Albert Major

In Albert Major parlait trop, the French Télévisions film adaptation of Agatha Christie's A Caribbean Mystery, Albert Major is the parallel of the character Major Palgrave in the original novel.

Here, Albert is a British journalist, a crime columnist. Alice Avril met him in the corridor at the Hôpital St Paul and told him that she was a great fan of his and has read all his columns and investigative stories. From what she says, she seems to suggest that at one time he had worked at "La voix du Nord". Alice says she also works there.

As part of their conversation, Albert told Alice that he had witness what one might call "a perfect crime" and has written a book about it. He showed Alice a manuscript of the book entitled "A Perfect Crime". Alice wanted a little hint about what the crime was about. Albert would only hint that it was about something he witnessed years ago--how a nice person could fool everyone. Shortly thereafter he was led away to his ward. Later that night he was murdered. In this case, he appeared to be killed by a huge syringe which had been poked through the right eye, penetrating to the brain. However forensic examination later revealed that he had been killed by a neat cut to the jugular with a scalpel. The syringe was only used for some kind of dramatic effect, perhaps to suggest a deranged killer. But the cut to the jugular was neat and precise and would suggest a trained surgeon.

Albert Major's portrayal is quite different from the original novel and those in other adaptations. He is neither garrulous nor a bore. Alice doesn't tune out and fail to listen to what he is saying. In fact, she tries hard to get him to say more but he refuses. In this sense, despite the title of the adaptation, he cannot be said to have talked too much. Neither is there a moment when he appears to recognise someone in the hospital. Being blind in one eye is also not a plot element--the closest one comes to this is the syringe poked through the eye. He doesn't try to show Alice a photo of a murderer. He has a manuscript of a book which describes the crime and this is the motive for his murder. We are shown a scene where someone burns Albert's manuscript.

It turns out that Albert had been at the same resort as Paul Courelle who was trying to kill his wife. Paul first staged what appeared to be an event where he heroically saved his wife from suicide. A few days later, his wife apparently tried again and this time succeeded. No one blamed him for his wife's death, especially after what he had done. Paul congratulated himself on what might have been a perfect crime. However Albert saw through it and wrote a book about it. By chance Albert landed up in the same hospital as Paul years later. We see Paul just down the corridor at the hospital so it is likely that he overheard Albert talking to Alice and saw him displaying his manuscript.

Albert Major is portrayed by Christian Joubert. In this case, Major is his surname and not a military rank.