Crooked House is a 2017 film produced by Sony Pictures and directed by Gilles Paquet-Brenner. Production began in 2016 and after a limited cinema release to the UK and US markets on 21 Nov 2017, the film was made available on DVD and streaming platforms. The film is an adaptation of the Agatha Christie novel Crooked House.
Synopsis[]
The granddaughter of late Greek-British business tycoon Aristide Leonides, Sophia, visits private investigator Charles Hayward in his office. Sophia wants Charles to investigate Aristide's death as she believes he was murdered by a member of his sprawling and idiosyncratic family.
Comparison with original book / Plot Summary[]
(may contain spoilers - click on expand to read)
The action of the film follows the original fairly closely but is set in the late 1950s, a decade later than the novel. One character refers to the execution of murderess Ruth Ellis in 1955. Charles was in the diplomatic service in Cairo not during the Second World War but in the 1950s. While in Cairo, there is mention of the Greek Civil War (1946-1949). Gaitskill saw Aristide about his will on 24th of July, 1957.
In this adaptation, Charles Hayward has left the diplomatic service and has set up as a private detective. Sophia visits Charles at his office to ask him to invesitgate her grandfather's death. There is no talk of marriage unlike the book. Their relationship here is strained as they had broken off in the past, after meeting in Egypt. Charles is reluctant to take the case as he thinks it is "unethicall" (probably because of his feelings) but he agrees when Sophia says that she is afraid because she believes the killer is in her household.
In this adaptation, Commissioner Hayward does not appear but is already dead. When Charles decides to take up the case, he goes to see Chief Inspector Taverner who recalls Commissioner Hayward with respect. Taverner is not as enthusiastic as in the book about Charles's involvement but he can see the advantages. He shows Charles his case notes. As in the original, the cause of death was by injection of eserine.
Aristide has a backstory of having been a CIA agent who was active during the Greek Civil War supporting Greek anti-communist causes. Charles himself was recruited into British intelligence while in Cairo and was asked to use his relationship with Sophia to find out what she was doing in Cairo--whether it was simply working for Sotheby's or whether she was linked to her grandfather's CIA activities. Charles had to "spied" on Sophia was one of the reasons Sophia broke with him and left Cairo to return to England. This backstory is unique to the adaptation and does not really affect the flow of the main plot except perhaps as a source of misdirection--at one stage Taverner was looking at whether Aristide's death had to do with his CIA background or his business dealings in Las Vegas.
The ending follows the same lines as in the original with slight differences. Edith writes only one note, to Charles, confessing to the various murders. When Charles and Sophia see the note and realise that Edith has just taken Josephine in her car, they give chase. Edith realises that she is being followed and drives the car into a quarry. The car explodes, killing both her and Josephine. In this adapation, Edith does not implicate Josephine. In fact she hides Josephine's notebook in a bucket of lime to destroy it. Charles finds it and he and Sophia read the truth of what Josephine had done.
Cast[]
- Max Irons as Charles Hayward
- Stefanie Martini as Sophia de Haviland
- Glenn Close as Lady Edith de Haviland
- Honor Kneafsey as Josephine Leonides
- Christina Hendricks as Brenda Leonides
- Terence Stamp as Chief Inspector Taverner
- Julian Sands as Philip Leonides
- Gillian Anderson as Magda Leonides
- Christian McKay as Roger Leonides
- Amanda Abbington as Clemency Leonides
- Preston Nyman as Eustace Leonides
- John Heffernan as Laurence Brown
- Jenny Galloway as Nanny
- David Kirkbride as Sergeant Glover
- Tina Gray as Miss Ackroyd
- Roger Ashton-Griffiths as Mr Gaitskill
- Andreas Karras as Iannois Agrodopolous
- Gino Picciano as Aristide Leonides
- Jacob Fortune-Lloyd as Brent
- Ani Nelson as Cigarette Girl
- David Seddon as Constable
- David Cann as Coroner
- Denis Lill as Doctor
- Trevor Cooper as Cairo Spymaster
- Jeremy Randall as Mechanic
- Madeleine Hyland as Secretary
- Reuben Greeph as Club Singer
- A.J. Jenks as Club Band (as AJ Jenks)
- Alex Bellamy as Club Band
- James Pattison as Club Band
- Timothy Mylechreest as Club Band
- Ricky Gabbriellini As Journalist (uncredited)
- Rudy Valentino Grant as Businessman Pass Byer (uncredited)
- Petros L. Ioannou as Tommy Boy (uncredited)
- Lauren Poveda as Dancer (uncredited)
Filming locations[]
The exterior of Three Gables was Minley Manor. At least four different locations were used for the interiors. Most of the other locations were in London.[1][2]
- Maughan Library, King's College London
- Lincoln's Inn Fields
- Hammersmith Apollo - cinema and later the dance hall
- Hoxton Square
- Congress Centre, 28 Great Russell St, London, WC1B 3LS - Associated Catering exterior and interiors. Spiral staircase. Great Marble Hall used as Roger's office.[3]
- West Wycombe Park
- Yellow Saloon - room with french windows where family gathers to hear from Gaitskill about the will leaving everything to Sophia.
- Tapestry Room - the school room
- Blue Drawing Room - part of Aristide's bedroom
- Palmyra Room - dining room of Three Gables
- Hughenden Manor, Buckinghamshire
- Drawing room - Magda's drawing room
- Yellow bedroom - Josephine's room
- Library room - Phillip's study. Later Josephine is practising her ballet in this room.
- First floor room - Brenda's room. Today it is used as an exhibition space for "Operation Hillside". The fireplace in the room is distinctive. But the walls are not pink today!
- First floor room - Eustace's room. Today it is used as an activity room for children to dress up in period costumes.[4]
- Tyntesfield, Wraxall - staircase and foyer[5]
- Minley Manor, Hampshire[6]
- exteriors of Three Gables
- Drawing room - Aristide's study
- Sitting room - Clemency and Roger's apartment
- Joyce Grove, Nettlebed, Oxfordshire (Sue Ryder Hospice) - staircase in the background, hallway as the interior of the hotel in Egypt
- Dyrham Park, Chippenham - unknown scenes
- Wrotham Park, Hertfordshire - unknown scenes
References[]
- ↑ The Cinemaholic.com/Where was Crooked House Filmed
- ↑ https://www.wearemoviegeeks.com/2017/12/production-designer-simon-bowles/ We Are the Movie Geeks/Production Designer Simon Bowles]
- ↑ Filming Location - Congress Centre's Best Bits
- ↑ The fireplace in Eustace's room can be seen in a photo here: Summer of Play at Hughenden
- ↑ According to various internet resources, including IMDB and Cinemaholic.com, Wrotham Park was used for the staircase and foyer. But see the photos here. The staircase with the green wallpaper is definitely Tyntesfield.
- ↑ Darren Boyle, "Beautiful French chateau-style country manor in Surrey is put up for sale by Ministry of Defence for £5m", Daily Mail, 23 May 2014. URL