History Literature / EvilUnderTheSun

* SmugSnake: [[spoiler: Redfern,]] when he thinks he's gotten away with murder.

* DistinguishedGentlemansPipe: Subverted. One of the murder suspects, Patrick Redfern, is seen with a pipe throughout the film, but it's only at the end that [[spoiler:Poirot realises he's never actually been seen smoking it. The reason: he's hidden a stolen diamond in the bowl.]]

* LargeHam: '''''Everyone'''''. Every single star of the film exaggerate their famed personalities just for this production, it seems.

* LouisCypher: Patrick tells Poirot that as a music teacher, he enjoys telling his students that Guiseppe Verdi's name in English is a pedestrian Joe Green. [[spoiler: It's a mistake, because Hercule notes that Patrick's last name, Redfern, in Latin is "Felix Ruber," a suspect in a murder case involving Ruber's wife, making him realize Patrick's name is a pseudonym.]]
* MamaBear: A mild case with Daphne Castle, who does not take kindly to the mistreatment of Linda by her stepmother Arlena. After the latter cruelly (and against her father's wishes) banishes Linda from the cocktail party, Daphne retaliates by passive-agressively sabotaging Arlena's song.

* WickedStepmother: Arlena. She is constantly rude and insulting to Linda, takes every opportunity to shove her out of the way so she can have people's attention all to herself, and at one point actually calls her Cinderella. [[AdaptationalVillainy None of this occurs in the original book.]]

* LifeOfTheParty: Mr. Blatt is an intolerably cheerful man always striving to be the life and soul of a party, and is always put out that people flee him at the first opportunity. He also cheerful tells Poirot he has no alibi at all.[[note]]Poirot discovers that Mr. Blatt actually did have one that he was unaware of.[[/note]]

* LifeOfThePArty: Mr. Blatt is an intolerably cheerful man always striving to be the life and soul of a party, and is always put out that people flee him at the first opportunity.

The story has been adapted twice for the screen, firstly as a 1982 film directed by Creator/GuyHamilton and starring Creator/PeterUstinov with an all star cast (that included Creator/JamesMason, Creator/MaggieSmith and Creator/DianaRigg) and the music of Music/ColePorter, and secondly as a 2001 episode in the eighth series of ''Series/{{Poirot}}'' starring Creator/DavidSuchet. It was also adapted into a 2007 PC video game.

'''Poirot:''' ''Mais porquoi, madame''? Look at them lying in rows, like corpses at the morgue! They are not men and women. Nothing personal about them. They're just bodies, butcher's meat, steaks grilling in the sun.

* ExactWords: Christine Redfen says she was a teacher at a girl's school, which is true. [[spoiler:But as Poirot points out, the idea of a fussy, weak ProperLady is cultivated by that term. In fact she's a sports teacher, and therefore very physically active.]]

* DontYouDarePityMe: Christine hates being seen as the weak wife of a philandering man, helpless to reventher huband from falling into the clutches of a man-eating siren. [[spoiler:She's anything but weak, and coolly helps her husband commit murder several times.]]

* GrandStaircaseEntrance: Jane Birkin does a stylish one in the climax, as [[spoiler:Christine no longer
to pretend to be the meek, mousy housewife]].
* {{Irony}}: [[spoiler: Daphne pegs Patrick and Christine as the murderers, only for Poirot to tell her they have alibis. Turns out they ''were'' the murderers.]]

* DistinguishedGentlemansPipe: Subverted. One of the murder suspects, Patrick Redfern, is seen with a pipe throughout the film, but it's only at the end that [[spoiler:Poirot realises he's never actually been seen smoking it. The reason: he's hidden a stolen diamond in the bowl]].
* FreezeFrameBonus: Just before Poirot signs his name in the hotel register, the camera pans over the names of previous guests just long enough to read. One of those names is that of Music/ColePorter, who wrote the film's score.

