Crooked House: One of Dame Agatha’s Favorites, Finally Adapted for Film

Reportedly, Dame Agatha Christie’s two favorite novels from her voluminous oeuvre were this twisty novel from 1949 and Ordeal by Innocence. Yet, neither featured a Poirot, Marble, or Beresford (Tuppence), so they have rather been odd men out. There was an under-rated 1985 film adaptation of Ordeal, but the anticipated BBC production has been shelved, due to criminal allegations leveled against one of its co-stars. Formerly only staged for radio, Crooked House is now left alone to draft off Branagh’s pseudo-blockbuster Orient Express. French director Gilles Pacquet-Brenner helms a slyly British drawing room whodunit with his adaptation of Crooked House (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York.

Private investigator Charles Hayward met the well-heeled Sophie de Haviland while he was stationed in Cairo for the secret service, but she inevitably broke his heart (a slight departure from the book). Nevertheless, de Haviland trusts the embittered Hayward to investigate the presumed murder of her grandfather, Aristide Leonides, a Greek immigrant who made good. Leonides’s latest trophy wife Brenda stands to inherit everything—a fact that does not sit well with the rest of the family.

For reasons that eluded just about everyone else, old man Leonides insisted on keeping his entire dysfunctional, bile-soaked family in residence at his grand country estate. That includes the newest wife Brenda, Sophie’s dilettante father Phillip, her self-absorbed stage diva mother Magda, and her wastrel uncle Roger, who has been running the family catering business into the ground. Only the widowed Lady Edith de Haviland shows much strength of character, which is why she assumed responsibility for the education of the de Haviland children, including the precocious twelve-year-old Josephine.

Obviously, everyone is a suspect, especially Laurence Brown, the children’s tutor, whom it seems has been carrying on an affair with the presumptive merry widow, but that would be too easy, wouldn’t it? Like the best of Dame Agatha’s work, the murderer in Crooked House is not immediately apparent, but the real pleasure comes from all the gnashing of teeth and door-slamming that come during the investigative process. Co-screenwriter Sir Julian Fellowes (of Downton Abbey acclaim), Tim Rose Price, and Paquet-Brenner deliver all the elements in spades, including the faithful ending, which must have been quite a shocker in 1949.

Glenn Close is terrific as the tart-tongued, no-nonsense Lady Edith. She is imperious yet grounded, in a way maybe only Kristin Scott Thomas could pull off with equal style. Gillian Anderson, Julian Sands, Christina Hendricks, and Christian McKay hold up their end, chewing the scenery and effortlessly bandying about barbed dialogue as Magda, Philip, Brenda, and Roger, respectively. Terence Stamp adds his well-earned gravitas and immediately recognizably baritone as Chief Inspector Taverner, a colleague of Hayward’s murdered father. Plus, the real breakthrough-discovery is young Honor Kneafsey, who is quite remarkable as Josephine.

Not surprisingly, Hayward and Sophie de Haviland are the dullest of the lot, but Max Irons somewhat exceeds expectations, playing the former with a welcome degree of forcefulness and intelligence. On the other hand, Stefanie Martini should have portrayed the latter as more of a femme fatale, but she is really just forgettably pedestrian.

Regardless, Crooked House is a triumph of set decoration and period details. The richly detailed trappings are spot-on, while the locations (King’s College Maughan Library and the Gothic Revival Tyntesfield estate) are wonderfully suggestive of elegance and murder most foul. Honestly, it is such good fun to see an old-fashioned mystery like this hit the big-screen again. Highly recommended for fans of British mysteries and the accomplished ensemble, Crooked House opens this Friday (12/22) in New York, at the Cinema Village.

Downton Abbey, Season 3

It is the moment viewers have been waiting for, but anyone who expects an easy trip down the altar for Cousin Matthew and Lady Mary has another thing coming.  With the war over, the Granthams have plenty of milestones ahead, including weddings, babies, and even a funeral.  Rest assured, there will also be plenty of scandal when season three of Downton Abbey kicks off the New Year in style next Sunday on PBS’s Masterpiece (promo here).

Just as the future of Downton seems secure, the Earl receives dire financial news.  Yet, Matthew Crawley might be able to save Downton yet again, if his scruples will allow it.  His moral dilemma will cause his cause friction with Lady Mary on the eve of the ceremony—just like old times.  While the presence of Lady Sybil and her husband, the former chauffeur, is also slightly awkward, the family slowly warms to him over the course of season three.  Slowly, “Branson” becomes “Tom,” without terribly compromising his Irish Republican ideals.

