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I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Nifty production of Agatha Christie story. A man is found dying among some rocks on a beach in Wales, evidently having fallen from the cliff above. Bernard Miles and (someone else) find him. He utters only a few last words -- "Why didn't they ask Evans?" -- before giving up the ghost. Francesca Annis, a young lady with a title visiting Wales, inserts herself into the mystery. She finds out the man's identity and his local hosts, a patron, a young blond lady, and a young man. The host family is a suspicious lot, especially the father who is a nervous wreck and makes several allusions to opioid drugs. All of this is sharply but discretely observed by Francesca Annis who has managed a longish visit at the family's stately home, Merriway Court. She manages to enlist her boy friend in the case and has his pose as her chauffeur, and both of them begin prying.Much of the conversation takes place at the dinner table. Everyone dabs decorously at his plate and seems disinterested except that they are listening with keen ears. This is an English pattern. I know I shouldn't make such Olympian judgements but I'm beyond that. The QE2 dining room was filled with British passengers and was silent except for the tinkling of silverware on china. As my wife and I were preparing to leave, I said audibly, "I never believed one bullet could make such a mess. There was blood everywhere." The tinkling paused only for about two seconds before resuming its silvery fairy-tale melody.This is rather a typical Agatha Christie tale in that the plot -- extending as it does over three longish installments -- is labyrinthine. I lost track of who was suspected of what, and why, from time to time, despite the recurring themes of greed and narcotics. Bonus points for exquisite photography and location shooting. Everything seems so CLEAN and SUNNY.We must count Francesca Annis among the many things that are clean and sunny. Her chipper persona enlivens every scene she's in. And though she's not one of those stunning English blonds one often finds in these tales, she's a splendid actress, a delight to watch. Her friend, the faux chauffeur, is something of a dull bulb compared to her sharp wit.In fact, if there's anything resembling a message in this story, it's that men are either a little slow witted or are particeps criminis. It's the young, good-looking, energetic women in their white frocks and 1930s hair styles that ferret out the truth.

Why Didn't They Ask Evans? is not one of Agatha Christie's best books but when Christie wasn't quite at her best she knew how to make a mystery entertaining and engrossing and that is true of Why Didn't They Ask Evans? This 1980 TV version I can see, in the future and right now, is not going to please everybody. Some people will find it well made, diverting and classic Agatha Christie, others will find it contrived, long-winded and perhaps confused. Depends on your perspective, and perhaps if you're familiar with the story. This version of Why Didn't They Ask is not what I call perfect, there is one information strand that does feel thrown in, all too easy and underdeveloped. But the adaptation is leagues ahead of the 2009 version(as part of the ITV Marple series), which was all of the things that I have seen people criticise this version of being, even though that adaptation had great production values and a splendid Julia McKenzie, it wastes most of the supporting cast, is meandering pacing-wise and the ending was a mess.Back to this, it is very well-made, actually looking authentic without being too late-70s/early-80s with nice photography and costumes and sets that are both sumptuous and atmospheric. The dialogue is very faithful to Agatha Christie and helps to make the mystery interesting throughout, and the story, while paced slowly but appropriately, is both suspenseful and intricate, if seemingly implausible on first viewing. On this point, I do think this is an adaptation that is best to see more than once, then again I might be alone in this notion. I personally liked the cast, James Warwick and Francesca Annis are very likable and reminds one fondly of their Tommy and Tuppence, while John Gielgud- while not stealing scenes as seamlessly as in Seven Dials Mystery- is his usual commanding self. Joan Hickson also has a glorious and deliciously over-the-top cameo, but it is Eric Porter's alert and sometimes alarming Doctor that indeed steals the show.Overall, not perfect and not the most accessible of Agatha Christie adaptations(I also think Seven Dials Mystery, which had most of the cast from here in that, is better), but well-made and interesting with a good cast and far better than the later adaptation. 9/10 Bethany Cox

The acting was a bit stilted in this one but, all in all, not a bad rendition of a Christie favorite (I'm a HUGE Christie fan). The filming comes off as sort of soap-opera-ie for the indoor shots but the outdoor scenes are A-O-K.I confess (as a Christie apologist) that this is one of Christie's more implausible mysteries but the director pulled it off darn good, without making his actors look ridiculous, (always a potential problem with Christie films). I was especially impressed with the length of this film, quite long, and a good partial afternoon of DVD or TV entertainment as far as I am concerned.To summarize, if you're an absolute Agatha Christie NUT, go ahead and consider this one an 8-star rating... however, if you are randomly looking around for ANY film to watch, regardless of genre, and have never seen a Christie mystery, you might find this to be a TWO.... (or a ONE!). I liked it a great deal and very much recommend it to appropriate fans.

I saw this television version of a Christie mystery story when it was shown back on Channel 5 in New York City in 1980. At the time I was surprised it was not shown on Channel 13, the Public Television Station that showed most of the Masterpiece Theater programs, but (aside from some Dorothy Sayers "Lord Peter Wimsey" stores, and THE MOONSTONE) the BBC productions rarely dealt with British detective stories. Another series, THE RIVALS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES had dealt with stories set in the Victorian and Edwardian period, so a period charm was involved in getting those stories onto Channel 13.The plot of WHY DIDN'T THEY ASK EVANS? dealt with a young couple stumbling upon a dying man who's only last words are the question of the title of the story (the novel was originally called WHY DIDN'T THEY ASK EVANS?, but subsequently was retitled THE BOOMERANG CLUE). The young couple start investigating the murder, and trace the crime to a set of people who surround a questionable doctor (Eric Porter). Despite the warnings of the father of the hero (John Gielgud), the hero (James Warwick) and the heroine (Francesca Annis) pursue their investigation - even as it gets murkier and more dangerous. The death of another suspect by suicide increases the apparent dangers as the killer starts looking into silencing the two amateur detectives.It's not a bad film, although I agree it was a bit too long for a single night's entertainment (if it had been done like later Miss Marple episodes with Joan Hickson, or the Hercule Poirot episodes, in two parts it would have been better). But it has it's strengths. One is the proper use of Porter as chief suspect, and a clever scene later in the film where he appears to be spying on the young couple who are investigating the mystery. If you stick to the film, you will be in for a fair surprise later on.But it has one failing. When dealing with a Christie novel the figures in the story have to be in a rigid schedule of movements so that the reader might be able to figure out what the secret of the plot is. I will only add that if you hear the dialog at one point, and how a little boy was almost killed (but wasn't), then you will find all the parts of the story coming together, and what the villain's motivations were.Except for that and the lengthy time the telefilm takes to tell it's story, it is quite a good film, and worthy as one of the best programs based on a Christie story in the period when their was a sudden renaissance in films based on her novels.