User Reviews

If you like the TV series Partners in crime you will like this movie as well. It was filmed after the series but is in fact the story of how Tommy meets Tuppence. It also shows how Alfred comes into their lives. In this story they become involved in a search for a girl who has some very important papers in her possession that could start up a revolution. A group of people , led by a Mister Brown, want to use those papers to overthrow the government. Who this Mister Brown is ,is a mystery up until the end. At one point you will suspect several people of being Mister Brown as is usual in a Christie story. There is a DVD box for sale containing this movie and all ten episodes of the Partners in crime TV series. I have it and love it.

Having just read the book, I went looking to see if a film had been made and found this. I felt the filmmakers did a very fine job in two hours and stayed very true to the original story. The actors playing Tuppence and Tommy were a little too old for their characters but looked youthful enough to pull it off.

Other reviewers complain about Gavan O'Herlihy playing the American, Hersheimer, however I felt he was believable in the role and didn't distract at all from the story.

The scenery, props, clothing, autos and music are authentic to the story's time frame of around 1920 and so even though it was made in 1983, it doesn't feel like an "80's" production and for Christie fans, is definitely worth seeing.

I'd see anything adapted from Agatha Christie, as I love her books and writing style. On films and TV, there have been some real gems, like with the Russian and 1945 versions of And Then There Were None, Witness for the Prosecution, Sidney Lumet's Murder on the Orient Express, the Peter Ustinov films of Death on the Nile and Evil Under the Sun and most of the Joan Hickson Miss Marple and David Suchet Poirot adaptations. Not all adaptations of her work has been great mind, seen with Austin Trevor's Lord Edgware Dies, The Alphabet Murders, the 1989 version of Ten Little Indians and Alfred Molina's Murder on the Orient Express, the worst of the Geraldine McEwan Marple adaptations were similarly hard to sit through.

Fortunately, The Secret Adversary does work as an adaptation and on its own. It's not a gem, but in no way is it a disgrace. It does drag at times in the middle and Gavan O'Herlihy's acting does come across as awkward. If you love Tommy and Tuppence and the TV series Partners in Crime, you'll like The Secret Adversary. If you don't, you may want to look elsewhere. Tommy and Tuppence may not be as interesting or as distinctive as Miss Marple and Poirot, but the stories they feature in still have Agatha Christie's unmistakable style and they are compelling enough. Partners in Crime is a very fun and light-hearted series that will cheer anybody up, a feeling that you do get also in The Secret Adversary.

Again, fortunately what is good about The Secret Adversary more than makes up for any reservations. It looks good certainly, the somewhat soft-grained image does have an 80s look, but even they don't take away from the sumptuous period detail and the simple but effective way it is shot. The scenery and cars are very evocative to period, while I can't help admiring the fashions. The music has a certain jauntiness to it that doesn't jar with the atmosphere, while the writing is droll and thoughtful. The story is engrossing and keeps us guessing until the very end, which was a big surprise. True the pace does lull and there is a lot going on that it can come across as rather complicated sometimes. A couple of re-watches might help though.

The acting is fine, there is a lot of talent here and they give their all to characters(of which there is many, any complaints though of being too many is valid and understandable) that do engage and don't kill the story. James Warwick and Francesca Annis are great in the lead roles and work beautifully together, while Reece Dinsdale is a lively presence as Albert and George Baker, Honor Blackman and Alex McCowen make memorable impressions as well. In conclusion, enjoyable, well worth seeing. 8/10 Bethany Cox

The Secret Adversary was Agatha Christie's novel which launched her Nick and Nora Charles characters of Tommy and Tuppence. This story shows how they met and the first case they got involved in.

It was back on the Lusitania in 1915 when both were passengers. Some other passengers on that ill-fated ship were involved in a lot of intrigue relating to the late World War. That's over now, but Toria Fuller during the chaos of those passengers abandoning the torpedoed ocean liner grabbed herself a piece of a secret treaty and has had it for lo these many years.

Now some Bolsheviks want it to stir up some revolution in the United Kingdom. There's a cell of them operating under the lead of the illusive Mr. Brown. British Intelligence knows about Brown, but no one knows who he is.

James Warwick and Francesca Annis as Tommy And Tuppence renew their acquaintance from the Lusitania and get themselves involved in the case as a pair of amateurs. They're needed because the Bolsheviks seem to know all the professionals. They prove to have a knack for solving mysteries.

