Meurtre à la kermesse is the 5th episode of series 2 of the French TV series Les Petits Meurtres d'Agatha Christie. It is an adaptation of the Hercule Poirot novel Hallowe'en Party.
Synopsis[]
Like the rest of the episodes of season 2 of this series, the original Christie detective characters have been replaced. The lead roles are taken by a French detective Commissaire Swan Laurence assisted by a journalist Alice Avril and Laurence's secretary Marlene. The stories are set in the north of France in the 1950s. In most episodes the town or village where the crimes took place are not clearly stated but in this case it is: the town of Steenwerck, west of Lille. The main square of the town was used in some scenes.
Although temporarily blinded during a shootout with some smugglers, Laurence insists on investigating the murder of a young girl during a school carnival. All he needs is "a guide dog with a driving licence"--someone to guide him, be his eyes and drive him around. The obliging Marlene supplies someone, but Laurence is none too happy about her choice!
Plot Summary[]
(may contain spoilers - click on expand to read)
During a stake out against a group of smugglers, a firefight ensues and Laurence is temporarily blinded. The doctors diagnose post-traumatic stress--but he will not be able to see for some time. Meanwhile Tricard arrives with news that a school girl Luisa Ortega has been drowned during a school carnival. Tricard wants to assign Perrin to the case but Laurence insists on taking it on himself as he considers Perrin clumsy. He tells Marlene all he needs is "a guide dog with a driving licence"--someone to see for him and drive him around. Marlene offers to do this and guides him to the car.
Meanwhile Alice has heard about the incident and sneaks into the car when Marlene goes off to fetch her purse. Laurence is not pleased about the switch but relents when Alice threatens to tell everyone about his blindness. At the crime scene they meet Mayor Dravignan and school teacher Claire Arial and her daughter Miranda. They tell Laurence that Luisa had written an essay in which she claimed to have seen a murder of an actress. However the essay is now missing.
Comparison with the original story[]
(may contain spoilers - click on expand to read)
This adaptation is fairly faithful to the original novel but with some differences.
- All the action takes place in Northern France rather than the village of Woodleigh Common like in the original story. The investigators are Commissaire Laurence, his secretary Marlene and reporter Alice Avril.
- Catherine Dravignan is the local mayoress and parallels Rowena Drake. There is no parallel of Superintendent Spence or Elspeth McKay.
- Claire Arial is the teacher who saw Dravignan dropping a vase during the kermesse and thus is a parallel of Elizabeth Whittaker. She also has one daughter named Miranda, which is the parallel of Miranda Butler from the original story.
- Dr Petit is a character who could vaguely be inspired by Dr Ferguson, but with several changes. First, he plays a large role in this adaptation. He wished to become a mayor and thus could have killed Luisa (the name given to Joyce in this adaptation) to frame Catherine Dravignan. Petit also has a wife named Geneviève, who tells Laurence that Olga Semirov had been one of his patients.
- Several characters do not have a parallel in the original story. There is one local group of teenagers lead by Benoît, who convinces 'Monsieur Milou' to confess the murder despite being innocent. He is arrested but later let go by Laurence.
Cast[]
- Samuel Labarthe as Swan Laurence
- Blandine Bellavoir as Alice Avril
- Élodie Frenck as Marlène
- Anne Lauret as Catherine Dravignan
- Nicholas Bridet as Xavier Tremens
- Fred Epaud as Monsieur Milou
- Jeanne Rosa as Claire Arial
- Come Levin as Benoît
- Maryne Bertieaux as Miranda
- Philippe Hérrison as Docteur Petit
- Isabelle Goethals Carre as Geneviève Petit
- Dominique Thomas as Ernest Tricard
- François Godart as Robert Jourdeuil
- Almudena Ruiz Rey as Maria Ortega
- Bruno Buffoli as Ophtalmologist
- Thomas Baelde as Raoul Gredin
- Madalina Quinchon as Svetlana Navratil
- Salomé Hadzlik as Luisa
- Wladimir Sobocinski as Pablo
- Maelyz Cabezon as Sylvie
- Eric Beauchamp as Flic Martin
- Saverio Maligno as Flic Pagès
- Charlotte Magras as Caroline
- Jonathan Serrurier as Ami Benoît
- Thomas Debeugny as Eric
- Jeanne Cauchy as Amie Benoît
- Uncredited actress as Olga Semirov
Research notes[]
- This is the first episode that Élodie Frenck gets top billing and the graphic of Marlene appears in Laurence's car in the opening animation. Previously Laurence was alone in his car and then the next scene shows Alice on her scooter.
Trivia[]
A publicitary poster of Dr Petit can be seen in an abandoned factory in the episode Le crime ne paie pas.
Filming locations[]
- Steenwerck
- Decanter House (so says wikipedia but this cannot be confirmed)
- Grand Place - town square where the statue of Paul Dravignan is located.
- Cassel
- Around 11 Rue de Notre Dame, the "chapelle des Jésuites de Cassel" can be seen in the background. Here Laurence orders Alice to stop the car because he has discovered it's not Marlene at the wheel.
- Église Catholique Collégiale Notre-Dame-de-la-Crypte à Cassel - Alice drives Laurence past this church, heading west on Rue Notre Dame towards Rue d'Aire until....
- Porte d'Aire - Laurence tells Alice to get out then takes the wheel and drives through the porte.
- Brebières/Corbehem
- Abandoned swimming pool "La piscine Béghin" - hangout of the hooligans.
- Industrial area around 50°20'14.9"N 3°02'21.1"E. There are 2 chimneys and a large tank. Often seen in the background near the swimming pool. Miranda finds Milou hiding here. Today this area is largely flattened but old Google Streetviews from 2013 show the buildings.