serviceable and faithful Hercule Poirot, the adaptation itself did not impress many viewers.

While there are more actors who have attempted Poirot, let me round out my survey of non-Suchet Poirots by mentioning one final name. I have to say that John Malkovich, an actor I greatly admire otherwise, doesn’t do much for me as Hercule Poirot. Aside from not being very faithful to the original plot (and I do understand needing to flex creative muscles for nearly century-old mysteries), his ABC Murders in a three-part adaptation in 2018 featured such a pained and joyless Poirot that the weight of the melancholy detracted from the entertainment.

I sympathize with purists who feel that the Suchet series offers cartoonish versions of Captain Hastings and Inspector Japp (especially for the short story adaptations). But perhaps I’d ultimately choose lighthearted comedic depictions over world-weary dreariness—even in murder mysteries!