The Adventure of the Italian Nobleman (Agatha Christie's Poirot episode)

The Adventure of the Italian Nobleman is the fifth episode of series 5 of the ITV British television drama series Agatha Christie's Poirot featuring David Suchet as Hercule Poirot, first broadcast on 14 February 1993 in the UK. The episode is an adaptation of the Agatha Christie short story of the same name and was directed by Brian Farnham with dramatisation by Clive Exton.

Synopsis
Poirot helps solve the murder of Count Foscatini, an Italian nobleman of unsavoury reputation, who also happens to be the employer of Miss Lemon's new suitor.

The TV adaptation is faithful to the main premise of the original story with respect to how the murder was committed. However, more characters have been added and a sideplot involving Miss Lemon has been weaved in.

Comparison with Original Story
(may contain spoilers - click on expand to read)
 * There are two major subplots woven into the story:
 * In one, Hastings buys a new car, an Italian-made Eliso Freccia. The owner of the dealership is Bruno Vizzini. He and his assistant Miss Fabbri play significant roles in the subsequent development of the plot. Obviously the new car will feature in the inevitable car chase scene quite common at this period of the series.
 * In a second subplot, Miss Lemon begins a relationship with Graves. Poirot and Graves therefore meet over tea and Graves uses this opportunity to tell Poirot that his employer Count Foscatini is negotiating with a blackmailer on behalf of a victim. This creates a misdirection in the adaptation which is not present in the original.
 * There is an opening scene with Poirot and Hastings having dinner with Dr Hawker just like in the original but this takes place at Dr Hawker's place not Poirot's. Thus they are all present when Foscatini's phone call comes through.
 * Japp comes into the case much earlier and is already present at the scene of crime.
 * Foscatini is at Addisland Court not Regent's Court. His flat here is No. 10 not No. 11 in the original.
 * The original clues are depicted: two cups of coffee, dessert plate clean, curtain not drawn. In this adaptation Foscatini only has one visitor, Ascanio, not two. The dinner order from the kitchen is the same, but only for two people. The cook does not mention that there is a fair bit of rice souffle left--this does not become a clue.
 * Ascanio has a slightly different role in this adaption. See here for details.
 * There are additional scenes involving Poirot meeting officials of the Italian embassy. The Italian embassy has a slightly different role in the adaptation as the dynamic of the blackmail is slightly different--see the article for Ascanio and Darida for details.
 * There is no meeting between Poirot and Ascanio where he divulges the entire backstory of Foscatini. There is only a brief encounter at Jenkins Hotel when the police raid his room and arrest him.
 * The Almanach de Gotha which Poirot uses in the original also appears here, only it is Miss Lemon who looks it up and finds that Foscatini is not a real Count.
 * There is also an additional scene between Poirot and Vizzini where he reveals that he is the blackmail victim. In this adaptation, Ascanio is acting on behalf of Vizzini and not for the Italian government. The blackmail concerns information Vizzini wants to keep away from the Italian government.
 * Poirot perceives Graves misdirection when he looks at a mirror and realises that they had been seeing things in reverse. Foscatini was not a victim (or helping a victim) of blackmail but a blackmailer himself. This reversal is not present in the original.
 * Poirot ties the clues together to form a conclusion but in a slightly different manner than in the original:
 * the coffee cups are mentioned when they first got to the crime scene, but this does not come into play later: there is no examination of Foscatini's teeth which reveals that he never drank coffee.
 * there is no mention of the large amount of leftover rice souffle. There is mention that Graves tried to eat everything but no mention that the order was too large for him.
 * Poirot is suspicious that the telephone had been replaced in the receiver after the call--just like in the original, although here he does not remark that Foscatini is an orderly man who meticulously replaces the phone when he is dying.
 * the curtain which is not drawn is used to point to the fact that the dinner was likely to have been faked--just like in the original.
 * In addition, Poirot also visits the mortuary and consults the post-mortem report which showed that Foscatini's stomach was empty.

Cast

 * David Suchet as Hercule Poirot
 * Hugh Fraser as Captain Hastings
 * Philip Jackson as Chief Inspector Japp
 * Pauline Moran as Miss Lemon
 * Leonard Preston as Mr Graves
 * Anna Mazzotti as Margherita Fabbri
 * David Neal as Bruno Vizzini
 * Vincent Riotta as Mario Ascanio (as Vincenzo Ricotta)
 * Sidney Kean as Count Foscatini
 * Alberto Janelli as Darida
 * Arthur Cox as Dr Hawker
 * Vittorio Amandola as 1st Secretary
 * Ben Bazell as Sergeant Beddoes
 * David Verrey as Chef
 * Janet Lees-Price as Miss Rider (as Janet Lees Price)
 * Barrie Wilmore as Manager
 * Michael Tudor Barnes as Neighbour
 * David Willoughby as Lad
 * Sara Kean as Bridesmaid 1 (uncredited)
 * Victoria Kean as Bridesmaid 2 (uncredited)

Tropes and themes

 * The Art Deco 1930s
 * Macy's Garage - built 1925-26 by architects Wimperis & Simpson in neo-classical style.
 * Addisland Court - 1936, designed by William Bryce Binnie in Art Deco style.
 * Hasting's hobbies
 * He buys a new car here. Lots of technical car discussion with Miss Fabbri and also Dr Hawker.
 * The car chase
 * Spectacular scenes - the Italian wedding at Kensington Roof Top garden, a large scale expensive scene with lots of extras.

Filming Locations

 * 8 Balderton Street, Mayfair (formerly Macy's Garage, today, Beaumont Hotel) - Eliso Freccia showroom.
 * Brown Hart Gardens, London - Hastings and Poirot drive past the terraces of this garden on their way to the car showroom.
 * Addisland Court, Kensington - an actual buiilding, location of Foscatini's apartment. Not Regent's Court as in the original.
 * Kensington Roof Gardens - Italian wedding
 * Rosewood London - Italian Embassy
 * Jenkins Hotel, Bloomsbury - the real hotel (now closed) at 45 Cartwright Gardens is featured in this adaptation. Ascanio stays there and gets raided by the police. In the original story, it was the Grosvenor Hotel.
 * Cartwright Gardens, London - police vehicles stake out the Jenkins hotel.
 * Bosham Quay, Bosham, Chicester.
 * High Street, Bosham, Chicester.
 * Shore Road, Bosham, Chicester

Vehicles and props

 * Hasting's Eliso Freccia was actually a short-chassis Alfa Romeo 2900A.
 * Graves drives a Vauxhall Light 6 registration BXJ66.