The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim

"The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim" is a decent entry into the Poirot series, with some charming acting, dialogue, and interactions. When a wealthy man goes for a walk to the mailbox and disappears, Japp bets Poirot that he can't solve the crime never leaving his office. Poirot takes that bet.

Mr. Davenheim (Kenneth Colley) tells his wife (Mel Martin) that he is going out for a walk, shortly before a visitor, who is his nemesis, one Gerald Lowen (Tony Matthews) arrives for a business meeting at the Davenheim home. Lowen claims that he did not pass Davenheim on the path to the house. He waits a long time for Davenheim, and when he doesn't return, he leaves in a huff.

When Mrs. Davenheim's jewelry is discovered missing, Lowen becomes a suspect because he was in the same room as the safe waiting for Davenheim a long time.

Of course, Poirot figures it out without leaving, to the annoyance of Inspector Japp (Philip Jackson). And let's not forget the parrot that Poirot is babysitting, and the book about conjuring that he's reading, two little details that make the episode all the more fun.

My only problem with this episode is that it's so darn easy to figure out though perhaps the reason for what happened isn't.

Mel Martin, a lovely actress, seems to have quite a small part in this. Suchet, Jackson, Fraser as Higgins and Pauline Moran as the patient Miss Lemon, are all wonderful. Very entertaining.

This episode of the splendid "Poirot" series stands out for having a good deal more humour than most of the others. Poirot is confined to his house after Japp after accepting a wager proposed by Japp.

Poirot sends his trusty associate Hastings to gather information for him, and Hastings' confusion and embarrassment is rather amusing. To add to the hilarity, Poirot occupies himself trying to learn magic tricks, and furthermore receives a pet animal to babysit.

This is a wonderful tale and all our favourite sidekicks (Hastings, Japp and Lemon) have significant roles. You will undoubtedly enjoy it - the plot is most ingenious and you'll be laughing out loud too!

A wealthy banker disappears; "People don't just vanish into thin air!", says Poirot; Inspector Japp has a challenge for him: he bets 5 pounds that Poirot can't solve the case within one week without ever leaving his apartment; Poirot accepts the challenge, and sends Captain Hastings out with a list of "odd" questions to collect information.

Three things are most notable about this episode: a) the "Poirot solving the mystery from his own house" gimmick, b) the story itself, which is quite intriguing (as usual for an Agatha Christie story, the truth is hiding in plain sight), c) the little magic tricks that Poirot learns how to do by studying a book - they are amazing. I re-watched them step-by-step on the DVD, and I couldn't spot any editing tricks - it looks as if David Suchet did them himself! (***)

One of the things I judge these episodes by, especially the adaptations of the short stories, are the various extra touches they add that don't come from the original stories themselves. This episode distinguishes itself by having a barrage of extras, each one amusing in itself, but together, an ideal recipe for such a marvelous series.

The plot in itself is fairly minimal. Mr. Davenheim, a wealthy banker, walked away from his home one afternoon and has not been seen since. Suspicion falls on a business rival of his that visited the house on the day of his disappearance; there is some reason to believe that the rival has done away with Mr. Davenheim, but if so, where is the body? Japp makes a wager with Poirot: if he can solve the mystery in 7 days without leaving his apartment, Japp will give him 5 pounds. "Like robbing a baby", chuckles Japp as he leaves. But, not surprisingly, by employing Hastings as his substitute eyes and ears, Poirot arrives at the solution.

But the extras! The fact that Mr. Lowen, Mr. Davenheim's rival, is a budding race car driver, so that Hastings gets to visit the track, witness a race, and briefly sit in a race car himself. The very appropriate comparison of Davenheim's disappearance to a conjuring trick has Poirot spending the episode consulting The Boy's Book of Conjuring, and practicing a series of well-timed tricks all along. And the temporary addition to Poirot's entourage of a parrot allows for one of the best exchanges in the series (Poirot: Do not fraternize with that creature. I am still training him. Hastings: It's only a parrot. Poirot: I was talking to the parrot.) Genius! Another good line that was not an extra, but a slight variation on Christie's original story: Poirot, as he finally accepts the 5 pounds from Japp for having solved the mystery, says "Like robbing a baby". An excellent line to top off an excellent episode.

The Davenheim's live well, a glorious house, plenty of servants. Mr Davenheim is called on by business rival Gerald Lowen. Before his arrival Davenheim goes to catch the last post nearby, planning to meet Lowen off the train. Mrs Davenheim watches her husband leave, disappearing into the fog, that's the last time he's seen.

In these earlier episodes Japp considers Poirot more of a nuisance/rival, it's interesting as the series goes on you see the friendship develop.

You can see the influence of David Renwick in this episode, a tremendously clever and witty writer, there are scenes in this episode that he alone could be responsible for, the magician at the Theatre (straight out of Jonathan Creek!) I've got a poirot for Mr Poirot.

The episode does remind me somewhat of Conan Doyle's The man with the twisted lip, they are similar.

As is always the case it's beautifully acted, Mel Martin puts in a lovely sympathetic performance as Davenheim's aggrieved wife, Kenneth Colley is also very enjoyable as Davenheim.

It's a very clever story, beautifully presented, with some wonderful touches of humour, great story, 8/10