Black Coffee is a play by the British crime-fiction author Agatha Christie which was produced initially in 1930, but not published until 1934. The first piece that Christie wrote for the stage, it launched a successful second career for her as a playwright. In the play, a scientist discovers that someone in his household has stolen the formula for an explosive. The scientist calls Hercule Poirot to investigate, but is murdered just as Poirot arrives with Hastings and Inspector Japp. The successful play was adapted as a film in 1931, but the film is now believed to be lost. In 1998, 22 years after Christie's death, it was re-published in the United Kingdom and the United States in the form of a novel.
Adaptations (3)
Black Coffee has been adapted 3 times, across film and television film, from 1931 to 1973.
Black Coffee1931 · film · 78 min · dir. Leslie S. Hiscott · IMDb ↗IMDb6.8Black Coffee is a 1931 British detective film directed by Leslie S. Hiscott. Based on the 1930 play Black Coffee by Agatha Christie featuring her famous private detective Hercule Poirot, it stars Austin Trevor as Poirot with Richard Cooper playing his companion Captain Hastings. A famous but hated scientist, Sir Amory, is killed during a house party, and some of his valuable papers are missing. Poirot rapidly determines the cause of death and the motive, then narrows down the suspects to the most likely culprit.
The Lacquered Box1932 · film · 85 min · dir. Jean Kemm · IMDb ↗IMDb7.2Fearing the theft of an important secret formula, the scientist Claude Amory asks for help from Monsieur Préval, director of the Sûreté. But when Amory is mysteriously poisoned inside his own home, the detective realizes the case is more serious than he had imagined and decides to investigate each of the suspects.
Black Coffee1973 · television film · 70 min · dir. Claus Peter Witt · IMDb ↗IMDb6.5The inventor Sir Claude Amery wants to give the thief of the formula for his latest invention the chance to return it in the dark without being recognized. He gathers everyone in the house in the library and has the lights switched off for a short time. When the light comes back on, Amery is dead. A case for the Belgian master detective Hercule Poirot.
