The First-Ever Agatha Christie Adaptation Became a Real-Life Mystery

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Published Jul 17, 2026, 5:59 PM EDT

In addition to being a contributor for Collider, Rance Collins has also written for Variety, IndieWire, Los Angeles Magazine, Turner Classic Movies and The Huffington Post. His news coverage has earned him multiple honors from the California News Publishers Association, while his film and theater criticism made him a two-time Southern California Journalism Award winner. He also was recognized with 2024’s Excellence in Journalism Award by the California 51st Assembly District.

Before committing to journalism as a career, the Texas native lived many lives in Los Angeles – including as a Warner Bros. and Universal Studios tour guide, a political organizer, a marketing writer and producer, a leasing consultant, an occasional indie filmmaker, a Postmates driver and the personal assistant to TCM host Ben Mankiewicz. He holds a BFA in mass communications from Ouachita University and an MFA in screenwriting from Emerson College.

Other interests include ‘90s sitcoms, Hollywood backlots, true crime, record stores, Linda Ronstadt, two cats named Charlotte and Flynn, game nights, advocating for an expanded “Hacks” universe, his AMC A List entourage (aka Jorge), the daily NYT Connections, his Barbra Strikesand bowling team, and making his educator mom and author dad proud.

Agatha Christie has been adapted and re-adapted, decade after decade, for almost 100 years. Her pantheon of literature is virtually unmatched, and she is widely cited as the best-selling novelist of all time. What's perhaps most remarkable about the Queen of Crime is that her popularity has never waned, even half a century after her death. The recent series of Kenneth Branagh-led Hercule Poirot films certainly serves as evidence of this, particularly Murder on the Orient Express.

Now, there's a whole new adaptation to enjoy for the hardcore "Christies" (that seems like the obvious fan name, right?). Netflix has unveiled Seven Dials, based on the novel The Seven Dials Mystery, one of Christie's earliest books, originally published in 1929. Unlike most of her books, neither the famed Belgian detective Poirot nor the unassuming busybody Miss Marple is on hand to solve the murders. This is one of Christie's stand-alone novels, not one quite as famous as And Then There Were None, which is often claimed to be the most popular book (sans the Bible) ever published.

But that series is something viewers can easily binge, right now if they like. That is not the case for the very, very, very first movie produced ever based on an Agatha Christie story.

'The Passing of Mr. Quin' Lost the Plot

Mr. Quinn is not a well-known character in the Agatha Christie universe, but he was the subject of a series of short stories collected in the book The Mysterious Mr. Quin. Each chapter includes the titular character, something of an enigmatic figure. In the book's foreword, Christie describes Mr. Quin as "not quite human and yet concerned with the affairs of human beings and particularly of lovers. He is also an advocate for the dead."

The first chapter of the collection is The Coming of Mr. Quin, which is also the source of the 1928 British movie based on the story, titled The Passing of Mr. Quin. The IMDb plot synopsis reads, "A doctor proves his wife's first husband was killed by a neighbor posing as a tramp." This is apparently a gross deviation from the short story, which is presented in a more elusive fashion and casts Mr. Quin as a man who shows up at a grand house party under the guise of car trouble. He then leads a guest to solve a cold case that happened at the mansion. This would be the first of many, many occasions that an Agatha Christie-based film would seemingly take the given plot as a mere suggestion, which led to the author being skeptical about any of the movies based on her books (though she would express satisfaction with the 1974 version of Murder on the Orient Express... aside from Albert Finney's mustache).

The Agatha Christie Movie That Vanished

Many silent and early sound films, like The Coming of Mr. Quin, are considered lost. The replay value of movies was considered nil at the time. There was no home video, television, and certainly no dreams of streaming. So oftentimes, negatives are recycled. Other times, the fragile film was simply poorly maintained and completely eroded. And nitrate film is highly flammable (as depicted in the classic Italian film Cinema Paradiso), so sometimes the movies literally burn. So, much like the main character, Mr. Quin is a mystery.

What's ironic is that Mr. Quin is not the only early Agatha Christie adaptation to be lost. While a silent German version of The Secret Adversary exists (although good luck finding it), the second English-language movie, Alibi is also lost. That one was based on her landmark 1926 Poirot novel The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, considered to be the book that put the author on the map (and still has one of the greatest twist endings ever written... and another adaptation is reportedly in development). That was directed by the sam e man, Leslie S. Hiscott, who co-directed Mr. Quin, so it seems his work was appreciated enough for a second outing. But outside some contemporary reviews, like this from Time: "[Alibi] is more credible than most crook pictures. Director Roland West makes it move fast by spacing dialogue with pantomime."

Yet another lost adaptation was next in line for Agatha Christie, this time another Poirot, is Black Coffee, though interestingly, this movie was based on a Christie-penned play, which is a good reminder that the author is also responsible for the longest-running stage show in history, The Mousetrap.

The Best Agatha Christie Adaptations Still Worth Watching

Of course, there are plenty more Christie adaptations to enjoy, especially with the much-heralded Agatha Christie hardcore Christies's Poirot (starring the brilliant David Suchet), the oft-overlooked The Mirror Crack'd (with the insanely stacked cast of Angela Lansbury, Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, Tony Curtis, and Kim Novak... among others), and the brilliant Billy Wilder-directed Witness for the Prosecution, which is perhaps one of the best all-around movies ever made.

As for Seven Dials, starring Helena Bonham Carter, Martin Freeman, and Mia McKenna Bruce, Rotten Tomatoes has given the series a healthy 73% fresh rating. All three episodes are now streaming.