Why Didn't They Ask Evans? [1980]

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Primary Contributor : Francesca Annis
Primary Contributor : Leigh Lawson

Product Details

Director : Tony Wharmby, John Davies
Actor : Francesca Annis, Leigh Lawson, James Warwick (II), Connie Booth, John Gielgud
Format : Colour, Full Screen, PAL
Aspect Ratio : 1.33:1
Binding : VHS Tape
EAN : 5014138502072
Number of Discs : 1
Product Group : Video
Release Date : 2000-06-05
Running Time : 144minutes
Studio : Granada Media

ASIN : B00004TT50

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Customer Reviews

An amusing, stylish...and long...Agatha Christie mystery (2007-08-11)

A golf game on a windy bluff above the sea, a cry, a man lying on the rocks below who struggles to say with his dying breath, "Why didn't they ask Evans?" And we're off on a three-hour Agatha Christie tale of family deception, murder, lies and ruthless intrigue. We're also thrust into the Twenties and early Thirties' world of wealthy English bright young things, a world of upper-crust accents, immaculate manners and immaculate croquet grounds, country homes with many rooms and even more servants, and gleaming autos almost as long as a cricket pitch. This TV movie, originally a three-part British television production, would seem to have everything. So why is it unsatisfying? And why, as unsatisfying as I think it is, is it still amusing to watch? The unsatisfying parts first. 1) The story goes on and on. It easily could have been cut by at least half an hour. 2) The mystery is convoluted and hard to follow. 3) The two sleuths, Lady Frances Derwent (Francesca Annis) and Bobby Jones (James Warwick) got a bit on my nerves. Bobby is brave, a puppy dog around Frankie and not too smart. Frankie is very much the bright young thing, superficially brittle with hidden warmth, clever and, to my taste, a bit too self-satisfied. I never forgot that I was watching actors. 4) The direction is heavy handed, as if the director felt he had to nudge us that we're watching a slightly silly period piece. The background music is frequently used to emphasize things that don't need to be emphasized. What makes it watchable? Style, story and several of the actors. 1) This production looks great. The stately homes, inside and out, provide wonderful settings for distinctly upper class life. The period clothes for both the men and women look authentic and are often elegant. Dressing for dinner never looked better. 2) While the story is convoluted, it carries within it enough false leads to keep one's interest. The solution to the mystery and the answer to the dying man's question is clever. 3) Despite the artificiality of Annis' performance, she's a good enough actress to keep me watching her. It's style over substance, and she carries off the style handily. One of the important roles, who may be a diversion to the plot or may be a key ingredient, is played by Eric Porter, a fine actor. This was one of his last roles. He plays Dr. Nicholson, who runs a discrete clinic for disturbed relatives of wealthy families. The doctor is solicitous and alarming at the same time. Porter does a great job. If you have a chance, watch him as Soames in the early TV production of the Forsyte Saga. He was, in my view, an exceptional actor. In smaller roles Bernard Miles and John Gielgud show up. Joan Hickson makes an appearance looking utterly different from Miss Marple. On balance, I think this is a show you might like if you're fond of British mysteries involving the upper class and don't expect a classic. You'll need to appreciate Lady Frances...but as Bobby tells her at the close, "You were so frightfully plucky..." The DVD transfer is soft but not too bad. There is a filmography of several of the actors.

Is there really an Evans? (2005-11-01)

Bobby Jones (James Warwick) is pitifully attempting to play golf on ground above the cliff to the sea. He would most assuredly hit someone if the ball go jut get that far. He hears a cry but just plays on. That is until the search for the ball takes him to the edge of the cliff where it appears that a hiker fell on the rocks below. Bobby rushes to the aid of the fallen man. The fallen man come conscious just long enough to say "Why Didn't They Ask Evans?" then expires.

From here characters pore in from all sides and you need to keep a score card and there are several doctors and mysteriously guilty looking people. You may guess some of the story but not all as they hold back most of clues until the last moment.