* BluffingTheMurderer: Poirot tells the murderers it'll be easy to prove they're the murder by a new test called the "moulage test" to find gunpower under the fingernails, and so on. There is no such thing; "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moulage moulage]]" is a training exercise for medics using realistic dummies.

* GrandStaircaseEntrance: Jane Birkin does a stylish one in the climax, as [[spoiler:Christine no longer has to pretend to be the meek, mousy housewife]].

* MrFanservice: Nicholas Clay as Patrick Redfern. Only two or three of the male characters strip down to a bathing suit, despite everyone being guests on an island resort with several beaches. However, while all the other bathing suits seen are period-typical one-pieces (which look like a tank top attached to a pair of short-shorts), Patrick Redfern swaggers around in a pair of tiny (for the day) briefs and nothing else.

--> '''Arlena Marshall:''' ''(arriving at outdoor buffet luncheon in swimming attire)'' I'm so sorry, are we late? Patrick insisted upon rowing me right round the island, and [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar it's much bigger than I thought]]. Poor darling, he's absolutely exhausted.

* DetectEvil: The Reverend is certain Arlena is the focus of great evil. Poirot agrees with him, even if the good reverend is shown to be a trifle obesessed with the whore of Babyon, [[spoiler:but Arlena isn't the cause of said evil, she's the ''victim'' of it.]]

* EurekaMoment: [[spoiler:Poirot immediately realizes that Christine was lying about having vertigo, when he goes to the cliff she was spotted at and finds there's no way to see anything except stand at the ''very edge'', which would give ''anyone'' a fear of heights.]]

* HenpeckedHusband: Odell Gardner.
* HiddenDepths: Odell Gardner barely says a word beyond "yes, dear" throughout the novel. The one time he does, he reveals himself to be a surprisingly perceptive and intelligent man.
* HonorableMarriageProposal: The "incurably chivalrous" Kenneth Marshall made two before the story began: firstly to Linda's future mother who had been falsely accused as a criminal; and after her death to the scandal-ridden Arlena. A variation of the trope in that the infamy suffered by both women was because of something other than loss of virginity.

* {{Jerkass}}: [[spoiler: Both Redferns turn out to be murdering, cold-hearted douchebags who will strangle people and encourage others to commit suicide.]]

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: By murdering Arlena, the killer indirectly improves the situation for [[spoiler:her widower Kenneth and his daughter Linda, freeing the former from a marriage that he has long regretted.]]
* ObfuscatingDisability: [[spoiler:Christine pretends to have vertigo so nobody will suspect she climbed down the ladder. Emily also claims (truthfully) to have it. Poirot uses a picnic to test both of them.]]

* SmugSnake: [[spoiler: Redfern, when he thinks he's gotten away with murder.]]

* VoodooDoll: Linda uses one on Arlena. When Arlena is killed, Linda blames herself.

** There's even more similarity with another Christie short story, "Triangle at Rhodes": [[spoiler: the supposed seductress is actually too stupid to be anything more than a victim, the "poor little wife" character was manipulating the entire thing and plotting with her lover to set up the situation, then kill the seductress.]]

* {{Camp}}: Loads of it.

--> '''Daphne:''' They'll be brought up in a minute! Do have a good, long, peaceful rest, Arlena.

