Cast (in credits order) complete, awaiting verification. Four of these suspects have subsequently died (one of them hanged), but in the case of Freda Clay, who gave her aunt an overdose of morphine, there was considered to be too little evidence to prosecute. Curtain: Poirot's Last Case is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in September 1975 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year. That case is the one retold in Death on the Nile. Poirot's testimony at the inquest, that Mrs Franklin had been upset and that he saw her emerge from Dr Franklin's laboratory with a small bottle, persuades the jury to return a verdict of suicide. X was Norton, a man who had perfected the technique of which Iago in Othello (and a character in Ervine's play) is master: applying just such psychological pressure as is needed to provoke someone to commit murder, without his victim realising what is happening. 'They were good days.' We know that Poirot was alive to solve the mystery in Elephants Can Remember, which was set in 1972-3. He sensed that Norton, who had been deliberately vague about whom he had seen through the binoculars, would hint that he had seen Franklin and Judith, to implicate them in the murder of Mrs Franklin, not inadvertent suicide as it was. When Hastings speaks to Georges, he learns that Poirot wore a wig, and that Poirot's reasons for employing Curtiss were vague. sets it within World War II. Being their last case together, mention is made of earlier cases. David Suchet. On 6 August 1975, The New York Times published a front-page obituary of Poirot with a photograph to mark his death.[9][10][11]. [4], Two months later, Coady nominated Curtain as his Book of the Year in a column of critic's choices. It is a country house novel, with all the characters and the murder set in one house. Commenting on the return of Hastings, Coady called the character the "densest of Dr Watsons; but never has the stupidity of the faithful companion-chronicler been so cunningly exploited as it is here." He then gave him hot chocolate. Hastings is concerned by the attentions paid to his daughter Judith by Major Allerton, whom he discovers is married but estranged from his Catholic wife. Norton had demonstrated this ability, with Colonel Luttrell, with Hastings, and Mrs Franklin. | Shortly afterwards, he wounds her with a rook rifle, apparently mistaking her for a rabbit. Coady called Captain Hastings the "densest of Dr Watsons [but]... never has the stupidity of the faithful companion-chronicler been so cunningly exploited as it is here." ", Two months later, Coady nominated Curtain as his Book of the Year in a column of critic's choices. While he and Elizabeth are out with Stephen Norton, another guest and a birdwatcher, Norton sees something through his binoculars that seems to upset him. [8] He married at the end of the next Poirot novel, The Murder on the Links, mentioned twice in this novel, as Hastings is now a widower. Take your favorite fandoms with you and never miss a beat. As a critic, I welcome it, as a reminder that sheer ingenuity can still amaze. The bit of arithmetic to show the story is set post-war starts from the marriage of Arthur Hastings and Dulcie (Cinderella) Duveen at the end of The Murder on the Links (published in 1923), and some years needed for the births of their four children, of whom Judith, age 21, appears to be the youngest. Ironically, Hastings had unwittingly intervened in Mrs. Franklin's plan to poison her husband, by turning a revolving bookcase table while seeking a book to solve a crossword clue (Othello again), thus swapping the cups of coffee, so Mrs Franklin poisoned herself. Poirot calls the recently widowed Hastings to join him in solving this case. In fact, for a long-cherished idea, and as an exit for Poirot, this is oddly perfunctory in execution.". See Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple for further discussion of her views of Poirot. Norton is still concerned over what he saw days earlier when out with Hastings and Cole. She was poisoned with physostigmine sulphate, an extract from the Calabar bean that her husband researches. The novel features Hercule Poirot and Arthur Hastings in their final appearances in Christie's works. Being Poirot is a 50-minute ITV television documentary (2013) in which David Suchet attempts to unravel the mysterious appeal of Hercule Poirot and how he portrayed him. The only solution was for Poirot to murder Norton himself. He said, "No crime story of 1975 has given me more undiluted pleasure. Perhaps the murderer was Curtiss all along? As a critic, I welcome it, as a reminder that sheer ingenuity can still amaze. [17], On 19 December 2013, Barnaby Walter of The Edge listed the adaptation and Poirot's death scene at #2 on the list of the Best TV Drama Moments of 2013. This, however, is merely to tie oneself in knots attempting to suggest a true, consistent biography that stands behind an entirely fictional sequence of events. Nevertheless, it seems that there is no one in the house who could have impersonated Norton, who was a short man. X is among the guests at Styles Court with them. [15] The adaptation mentions only the Litchfield, Sharples, and Etherington murders. Partly fearing for her own survival, and partly wanting to have a fitting end to Poirot's series of novels, Christie had the novel locked away in a bank vault for over thirty years. Miss Felicity Lemon. He said, "No crime story of 1975 has given me more undiluted pleasure. [18] In 2015, Curtain was nominated for Outstanding Television Movie for its 67th Emmy Awards,[19][20] but eventually lost to Bessie, which featured Queen Latifah.[21]. The killer is not labelled 'X' as in the novel, although it is alluded when Poirot speaks to others. They meet in Poirot's room. Chief Inspector James Japp. It was the last of her books to be published during her lifetime. Curtain: Poirot's Last Case is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in September 1975[1] and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year, selling for $7.95.[2][3]. The fictional detective dies at the end. Hercule Poirot. [13] It is the first Poirot novel not written by Agatha Christie. Release Dates Inside the old, absurd conventions of the Country House mystery she reworks the least likely person trick with a freshness rivalling the originality she displayed nearly 50 years ago in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. Hastings, who had been invalided out of the First World War, became involved in the first Styles investigation in 1916, at which time he was around thirty years old. That night, Hastings is awakened by a noise and sees Norton entering his bedroom. Elizabeth Cole, another guest at the hotel, reveals to him that she is in fact the sister of Margaret Litchfield, who had confessed to the murder of their father in one of the five cases. Inside the old, absurd conventions of the Country House mystery she reworks the least likely person trick with a freshness rivalling the originality she displayed nearly 50 years ago in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.