Once again Britton has excelled in bringing a great Agatha Christie story to life. They did not try to overstate or rush through the story. Also true to Christies writing they left in the characters instead of trying to homogenize them into fewer numbers for TV's sake.

We recognize the actors for other such stories:

James Warwick who trained at the Central School in London also played Tommy in Agatha Christie's "Partners in Crime" series.Francesca Annis was Tuppence in the "Partners in Crime" series. But where I remember her most as Lady Jessica in "Dune" (1984).Sir John Gielgud, a graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic arts in London played Hamlet on the stage.The big surprise is the late Joan Hickson who made her stage debut in prudential theater in 1927 and played the best Miss Marple in the Agatha Christie series of movies. You may not recognize her but she was also in "Eye of the Needle" (1981).

Superb Leigh Lawson (2004-11-04)

In my opinion the star of this movie is Leigh Lawson, who plays the villain Roger Bassington-ffrench. (Do they really have names like that in England?) Such an attractive villain! So handsome, so charming, so intelligent and sensitive that it is impossible not to like him. And he falls genuinely in love with Frankie (Lady Frances Derwent, played by Francesca Annis). It is true love, not just the result of cold, villainous calculation. If I were Frankie I'd be sorely tempted to accept his offer (made in his superbly cool and underacted final scene) of running away with him to a new life and making an honest man of him.

The 1980 Christie classic at last available uncut (2004-07-31)

This classic 1980 3 1/2 hour LWT adaption of Agatha Christie's 1934 novel was repeated in October 1999 by Granada Plus, with at least 22 minutes missing, and after an angry response by Christie fans, this adaption was finally released in June 2000 in its entirety, and was a huge seller as a result. Granada Plus have been heavily criticised for editing, and trimming its output by at least 5 minutes thus missing out vital scenes which were important to viewers.

VCI/Cinema Club does these Agatha Christie adaptions justice, and with this story as we see Lady Frances Derwent, superbly played by Francesca Annis, and Bobby Jones, played by James Warwick, being led into a world of multiple identities, drugs, and deception. This is where the vital scenes which were cut by Plus are essential for instance the introduction of Badger (Robert Longden), plays a very important part in the proceedings, so it didn't make any sense whatsoever to make cuts, and edits to this story. This destroys the enjoyment of viewers. Of the supporting cast : Connie Booth is wonderful as Sylvia Bassington-FFrench, as are Sir John Gielgud, Bernard Miles, Lynda Marchal (LaPlante), Joan Hickson, James Cossins, but the best performances come from Eric Porter as the mysterious, Dr Nicholson, and Leigh Lawson, as smoothie villain Roger Bassington-FFrench, and one notable scene is when Lady Derwent, and Bobby Jones, are gagged by Dr Nicholson (Bassington-FFrench in disguise, with accurate synch voice over by Eric Porter to follow Lawson's mouth movements which is used to great effect here), and are told how they're going to die. Cue Badger Beadon to the rescue. Madeline Smith is also superb as the conniving wife of Dr Nicholson, who is unmasked by Frances Derwent as a drug pusher. Who was Evans?. Well, I'm not going to spoil it for you. Filmed in the summer of'79, it took a superlative effort of two, not one directors, Tony Wharmby, and John Davies, who would helm the later PD James stories. This story took just 12 weeks to complete. This is definitely my favourite of the AC adaptions. Next stop : The Seven Dials Mystery.

Probably the best dramatization of Agatha Christie ever. (2000-11-22)

If you're looking for technical accuracy, brilliant screenplay or slick digital effects, look elsewhere. But if you love good old fashioned whodunnits, you can't go wrong with this. The chief protagonists are entirely believable in their roles, and manage to hold your attention to the end, if only to answer the title question. The best thing about the movie is that even though, once you've got to the end, the plot is thin at best, it keeps throwing up little suprises on subsequent viewings. I first watched it in 1981, and have never missed an opportunity to see it since. One for the fans.

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