The story has been adapted twice for the screen, firstly as a 1982 film starring Creator/PeterUstinov with an all star cast (that included Creator/JamesMason, Creator/MaggieSmith and Creator/DianaRigg) and the music of Music/ColePorter, and secondly as a 2001 episode in the eighth series of ''Series/{{Poirot}}'' starring Creator/DavidSuchet. It was also adapted into a 2007 PC video game.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything:
** The plot of this story is often compared to ''Literature/DeathOnTheNile'': [[spoiler:a situation apparently involving an unscrupulous seductress tempting a susceptible man away from his significant other turns out to be the latter two working together to murder the seductress for her money.]] The 1982 film doubles down on this by taking Jane Birkin and Creator/MaggieSmith, two of the stars of the 1978 ''Death on the Nile'' film, and casting them in this story in different parts.
** There's even more similarity with another Christie short story, "Triangle at Rhodes": [[spoiler: the supposed seductress is actually too stupid to be anything more than a victim, the "poor little wife" character was manipulating the entire thing and plotting with her lover to set up the situation, then kill the seductress.]]
** The story also uses a critical plot element from the Literature/MissMarple short story "A Christmas Tragedy": [[spoiler: The killer fakes an alibi by arranging for the "body" to be discovered before the murder has even been committed.]]
** There's also a plot element from the Miss Marple story "The Bloodstained Pavement" [[spoiler: a man marries an 'insignificant-type' of young woman without many friends or relatives, takes out a large life insurance policy on her, then murders her with his real wife as his accomplice, focusing on making the wife's death look like it took place at a different time, location, and method than it actually did; this is exactly what Patrick does to Alice Corrigan before the book opens, only the man in this story has done it ''so many times'' with the exact same method that the insurance companies catch on and inform the police]] This isn't a coincidence, either; when Christie thought up a particularly clever or outrageous idea or plot twist, she would often try it out in a short story to make sure it worked before committing a full-length novel to it.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: The plot of this story is often compared to ''Literature/DeathOnTheNile'': [[spoiler:a situation apparently involving an unscrupulous seductress tempting a susceptible man away from his significant other turns out to be the latter two working together to murder the seductress for her money.]]
** The 1982 film doubles down on this by taking Jane Birkin and Creator/MaggieSmith, two of the stars of the 1978 ''Death on the Nile'' film, and casting them in this story in different parts.

** There's also a plot element from the Miss Marple story 'The Bloodstained Pavement' [[spoiler: a man marries an 'insignificant-type' of young woman without many friends or relatives, takes out a large life insurance policy on her, then murders her with his real wife as his accomplice, focusing on making the wife's death look like it took place at a different time, location, and method than it actually did; this is exactly what Patrick does to Alice Corrigan before the book opens, only the man in this story has done it ''so many times'' with the exact same method that the insurance companies catch on and inform the police]] This isn't a coincidence, either; when Christie thought up a particularly clever or outrageous idea or plot twist, she would often try it out in a short story to make sure it worked before committing a full-length novel to it.

* GambitRoulette: The murderer/s not only rely on synchronizing their movements according to a very precise schedule, but also arrange for the body to be "discovered" before the actual murder takes place, while the unsuspecting intended victim is hiding nearby. There are a number of ways that could have gone wrong...
** on the other hand [[spoiler: Patrick and Christine have already pulled off a similar scheme once before without a hitch... at least until Poirot comes along]]

* AdaptationalHeroism: Mrs Castle, originally nothing more than the rather strict hotel owner, is given the name Daphne and combined with the character of Rosamund, becoming Kenneth's love interest and Poirot's main assistant during the investigation. [[spoiler:She also helps him trap the killer at the end by taking his signature.]]

* PassiveAggressiveKombat: Daphne Castle (Maggie Smith) and Arlena Marshall (Diana Rigg), to hilarious effect.

---> '''Arlena:''' ''(making a grand entrance)'' Oh my, I'm the last to arrive!
---> '''Daphne:''' [[DoubleEntendre Have a sausage, dear.]] You must be famished, having to wait all that time in your room.

* AssholeVictim: Slightly closer to being PlayedStraight with Arlena, in comparison to the book. However, Poirot still feels sad at the death of a "naive", "trusting", "poor Arlena".

* CampGay: Rex Brewster. Daphne even refers to him as a "fruit".

** this [[FridgeBrilliance may even be a bit of]] subtle Foreshadowing: [[spoiler: Patrick's casual display of his good looks is a hint that instead of being 'that poor, stupid man' falling for the charms of maneater Arlena, it's actually the other way around; he's a lethal Casanova who is an expert at using his good looks to seduce women.]]