Felix Ruber = Red Fern?
I can find where ruber might be red in Latin, but Felix? That seems to be an adjective for happy, rather than a kind of fern.
Any ideas?
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****Possible spoilers****
As a youth I might have just taken her word for it, reel. I used to be a fan of Christie's back then (in my teens). But I got put off by her bad-mouthing other writers for withholding the vital clue that would allow the reader to solve the mystery, when she did that every freakin' time! LOL
Also, in true Agatha Christie style, two different events occurred at a single instance: the murderer looking shocked at the "dead" body of Arlena and him smirking at it at the denouement.
Then too, there is the line where Poirot says one cannot libel the dead, which certainly is an irresponsible spouting on Christie's part (I'm assuming it was in the book of course, and not just something the screenwriter penned). The truth is the surviving family members can sue the libeler of their deceased one.
(See: http://dictionary.law.com/Default.aspx?selected=1153)
Nonetheless, it is still an enjoyable movie and I have watched it several times because it is so relaxing, what with the beautiful arrangements of the Cole Porter songs, the presence of Maggie Smith, the settings, and Ustinov is fun to watch as well (his goofiness at the water's edge not withstanding).
Thanks for taking the time to respond, reel. I'll keep an open mind on the subject of Felix. I just wish you had found your reference. I sure couldn't.
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****Possible Spoilers****
An unofficial Linda Marshall line that didn't make the cut:
"Well of course I'm the murderer. I did it with these bare hands. See these powerful hands here? What part of 'she was a piece of sub-human garbage' do you not understand?.
"It's these awful writers who won't allow me to do the deed!!!"
I'm guessing that your friend was manipulated into finding Arlena repulsive on cue. A gold digger, manipulator, thief, parasite. But then so was Felix Ruber. They richly deserved each other. Both were crafted so that no decent person would relate to them in any way.
And I'm with you on PBS also. I record all the Masterpiece Mysteries too. Funny, but I find them much more watchable then when I was reading Agatha Christie novels in paperback. Somehow the teleplay and acting make the stories enjoyable, and watchable...
And speaking of David Suchet, I have to give him the credit for being so much more of a Poirot presence than did Ustinov. It's like Poirot was reinvented back to the original. It wasn't that Ustinov didn't play Poirot to a "T", he just didn't have the build one would imagine the great Belgian detective would have.
I think it was Evil Under the Sun (but not sure) when it was shown on TCM. Ben Mankiewicz was giving some background and said that Agatha Christie's daughter (or was it her granddaughter?) was on the set when Ustinov was playing the part of Poirot. She yelled, "That's not Hercule Poirot!!!
Ustinov yelled back, "It is now!!!"