This would seem to be the season for wallflower sister Lady Edith to come into her own, but her wretched luck continues unabated.  Yet, arguably it is the Earl who has the worst of it in the post-war years, spending the better part of this season apologizing.  At least, Thomas, the slimy acting valet, will get his comeuppance, perhaps once and for all.  Yet, it is the efforts of modest house-maid Anna Bates to clear that name of her wrongly convicted husband that appear most likely to bring some good news to Downton.  It will all culminate with a return to a tradition suspended during the war when the Crawleys once again spend Christmas in the Scottish highlands.

In the third season, some cast-members evidently began to tire of Downton or perhaps asked for more money, which means curtains for some apparently hale and hearty characters.  Of course, new characters will also be introduced, but the overly hyped arrival of Shirley MacLaine as Lady Mary’s fabulously wealthy American grandmother never delivers the anticipated sparks.  Still, Dame Maggie Smith remains the wonderfully tart force of nature, firmly maintaining decorum as the imperious Lady Violet, the Dowager Countess.

Julian Fellowes’ writing is a razor-sharp as ever, particularly the zingers he saves for Lady Violet.  However, fans might be surprised by the more tragic tone of season three, even compared to the WWI years of season two.  Nonetheless, all the elements that made the show a phenomenon are still present.  Jim Carter is still a deeply sympathetic bulwark of social conservatism as Mr. Carson, the Butler.  Michelle Dockery and Dan Evans nicely the develop Matthew and Mary’s stormy chemistry into a mature, believable marriage.  Even if her Lady Edith is stuck under a cloud of misfortune, Laura Carmichael has her best moments in the show this season, hardening and humanizing what has been one of the series’ least defined, most unpopular characters.

There is always hope for the future at Downton.  Indeed, a season four is already in the works, albeit without a familiar face here and there.  Still the best written show on television and the only one co-starring Maggie Smith, season three of Downton Abbey is enthusiastically recommended when it begins next Sunday (1/6) on most PBS outlets nationwide.

Return to Downton Abbey

The British upper-class always understood the importance of doing one’s part, maintaining appearances, and keeping a stiff upper lip. With the outbreak of World War I, the aristocratic Crawleys will respond as best they can. However, the war will profoundly affect both the family and their large staff of servants in the eagerly anticipated second season of Julian Fellowes’ Downton Abbey (promo here), which premieres on Masterpiece Classic this coming Sunday.

After highly rated first season of Downton, millions of Americans are now familiar with the intricacies of Edwardian estate law. The Crawleys' ancestral manor is entailed, meaning it can only be transferred to a male heir. Lord Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham has three daughters, still. After the tragic death of the heir apparent, Matthew Crawley, the middle class black sheep of the family, became the next in line. Though initially quite frosty towards each other, a cold war courtship developed between Cousin Matthew and the eldest daughter, Lady Mary, that almost but not quite bore fruit. As the second season opens, Mr. Crawley has a complicating surprise for Downton Abbey: Lavinia Swire, his new fiancé.

Both Lady Mary and her father do their best to welcome Swire into the family, but the Earl’s mother, Lady Violet, the Dowager Countess is not impressed. She rarely is. However, the war presents more pressing issues when Mr. Crawley accepts a commission taking him to the front. The war comes to Downton directly when Lord Grantham and his American wife Lady Cora reluctantly allow their stately home to serve as a rehabilitation hospital for wounded officers. In their own way, the three Crawley sisters find ways to be of service. Even the Dowager Countess puts her talents for scheming to noble uses, but tragedy will strike the household, sparing neither the high nor low born.

A surprise hit on both sides of the Atlantic, Downton was recognized by Guinness World Records as the best reviewed show ever (I’m still waiting for my plaque, by the way). Everything that worked the first time around is here again. Jim Carter is still one of television’s most engaging presences as Carson the butler, a model of rectitude, but with a good heart beneath his proper façade. Rob James Collier is still memorably oily as Thomas the conniving ex-footman. Most importantly, the Emmy winning Dame Maggie Smith’s Dowager Countess is still a tart tongued force to be reckoned with. Though used sparingly in the first episode, she comes on strong as the series progresses.

