Agatha Christie Wiki
Agatha Christie Wiki
Advertisement
Alan carst- i mean alain langevin

Luc Samaille as Alain Langevin

In Pourquoi pas Martin?, the France Télévisions adaptation of Why Didn't They Ask Evans?, Monsieur Alain Langevin is an ethnologist, and the parallel of the big-game hunter Alan Carstairs. Alain Langevin is portrayed by Luc Samaille.

Alice Avril discovered Langevin's body at the foot of the cliff after having apparently fallen down. Like in the original, nobody knew who he was. He had a photo of a pretty girl in his pocket (which subsequently disappeared) and had uttered the words "Why not Martin" justy before dying. At first, the body was identified by Paulette Tourbier as that of her brother "Jean". However when Paulette was subsequently murdered, commissaire Laurence had the picture of the body published for a second time in the newspapers. This time Suzanne Delavallée saw the picture (paralleling what happened to Sylvia Bassington-ffrench and recognised him as a dinner guest.

Suzanne told commissaire Laurence that Alain had come back from overseas because of the sudden death of his best friend and Jean Savage. He did not believe that Savage committed suicide as he was in no way depressed. He subsequently went to see the lawyer who drew up Savage's will to investigate what happened. Fearing that he was on the track of the truth, Roland Delavallée who, with Alma Sarrazin were plotting to get hold of Savage's fortune through an elaborate will scam, decided to silence Alain. Roland met Alain on the edge of a cliff and pushed him off to his death. In the original, Carstairs was by the cliffs because he was walking along a path to get to Marchbolt to meet someone (the "Evans" in the title). In this adaptation, there is no suggestion that Alain was by the cliffside because he was on his way to meet "[[Georges Martin|Martin". It appears he was there merely to get some air.

Commissaire Laurence did not believe in coincidences. He did not believe Alain had gone to the Delavallée by chance. He was there because he believed the people there (such as Alma Sarrazin--by this time he already knew the girl in Alain's picture was Alma) had some connection with Savage. Savage had written to his friend Alain talking about his affair with his mistress "Mrs Destrange" (Alma in disguise) and had even included a photo of her. In the episode there is a flashback to a scene where Alain is having lunch at the Delavallées. Alma shows up and Alain appears to recognise her. In another flashback scene, Alain is at the cliff top just before Roland pushes him over. He asks Roland if he knows Alma. She is a lier and probably a murder, Alain tells him.

Advertisement