Reviews

I must disagree with my fellow reviewers. I liked adding the Catholic aspect to Poirot's persona as portrayed by the brilliant David Suchet, who is far more real than Finney, Ustinov, Randall or Molina ever were. A case such as this would trouble a man like him, and surely he would have to answer the arguments of a "higher law." As a middle-aged French Belgian man in the 1930s, he would most likely be a Roman Catholic, and Christie did mention it. He would not be ultra-religious because he had rosary beads, at least not by the standards of the day. Most Roman Catholics did then. Just because his faith never came into play in his other cases doesn't mean this case would not challenge it.When did any of his other cases have a victim who deserved to die so much? When was he ever called upon to denounce so many killers at once,most of whom were basically decent people whose actions were understandable, if not justifiable. I have read the book. Christie's words, brilliant as they are, are not carved in stone. I believe the ending of this version improved upon the book. Poirot's tears gave the story the most powerful ending any writer could devise. Sometimes, the "little gray cells" don't have all the answers. There could not be a more moving and thought-provoking end.

I enjoy most of Viggo Mortensen's films and he was good in this, but as a Sicilian-American, I am offended by the Italian stereotypes. I hate the Mafia as much, if not more, than anyone else. However, I am sick to death of them being portrayed as dumb, arrogant, and inferior to black/Hispanic/Asian, or whatever rival mobsters oppose (and usually beat) them in the movies.

A gangster is a gangster, and they are all vicious thugs, no matter what their nationality or race or how old their organization and "traditions" may be. This film made yakuza look like samurai. That is an insult to the samurai class, the Japanese equivalent of European knights and nobility.

The ending is supposed to be tragic, but frankly I consider it a happy ending. Hateful, racist swine that he is, I was glad to see that at least Campanela didn't die a coward. I was also glad he took his enemy with him. Good riddance to both bags of bad rubbish.

By the way, didn't the FBI have any special agents of Japanese ancestry back in 1993? Yakuza are known to be extremely xenophobic, and it is highly unlikely they would accept a Caucasian in their ranks.

What gets me is how attractive so many of the women were. Why did they have to go to Alaska? I wouldn't really call the guys losers - there really aren't that many single women in the parts of Alaska where men can still make big money out of the wilderness. I couldn't blame them for taking advantage of an opportunity.

I get the feeling either the women either had a frontiersman fantasy or they just wanted to get on television. Some of these reality show "stars" have made a cottage industry out of their "celebrity" and done fairly well. It just shows that love/sex and money are still the biggest motivators in the world. It's sad when you think about it.

This program is really overrated. A detective like Danny Pino's hot-headed character would have been transferred to the "rubber gun squad" years ago. The whole squad is made up of sanctimonious egomaniacs who judge people whose actions go back decades by the standards of 2007. Every Vietnam veteran character they've ever had has turned out to be the killer, unless it was another Vietnam veteran. There has only been one black murderer, and he was put up to it by his white boss. The only Hispanic killer was a "race traitor" who killed another Hispanic to frame a Hispanic street kid for a crime that (naturally) two rich white kids committed. What a bunch of propaganda. Hey,screenwriters: minorities and poor people commit murder too. Only on this show are most murderers upper-class whites.

What's more, the arrests of people in their 70s, 80s, and 90s for crimes they committed 50-60 years ago are a joke. No real-life DA will push for murder one because it means the state will be stuck with their humongous medical bills until they finally kick. The state would be doing their families and insurance companies a favor. The prosecutor will just plead them to involuntary manslaughter and they won't serve a day. The only really old criminals who go to prison are either organized crime figures or ex-Nazis, whose high-profile convictions boost DA's careers.

Lt. Borri (Frederick Stafford) is not so much a martinet as he is a relatively brave man who is ashamed of the Italian Army's accurate reputation for cowardice. Throughout the film, the Italians are excused for their cowardice by showing them as disillusioned and betrayed by their allies, the Germans. Rommel may be anti-Nazi, but he willingly sacrifices Italian troops to protect his own, which he really did. Borri tries to prove to his British foes and to himself that not all Italians are cowards, and winds up mistaking foolhardiness for courage.

The Italians are shown as the only soldiers thinking about their families back home, like Borri's brother. This another attempt to show that they are not cowards, just peaceful, ordinary men - as if most Britons and Germans weren't. When Lt. Borri is captured by the British, no other Italian POWs will join him in his escape. They are all glad to be out of the war.

In the end, Lt. Borri sacrifices his life in a heroic gesture history shows was ultimately futile. His brother and the others are taken prisoner, proud but no doubt also glad to be out of the war. Borri's brother will live to see his wife and child - if they aren't killed when the Allies invade Italy in 1943. They will spend the next 2 years slowly fighting their way against the Germans to the Alps. Italy will be ravaged in the process. That was the ultimate price Italian families paid for the cowardice of their soldiers, who mostly never expressed any regret.

A well-acted, moving, if cheaply made film. However, like "Brave Gente", it is another apologia for the pathetic performance of the Italian Army. This "army" had to use poison gas to beat the Ethiopians.

It was a shame the show wasn't picked up, because it would have gone on for years and been a classic. Sure it was one of many shows inspired by "The Fugitive" back in the 1960s, but there were so many original touches, it didn't matter. I guessed "Michael" was an agent, but I never would have guessed he was a Russian. If they made it today, he'd probably turn out to be a CIA agent being hounded by his own agency because he was going to expose some nefarious right-wing plot.

It was also a shame that Frank Converse was denied the role that would have made him a major TV and perhaps film star. "NYPD" didn't last long and he never found the right role to give him the recognition and stardom he deserved.

This was one of the most intriguing films of the 1940s, with many future stars such as Ward Bond and Dan Dailey playing against type as villainous Nazis. Interestingly, Robert Young always said that the only time he ever played a "bad guy" was in "They Won't Believe Me" (1947). How he could have forgotten his brilliant turn as "Fritz Marburg", made only seven years earlier, is a puzzle.

In explaining why he ordered his men to fire on their half-sister and Martin, her new lover, Fritz faced the Von Rohn brothers (Stack, Orr) and coldly declared, "I had to give the order to fire. It was my duty!" It was chilling and frightening to see how a once decent young man had been mutated into a monster by Nazism. It was unforgettable.