A lot of this might seem melodramatic today, but Agatha Christie was a good observer of the times this was written in. The Russian Revolution had occurred and a lot of governments were pretty uneasy in their seats of power. Christie alludes to a General Strike and she turned out to be a prophet because one did happen in the UK in 1926 a few years after The Secret Adversary came out. It was real enough to the population in the United Kingdom back then.

The Secret Adversary is a good introduction to Tommy And Tuppence and proved to a pilot for a BBC series of their mysteries. Recommended for those who think Ms. Christie wrote about Hercule Poirot and Jane Marple exclusively.

It's a delicious adaptation, very much of its time, but also very faithful to the original text. It does surprise me that this came about after the series, but such are the performances you'd never know. Very much the origins story for Tommy and Tuppence, Warwick and Annis bring the characters to live beautifully, in a way The BBC failed to do with the attempted retelling.

Almost whimsical in tone, it's full of spies, disguises and intrigue, if you love a mystery, this is definitely for you. Great production values, wonderful sets and costumes, it looks great, the camera work suits it also.

I hadn't seen it for a while, I muddled up a few scenes from The Seven Dials Mystery, not surprising as Warwick appeared in multiple productions. I enjoy almost all of the performances, Honor Blackman in particular, she's great in the part, rather ruthless.

It's a very enjoyable watch. 8/10

Francesca Annis and James "anyone for tennis ?" Warwick are Tommy and Tuppence in this movie length introduction to the trying television series based on an early series of novels by Agatha Christie.

This particular novel, one of her terrible "Herzoslovakia" ones has been adapted in attempt to save something from it. A treaty with USA is lost in the sinking of the Lusitania and needs to retrieved to save the international situation and prevent a revolution. Christie was probably referencing this to the pre-WW1 political situation in central Europe, where the changing of secret alliances between the imperial powers led to the outbreak of war in Yugoslavia - the book was written before WW2 (published 1922).

Tommy overhears a conversation in a manky house in Soho and they become embroiled in the affair. Product placement – The Daily Mirror (which owned the LWT licence at the time).

This might be the only one of the Annis and Warwick versions to show them kissing. British reserve and all that. :) I very much enjoy watching these wonderful period pieces. This has some dramatic "I don't know which character to trust" moments but I think it had too many similar escape scenes. For baddies, they were very loath to kill people. :) What this story needed was fewer instances of holding people captive or more expendable characters. :)

Agatha Christie apparently believed the conspiracy theory that was swirling about in those days that a general strike couldn't be an industrial action but instead had to be a sign of the end of the world as they knew it. There was one in 1926 in solidarity with the miners over their wages being reduced and hours lengthened, and no anarchy, no revolution ensued. In fact, the result was so poor for the miners that the unions decided political action was the way to go in the future rather than general strikes.

Brits were as terrified by the demise of Cousin Nicky and his family in 1917 as they had been during the French Revolution with the loss of the French royals. Brits of a certain class were afraid of foreigners, afraid of the great unwashed masses, afraid of traitors within their own ranks. The economy was still struggling in the Twenties, many people felt the Great War had been horribly botched, and the Liberal party ended its disastrous run in Oct. 1922 around the time Christie's book came out and the year the USSR was formed, never to return to power up to the present day. It didn't take a seer to know that starvation wages and the threat of even worse would bring on a strike. You can only push people so far. Eight years after the war when they had sacrificed so much, they expected better. Well, that's understandable.

The problem with Christie's timetable is that her book was much more 1922 than 1918. Right after the war people in Britain didn't have the heart for a mass uprising, let alone another war. They wanted some peace and quiet, and time to heal. People just wanted their lives back, damaged though they were. They were still okay with sacrifice and restrictions and the difficulty with finding a job, because that was to be expected. The story simply didn't fit the way people were thinking.

And what was that draft treaty? Did Christie even have something in mind? It's fun to think what could possibly have been so very embarrassing that it would cause the masses to rise from their beds of pain in 1918 and carry out a coup, but honestly, Christie, that's lazy writing. So...if the US comes in on the side of Britain in its darkest hour against Germany, the US gets...the first born son of every Brit? Canada? The Prince of Wales as the president's chauffeur? What is sufficiently embarrassing to cause the demise of the nation and WWII? I'm not an expert on British politics but wouldn't the party in trouble just face a no confidence vote and/or an election?

