Secret of the Blackbirds

Secret of the Blackbirds

1983 ""
Secret of the Blackbirds
Secret of the Blackbirds

Secret of the Blackbirds

6.5 | 1h37m | en | Thriller

Mr. Fortescue, owner of a big company, unexpectedly dies. The autopsy shows that he has been poisoned. Nobody actually loved him, and even his family members had their reasons to kill him. But who really did it? And who is responsable for killing his young servant and his wife within the next couple of days? Of course the only person who can answer this question is Ms. Marple. And of course, the murderer is the person you least expected it to be.

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6.5 | 1h37m | en | More Info
Released: November. 21,1983 | Released Producted By: Mosfilm , Country: Soviet Union Budget: 0 Revenue: 0 Official Website:
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Mr. Fortescue, owner of a big company, unexpectedly dies. The autopsy shows that he has been poisoned. Nobody actually loved him, and even his family members had their reasons to kill him. But who really did it? And who is responsable for killing his young servant and his wife within the next couple of days? Of course the only person who can answer this question is Ms. Marple. And of course, the murderer is the person you least expected it to be.

Genre

Thriller , Crime , Mystery

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Secret of the Blackbirds (1983) is currently not available on any services.

Cast

Ita Ever , Vladimir Sedov , Vsevolod Sanayev , Lyubov Polishchuk , Yuri Belyayev , Yelena Sanayeva

Director

David Vinitsky

Producted By

Mosfilm

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  • Top Credited Cast
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  • Crew
David Vinitsky
David Vinitsky

Production Design

Yuri Ulanov
Yuri Ulanov

Camera Operator

Nikolay Nemolyaev
Nikolay Nemolyaev

Director of Photography

Svetlana Bashlykova
Svetlana Bashlykova

Costume Design

P. Kuzmina
P. Kuzmina

Makeup Designer

Arnold Ides
Arnold Ides

Co-Director

Vadim Derbenyov
Vadim Derbenyov

Director

Alla Abramova
Alla Abramova

Lead Editor

Vasiliy Voinov
Vasiliy Voinov

Production Consultant

Boris Gostynsky
Boris Gostynsky

Production Manager

Konstantin Krimets
Konstantin Krimets

Conductor

Arseniy Lapisov
Arseniy Lapisov

Music Editor

Viktor Babushkin
Viktor Babushkin

Original Music Composer

Andrey Makarevich
Andrey Makarevich

Playback Singer

Oksana Shabina
Oksana Shabina

Playback Singer

Rem Sobinov
Rem Sobinov

Sound Director

Albert Rudachenko
Albert Rudachenko

VFX Artist

Viktor Zhanov
Viktor Zhanov

Visual Effects Camera

Secret of the Blackbirds Audience Reviews

Grimossfer Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%
Salubfoto It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.
Raymond Sierra The film may be flawed, but its message is not.
Beulah Bram A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.
Galina Last night, thanks to my friend who sent me the tape, I rewatched "Tayna Choyrnych Drozdov" or "The Secret of the Blackbirds" (1983), the Soviet adaptation of Agatha Christie's novel "A Pocketful of Rye". As usually, in Christie's novel, a rich and arrogant man, the owner of a successful company suddenly dies of unnatural cause, in this case, he was poisoned. Any member of his big dysfunctional family could be responsible for his death and everyone knows more than they would admit. Mr. Fortescue's death was just the beginning of the nightmare. Within next couple of days, his young maid Gladys is strangled and his pretty trophy wife Adele is shot to death in her bedroom. What is that? The gang of killers targeting Fortesque's household or just one devilishly clever murderer with the mysterious plan? Inspector Neel of Scotland Yard begins investigation and reluctantly agrees that old lady Miss Marlpe who arrived to Fortescue's country manor, Yewtree Lodge, for Gladys' funeral may actually help him to identify and arrest the murderer. It was nice to rewatch the movie that I remember fondly. It was especially interesting to see it from the "other side" - first time I saw in Moscow, 1983 when it was released and it was one of the rare opportunities to see "the other life" in the movie. I should give it to Vadim Derbenyov, the director - he had included a lot of real footage of London, its streets, land marks, famous double-deckers, and even the views of the cinema with the posters of the movies that were shown back in the beginning of 80s, "Sophie's choice" and "An Officer and a Gentleman". He even bowed to Dame Agatha by including the poster of her record breaking play "Mousetrap" which has been playing in London's West End, in St. Martin Theater for over 50 years now. As for the movie itself, it was fun - some actors were good, some looked a little out of place as Englishmen. Andrei Kharitonov as Lancelot Fortescue, the estranged younger son of the deceased, was marvelous. Ita Ever as Miss Marple was effective but strangely miscast because she looked too young and pretty for Christie's insightful, sharp but deceivingly grandmotherly character. Actually, the weakest part of the movie was the plot - everything was so obvious from the beginning which is not usually the case for Christie and the charming villain had made too many unforgiving mistakes but I liked the movie anyway and had a good time.