Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, was a British author known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, the murder mystery The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End of London since 1952. A writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Christie has been called the "Queen of Crime"—a moniker which is now trademarked by her estate—or the "Queen of Mystery". She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.
Miss Jane Marple is a fictional character in Agatha Christie's crime novels and short stories. Miss Marple lives in the village of St Mary Mead and acts as an amateur consulting detective. Often characterised as an elderly spinster, she is one of Christie's best-known characters and has been portrayed numerous times on screen. Her first appearance was in a short story published in The Royal Magazine in December 1927, "The Tuesday Night Club", which later became the first chapter of The Thirteen Problems (1932). Her first appearance in a full-length novel was in The Murder at the Vicarage in 1930, and her last appearance was in Sleeping Murder in 1976.
Witness for the Prosecution is a 1957 American legal mystery thriller film directed by Billy Wilder and starring Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich, Charles Laughton, and Elsa Lanchester. The film, which has elements of bleak black comedy and film noir, is a courtroom drama set in the Old Bailey in London and is based on the 1953 play of the same title by Agatha Christie. The first film adaptation of Christie's story, Witness for the Prosecution was adapted for the screen by Larry Marcus, Harry Kurnitz, and Wilder. The film was acclaimed by critics and received six Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. It also received five Golden Globes nominations including a win for Elsa Lanchester as Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Additionally, the film was selected as the sixth-best courtroom drama ever by the American Film Institute for their AFI's 10 Top 10 list.
Hallowe'en Party is a work of detective fiction by English writer Agatha Christie, first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club in November 1969 and in the United States by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year. This book was dedicated to writer P. G. Wodehouse. It has been adapted for television, radio, and most recently for the film A Haunting in Venice (2023).
Agatha is a 1979 British drama thriller film directed by Michael Apted and starring Vanessa Redgrave, Dustin Hoffman and Timothy Dalton. It was written by Kathleen Tynan. The film focuses on renowned crime writer Agatha Christie's famous 11-day disappearance in 1926. The film was released 9 February 1979, receiving generally positive reviews from critics, who praised the production values and performances.
Appointment with Death is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 2 May 1938 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6) and the US edition at $2.00.
Ten Little Indians is a 1965 British crime mystery film directed by George Pollock. It is the second film version of Agatha Christie's 1939 novel. It was produced by Oliver A. Unger, with co-producer Harry Alan Towers also credited as co-writer under his pen name Peter Welbeck.
Murder She said is a 1961 comedy/murder mystery film directed by George Pollock, based on the 1957 novel 4.50 from Paddington by Agatha Christie. The production stars Margaret Rutherford as Miss Marple, along with Arthur Kennedy, Muriel Pavlow, James Robertson Justice, and Stringer Davis.
Frank Permain Vosper was an English actor who appeared in both stage and film roles and a dramatist, playwright and screenwriter.
Pursuit to Algiers (1945) is the twelfth entry in the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce Sherlock Holmes film series of fourteen. Elements in the story pay homage to an otherwise unrecorded affair mentioned by Dr. Watson at the beginning of the 1903 story "The Adventure of the Norwood Builder", notably the steamship Friesland. Off-camera, Watson also recounts to his audience another unrecorded affair mentioned in the 1924 story "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire", that of the Giant Rat of Sumatra, "a story for which the world is not yet prepared".
Love from a Stranger is a 1936 play based on "Philomel Cottage", a 1924 short story by British mystery writer Agatha Christie.
Confession is a 1937 American drama film directed by Joe May and starring Kay Francis, Ian Hunter, Basil Rathbone and Jane Bryan. It was a scene-for-scene remake of the 1935 German film Mazurka starring Pola Negri, which Warner Brothers Studios acquired the American distribution rights for and then shelved in favour of the remake. With an estimated $513,000 budget, it started production in March 1937 and was released August 19, 1937 in New York City.
"The Unicorn and the Wasp" is the seventh episode of the fourth series of the revived British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was aired on BBC One on 17 May 2008.
Alibi is a 1931 British mystery detective film directed by Leslie S. Hiscott and starring Austin Trevor, Franklin Dyall, and Elizabeth Allan.
Silver Blaze is a 1937 British black-and-white crime mystery film, based loosely on Arthur Conan Doyle's 1892 short story "The Adventure of Silver Blaze". It was directed by Thomas Bentley, and was produced by Twickenham Film Studios Productions. It stars Arthur Wontner as Sherlock Holmes, and Ian Fleming as Dr. Watson. In the United States, the film was released in 1941 by Astor Pictures, where it was also known as Murder at the Baskervilles, retitled by distributors to capitalize on the success of the Basil Rathbone Holmes film, The Hound of the Baskervilles.
Love from a Stranger is the name of several works based on the short story Philomel Cottage written by Agatha Christie:
Love from a Stranger is a 1947 American historical film noir directed by Richard Whorf and starring John Hodiak, Sylvia Sidney and Ann Richards. The film is also known as A Stranger Walked In in the United Kingdom. It is based on the play of the same title by Frank Vosper, inspired by a short story by Agatha Christie, which had previously been turned into a 1937 British film Love from a Stranger starring Basil Rathbone.
Thomas Foster "Jack" Raine was an English stage, television and film actor.
Closed Casket is a work of detective fiction by British writer Sophie Hannah, featuring Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot. Hannah is the first author to have been authorised by the Christie estate to write new stories for her characters. Hannah's work closely resembles the Golden Age of Detective Fiction in its structure and tropes. Closed Casket even includes a plan of the house in which the murder takes place; such plans were sometimes used in Golden Age novels to aid the reader in their solving of the mystery puzzle.
Agatha and the Curse of Ishtar is a 2019 British alternative history television drama film about crime writer Agatha Christie becoming embroiled in a real-life murder case during a trip to an archaeological dig in Iraq following her divorce. The film premiered on Channel 5 in the United Kingdom on 15 December 2019. Filming took place in Malta and was directed by Sam Yates. Agatha and the Curse of Ishtar premiered in the United States on PBS on 18 May 2021.
