In the USSR, Agatha Christie's detective opuses were treated with special reverence and warmth. And in general, television screens of detective novels were a huge success, to recall at least textbook tapes about Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson directed by I. Maslennikov. The first Russian Hercule Poirot appeared on Soviet screens in the project “The Endhouse Mystery” by director and scriptwriter Vadim Derbenev. The image of the great detective was embodied by Anatoly Ravikovich, the most famous for the public at the Pokrovsky Gate. Traditionally, the Baltic states portrayed the cinema abroad, and many Latvian and Lithuanian actors appeared in the roles of the British and French. A true fan of the detective genre, Derbenev planned to start filming another film about Poirot, again inviting Ravikovich, but the idea never found its realization.
Summary
The film “Endhouse's riddle” is based on a story about the episode from the life of one of the best detectives of all time, Hercule Poirot, who, along with his friend Captain Arthur Hastings (D. Krylov), while relaxing in a resort, becomes an eyewitness to the scene of the assassination attempt of Miss Nick Buckley (V. Kälmäläyte, voice acting by N. Gurzo). The dear owner of the boarding house, located on the outskirts, does not believe that anyone wishes her a speedy end. The great detective is having difficulty persuading the young woman to take possible precautions while he is investigating the incident.
Actors A. Kharitonov (George Challenger), I. Ozola (Maggie Buckley), I. Slutsk (Frederick Rice), P. Sirotin (Inspector Jepp) and others were involved in supporting roles in the movie “The Endhouse Mystery”.
Background
Director Vadim Derbenev, before starting the filming process of "The Mysteries of Endhouse", already had experience in the film adaptations of Christy's immortal works. He took part in the creation of the film “The Secret of Blackbirds,” which was based on the novel of the writer “Pocket full of rye”. The director began to work on a new project with special zeal, intending to cause a significant resonance among the audience. He personally met more than once with Anatoly Ravikovich, who was approved for the main role, in order to discuss the character of his future character. The actor was imbued with the excitement of the director, putting all his artistic talent to make his hero not only memorable, bright, deep and colorful, but also polemic in relation to the image previously presented by Albert Finney in the movie “Murder on the Orient Express” (1974). )
Losing in comparison
The creators of The Endhouse Riddle were almost lucky, because at the same time as the premiere of the result of their efforts, the pilot of the interesting British series Poirot Agatha Christie premiered with David Suchet in the lead role. Naturally, the plot of the foreign project was based on the adventures of the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. Compared to the project, which was supervised by Rosalind Hicks herself (the daughter of a writer), the Soviet film definitely loses. Moreover, not in the direction or skill of the performers, but in the work of artists, dressers and decorators, who were either significantly limited in funds or dimly understood their task.
Criticism
The brainchild of Vadim Derbenev, despite the shortcomings, is still many times better than the work of screenwriter and director Sergei Ursulyak “Poirot's failure” with Konstantin Raikin in the title role. The rating of the Endhouse riddle IMDb tape is 6.10, the reviews of film critics are mostly positive. Only the simplicity and unambiguity of the narrative was subject to doubts of the reenactors. Some especially skeptical specialists fell to groundless accusations of the crew members, stating that the filmmakers were busy not so much with aesthetic tasks as they enjoyed the filming location - a picturesque resort.