När mörkret faller

A whodunit, taking place in the wonderful Xmas time , complete with cribs,Xmas trees , rehearsals of carols (notably snatches of French traditional "Minuit Chrétiens " (O Holy night) )and landscapes covered with snow. A murder is committed and almost all people around had a reason to do away with the victim :fortunately a local Hercule Poirot is at hand ; it's exactly Christie's pattern ,but the riddle is not as strong as her best .

There are red herrings (one of them is rather far-fetched), shadows and light, a meeting in the cemetery (the climax of the movie) and the suspects include a minister's pretty niece ,a stiff housekeeper in Du Maurier's Mrs Danvers 's mold , gossip old ladies ,the victim's sexy wife, a young anarchist -who might be a commie -,a drunkard ,and a little girl who plays the occasional detective ( like Josephine in Christie's "crooked house") ..... And the culprit is a little unexpected ;it lacks tempo ,it sometime drags on, but it uses the yuletide efficiently.