How a 1982 mystery film used a fake suntan to hide a real murder
In short: In the 1982 adaptation of Agatha Christie's Evil Under the Sun, detective Hercule Poirot faces a seemingly impossible puzzle. Every suspect has a perfect alibi for the time of a brutal strangulation. The solution hinges on a clever deception involving a fake tan, a stolen watch, and a hidden diamond.
Directed by Guy Hamilton, the 1982 film Evil Under the Sun features Peter Ustinov in his second outing as Hercule Poirot. The production, which cost $10 million, was part of a long-running effort by producers Richard Goodwin and John Brabourne to adapt Agatha Christie’s novels for the screen. While the film stayed relatively faithful to the source material, it introduced significant changes, such as moving the setting from Devon to a fictional Adriatic island and merging characters to create the hotelier Daphne Castle, played by Maggie Smith.
The plot centers on the murder of Arlena Stuart Marshall, an actress whose presence on the island causes friction among the guests. When she is found strangled, Poirot must dismantle a series of carefully constructed alibis. The investigation reveals that the culprits, the Redferns, manipulated time and perception. By setting a watch forward and using a swim cap to muffle the sound of a noon cannon, they created the illusion that they were in different locations at the time of the crime. The key to the deception was a fake suntan, which allowed one accomplice to impersonate the victim while the other committed the murder.
The film’s production was an international affair, with location shooting in Mallorca, Spain, and studio work at Lee International Studios in London. Despite its high production values and a cast that included Diana Rigg and Roddy McDowall, the film struggled to match the box-office success of earlier Christie adaptations like Murder on the Orient Express. EMI executive Nat Cohen attributed this to rising costs and a cast that, while talented, lacked the star power of previous entries. Nevertheless, the film has maintained a positive reputation, holding an 86% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 14 critics' reviews.
Ustinov’s portrayal of Poirot was defined by his own interpretation of the character as vain and self-contained. He found the script for this film more enjoyable than his previous outing in Death on the Nile. Following its release, the franchise continued with television films and the 1988 feature Appointment with Death, which marked Ustinov’s final appearance as the detective. Today, the film remains a notable entry in the genre, recently seeing a 4K UHD release in late 2025 and early 2026.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Evil Under the Sun (1982 film)
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