Jacques Mentchikoff

In Le miroir se brisa, the French TV film adaptation of Agatha Christie's The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side, by France Télévisions, Jacques Mentchikoff is the parallel of Dr Gilchrist from the original novel. He is the personal physician of the actress Blanche Dulac, the Marina Gregg parallel. Because some other characters are not featured in this adaptation, he also takes a few other plot roles. Dr Mentchikoff is portrayed by Luc-Antoine Diquéro.

The tranquilizer "calmo" is a significant plot element in this adaptation. Here, it is a personal concoction of Dr Mentchikoff. He supplies "calmo" to calm her and get her through the difficulties of fliminh. In this case it is not a tradename of an American tranquilizer but the name he gave to a personal concoction of his made from St John's wort, opium, marijuana and lavender. He also supplies some to commissaire Laurence when he notices that he is depressed after the death of his girlfriend.

In this adaptation, Mentchikoff also takes on some of the role of Gladys Dixon and Ella Zielinsky. He is asthmatic, for example, and frequently takes a puff from his inhaler. During the course of the investigations, Mentchikoff suggests that Laurence recreate the scene of the murder as that would help jog the memory of the witnesses who might then recall some important detail. During the reconstruction, he suddenly exclaims that he knows who committed the murder but then takes a puff from his inhaler and dies before he can reveal the name. It later transpired that there was methanol in his inhaler. Commissaire Laurence later surmised that Mentchikoff, like Gladys in the original novel, probably remembered that Blanche deliberately jogged Simone's arm and caused her to spill her drink. Mentchikoff is Swiss, and like in the original, also lives in the same house as Marc Borel and Blanche. As part of his duties, he looks after François, the retarded some of Blanche.