Fellowes compellingly captures a sense of the British home front and his ear for dialogue is as sharp as ever. However, he occasionally indulges in some more unlikely melodrama in the second season (such as an amnesia subplot) that almost seems to be a tribute to those big chewy Victorian novels. After all, if Dickens and Trollope were alive today, they would probably be writing television serials, just like Downton. As it happens, episode six completes something of a story-arc, resolving several issues, but leaving some characters in a bit of a cliff-hanger the old serialists would appreciate. (Originally produced as Christmas special edition, PBS recommends separate review attention for episode seven.)

Naturally, every character has their particular storyline continuing from the first season, yet the not-yet-perhaps-never romance between Mr. Crawley and Lady Mary remains of central importance. Do we really care whether his reverse snobbery and her pride can ever be reconciled? Frankly, yes. Deeply so, in fact. Indeed, for all of Lady Violet’s delightful zingers (“those simple-minded idiots on the Liberal front bench” is an especially tasty one this time around), the surprising depth of their evolving relationship is the truest testament to Fellowes’ superior writing.

Classy, elegant, and wickedly droll, Downton Abbey is still exceptional television. Once again, the most likely best of the year comes early when the second season airs over the next seven consecutive Sundays (1/8-2/19) on PBS’s Masterpiece Classic.

Julian Fellowes’ Downton Abbey

Few contemporary writers understand the foibles of the British upper class as well as Julian Fellowes. In fact, the Academy Award winning screenwriter of Gosford Park recently joined their ranks, having been named a Conservative peer in the House of Lords. Fellowes brought his keen understanding of social dynamics and biting humor to television, creating and writing most of the first season of Downton Abbey (promo here). A breakout hit across the pond, the thoroughly engaging Edwardian period drama debuts on PBS’s Masterpiece Classic this Sunday night.

Downton Abbey is a hulking behemoth of a mansion, surrounded by considerable grounds and out-buildings. The upkeep is enormous which is why Downton was entailed, a common practice amongst the landed gentry, prohibiting the sale of any part of the estate, while mandating the entire kit and caboodle pass entirely to the lord’s immediate male heir. The Earl of Grantham has had the Devil’s own time with the entail. When nearly bankrupted by Downton’s maintenance, Grantham went to New York to find himself an heiress. As luck would have it, they also fell in love, but their union has only produced daughters.

Mary, the eldest, has dutifully agreed to marry her cousin, the heir to Downton, but the first episode opens with bad news. The Titanic has sunk, taking the Grantham heirs down with it. So begins the “great problem” of Downton.

Of course, there is an heir out there somewhere. Disappointingly, Matthew Crawley is hardly a proper gentle of leisure. In fact, he is a solicitor with a dreary middle class work ethic. He and Mary instantly clash, dashing her parents’ hopes of any potential marriage between them. However, as Downton progresses, their cold war melts into a sort of Tracy-Hepburn attraction. It might sound somewhat predictable, but like everything in Downton it is smartly executed.

In the tradition of Upstairs Downstairs, viewers spend equal time with the servants of the Abbey, including Grantham’s mysterious new valet, John Bates, the Earl’s former military comrade. Overseeing it all is the butler, Mr. Carson, who naturally has his own secret past. Yet, we also learn he has a special relationship with Lady Mary. Indeed, it is those intriguing moments where upstairs and downstairs meet that really sing in Downton.

Whenever Downton starts to drag, Fellowes wisely plays his ace trump card: Dame Maggie Smith as Grantham’s mother, the Dowager Countess. Smith was born to play such parts, portraying the Countess with an acid tongue and a regal “we are not amused” air. Often laugh-out-loud funny, her scenes absolutely crackle with wit and verve.

While no one can touch a figure of Smith’s stature, the rest of Downton’s ensemble is also quite accomplished. Hugh Bonneville (primarily known for British television roles) balances Lord Grantham’s pompousness and stately maturity rather well. Brendan Coyle supplies a strong rooting interest downstairs as Bates. Perhaps most surprisingly, Dan Stevens and Michelle Dockery bicker and banter quite entertainingly, while making the most of their graver moments.

Though there is no closure at the end of episode four, Fellowes still ends it at a perfect place, wholly in keeping with Downton’s themes of change threatening social stability. ITV has already renewed it in the UK, which is good news. Despite the symmetry of his conclusion, Fellowes totally leaves us hanging. Do not be deterred by that though. Combining the best of both high period pieces and gold old fashioned melodrama, Downton is thoroughly satisfying television. A highlight of the Laura Linney era of PBS’s Masterpiece Classic (who is about as classy a host as one could find these days, with all the right theater credentials for the gig), Downton Abbey premieres this coming Sunday (1/9) continuing the next three weeks (through 1/30).