Ordeal by Innocence

Plot

Based on the novel by Agatha Christie and set in the late 1950s, this unevenly told film starts when Dr. Arthur Calgary (Donald Sutherland) comes back to England after two years on an Antarctic expedition and discovers that the man he is searching for has been executed for murder. At the beginning of his expedition he had given a ride one night to a hitchhiker and accidentally ended up with his address book. To his horror, the hitchhiker's mother was killed on that night, and he had been the alibi that would have saved him from execution. Spurred on by his sense of shock and guilt, Calgary makes contact with the family and is put off by their disinterest in finding the real killer. It seems that the mother had many enemies among her close family members: her husband was having an affair, there was a blackmail scheme in the works, and many felt that she had already excluded them from any inheritance. Although the acting is uneven and the plot may seem predictable or contrived to non-Christie readers, the story retains interest, and Dave Brubeck's jazz score adds a special dimension to the proceedings. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Cast

• Donald Sutherland - Dr. Arthur Calgary
• Christopher Plummer - Leo Argyle
• Ian McShane - Philip Durrant
• Sarah Miles - Mary Durrant
• Diana Quick - Gwenda Vaughan

Annette Crosbie - Kirsten Lindstrom; Michael Elphick - Inspector Huish; Phoebe Nicholls - Tina Argyle; Michael Maloney - Micky Argyle; Cassie Stuart - Maureen Clegg; John Bardon - Night Porter; Faye Dunaway - Rachel Argyle; Brian Glover - Executioner; George Innes - Archie Leach; Ron Pember - Ferryman; Kevin Stoney - Solicitor; Valerie Whittington - Hester Argyle; Billy McColl - Jacko Argyle; Doel Luscombe - Prison Governor

Credit

David Tringham - First Assistant Director, Desmond Davis - Director, Timothy Gee - Editor, Yoram Globus - Executive Producer, Menahem Golan - Executive Producer, Dave Brubeck - Composer (Music Score), Pino Donaggio - Composer (Music Score), Timothy Gee - Composer (Music Score), Wally Schneiderman - Makeup, Ken Bridgeman - Production Designer, Billy Williams - Cinematographer, Yoram Globus - Producer, Michael J. Kagan - Producer, Derek Ball - Sound/Sound Designer, Agatha Christie - Book Author

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