Evil Under The Sun Trivia Quiz

Answer: Hercule Poirot

Poirot is called in to investigate why a millionaire was trying to insure a piece of jewelry which was fake. Poirot speaks with the man, Sir Horace Blatt, who tells him he had given the jewel to a woman who had agreed to marry him. After she changed her mind, she returned the jewelry, but apparently a man she had taken up with had had a copy made and the woman returned the fake to Sir Horace. Poirot is asked to meet Sir Horace at Daphne Castle's island resort to confront the woman, Arlena Stuart.

This was Peter Ustinov's second time playing Agatha Christie's Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot.

Answer: False

Most of the story and the murder itself take place at an exclusive resort on an island in the Adriatic Sea. The movie was filmed on the island of Mallorca in Spain.

Answer: Maggie Smith

Maggie Smith played Daphne Castle a former chorus line dancer who had been the mistress of the King of Tyrania. When he married, she was given the summer palace to keep her quiet, and had turned it into a posh hotel. She and Arlena Marshall had been rivals at one time, mostly because Arlena's career was much more successful than Daphne's.

Answer: Sunbathing

Arlena had left on a pedal boat by herself. She had asked Poirot to help her get the boat in the water and asked him not to tell anyone he had seen her because she needed to get away from everyone. She went sunbathing in Ladder Bay, and was probably waiting for the arrival of Patrick Redfern.

Answer: Arlena Marshall

Arlena Stuart Marshall (played by Diana Rigg) was a star of the stage, and a gold digger who had recently married Kenneth Marshall. All of the guests on Daphne's island seemingly had a motive to murder her:
Odell and Myra Gardener were stage producers who had had a hit show starring Arlena, which she abruptly left, shutting down the production. They were now asking her to appear in their new show, and had promised the backers they would get her. If she says no, they're sunk.
Rex Brewster had written a tell-all book about Arlena, but she wouldn't sign the release for him to publish it. He desperately needed the money the book would bring in.
Christine Redfern's husband, Patrick, was having an affair with Arlena.
Kenneth Marshall, and everyone else, knew about his wife's affair with Patrick Redfern. Kenneth had just found out from Daphne that Arlena was the one who had booked the Redferns at Daphne's.
Daphne Castle was in love with Kenneth and didn't like Arlena.
Sir Horace Blatt was after the gem he had given to Arlena which had been replaced with a fake.
Linda Marshall, Arlena's young stepdaughter, couldn't stand her new mother, who was always insulting to her.

Answer: Strangulation

The cause of death was readily noticeable by the bruises on Arlena's neck. Daphne was very adamant that Poirot not call in any authorities, because the murder would give her hotel bad publicity. She expressed her confidence in his ability to solve the crime on his own and said it would be a shame if anyone knew that he couldn't solve a murder without calling for help.

Answer: A release for the book he'd written

Rex Brewster, played by Roddy McDowell, had had a heated discussion with Arlena because she refused to sign the release for the tell-all book Brewster had written about her. He told her she'd regret it, which Linda overheard.

Answer: Daphne was in love with the victim's husband

Daphne tried to lie to Poirot, to give Kenneth Marshall an alibi, but Poirot quickly disproved her assertion that she had seen Kenneth when she said she had. It turned out Kenneth didn't need a made-up alibi. Both Kenneth and Daphne were cleared by Poirot of any suspicion. Kenneth Marshall was played by Denis Quilley.

Answer: a dagger

Poirot noticed Arlena's "Breath of the Sea" perfume in a nearby grotto, which was where he found the fake piece of jewelry, proving that Sir Horace had seen Arlena, and that Arlena had been in there. A glass bottle was thrown from one of the cliffs and nearly hit Rex Brewster as he was pedalling in the water, but no one claimed having thrown it.

The point at which the noonday gun figures in to the different alibis helps Poirot figure out what really happened. The cause of murder was strangulation, so there was no dagger involved.

Answer: Patrick Redfern

Christine Redfern had provided herself an alibi by asking Linda to go with her to Gull Cove. She had previously changed Linda's watch so when Christine asked what time it was, it was actually earlier. Christine had to leave for her tennis match, leaving Linda to go swimming. Christine claimed to have heard the noonday gun when she waved to Linda from the cliff, but it was approximately 11:40am.

She ran across the island to Ladder Bay, where Arlena was, and knocked her unconscious in the grotto. Christine dressed in Arlena's outfit and was lying on the beach when Patrick arrived in the boat with Myra Gardener. Patrick told Myra to go and get help, that Arlena was dead.

As soon as Myra was out of sight, Christine hopped up, changed her clothes, ran back to the hotel, and made it five minutes late for her tennis match. Patrick then strangled Arlena who was just regaining consciousness in the grotto. Patrick's motive was to prevent Arlena from revealing that he had the genuine jewel which Sir Horace Blatt had given Arlena. Patrick and Christine Redfern were played by Nicholas Clay and Jane Birkin.