So I am taking away two points for the over-abundance of rescues and the premise behind the plot. But I still like Tommy and Tuppence. :)

First case for Tommy and Tuppence

Shortly after the end of the First World War, Tommy Beresford (James Warwick) accidentally meets his childhood friend Tuppence Cowley (Francesca Annis). Both are unemployed and are urgently looking for a job, which is a hopeless endeavor for the young people so soon after the war. Together they come up with a daring plan: They set up their own business and found a kind of private detective agency, an "adventurer GmbH". And indeed, they are soon hired by the British secret service and end up in a crazy adventure...

Tommy and Tuppence are Agatha Christie's investigative team, which are somewhat less well-known in German-speaking countries. After this first novel, which was published in 1922 as "The Secret Adversary", Tommy and Tuppence appeared again and again with new adventures in various novels and stories until around 1970. Just like their author, the two grew older and went through different phases of life. The two of them are also incredibly funny and very charming. The chemistry between the two characters is perfect, both in the novel and in the film adaptation. Sleight of hand! Francesca Annis and James Warwick were now so attuned to each other that they were simply perfect as Tommy and Tuppence.

After the success of "Why Didn't They Ask Evans?" and "The Mystery of the Seven Dials", the production company London Weekend Television released this film adaptation for the private broadcaster ITV, which was supposed to become the pilot film for the series "Blunt Detective Agency" and is just as recommendable.

Oh yes, the James Bond lady Honor Blackman (1925-2020) from GOLDFINGER (1964) also plays in this film. And Wolf Kahler is there as a mysterious German.

Nostalgic fun for all Agatha Christie fans!

The episode is 0 because this was made as a movie after the original series. Episode aired Oct 9, 1983. This is the place to start.

Who is Mr. Brown?

After the Great War, out of work Captain, Tommy Beresford (James Warwick) accidentally comes across his lifelong friend and pal Prudence "Tuppence" Cowley (Francesca Annis). Tuppence is also out of work. Over their sparse meal, they speculate on doing any job of anybody for outrageous fees.

This speculative talk was overheard and the wheels are set in motion when Tuppence is given the opportunity and gives what she thinks is a false name. This sets off a series of events that employs them to find a missing girl and the identity of a mysterious Mr. Brown.

Made for TV and fairly transparent, this film still has all the ambiance of a BBC Agatha Christy production. It is a period piece and employs many major English actors.

The Secret Adversary serves as the beginning of the BBC series "Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime". A full-length film, I've seen it claimed that it was filmed after the ten episodes of the series, and IMDb lists the series as preceding this film, yet it's the story of how "Partners in Crime" protagonists Tommy and Tuppence meet up as adults and start their sleuthing career, and according to IMDb, at least, it aired a year or so before the series on BBC.

It's a decent but flawed film that will probably be enjoyed most by hardcore Christie fans. One main flaw is that the story is too complicated for its own good--probably the result of trying to translate a novel to a two-hour film. There are just too many characters, too many threads, and occasionally, too little explanation of characters and threads.

One major problem here is the core of the plot--maybe I'm just lacking some knowledge from the real world that I need to understand it, but the plot hinges on a political document that if found, is predicted (with little lack of certainty) to bring about a complete revolution/overthrow of England. It is never explained why this would be or how anyone could be so certain of it, and I sure couldn't deduce or intuit it from the information given. I was also confused about the implied ethics of the situation--the document seemed to be authentic, yet the "good guys" seemed to want to get it so that they could keep it a secret, so effectively, it is sanctioning the "good guys" lying about some piece of history. Maybe the document was supposed to be more like a Hitchcockian MacGuffin, but if so, it seemed like too many details were given (as well as left out).

On the other hand, it didn't help that I'm a bit hard of hearing, that I have an even more difficult time making out English spoken with accents different than mine, and that this DVD didn't have subtitles. But I could pick up most of the dialogue, and I was still occasionally confused about who someone was and why our chief characters were going where they were going and doing what they were doing. Some cuts and scene transitions were very rough dramatically, so that didn't help, either, and the pacing gets a bit draggy at times.

The other primary flaw comes with some of the performances, especially Gavan O'Herlihy, playing an American, Julius P. Hersheimmer. He is fairly awkward throughout, and he's an important character. It kills too many scenes. The stars, James Warwick and Francesca Annis, as Tommy and Tuppence, respectively, are much better--enough that I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the series, which I'm also predicting might not be so overcomplicated and underexplained because of being written for a shorter television slot.