DEATH ON THE NILE (1978) ¢ ¢ ¢
D: John Guillerman
Peter Ustinov, David Niven, Mia Farrow,
Lois Chiles, Simon MacCorkindale, Jon Finch,
Olivia Hussey, Jane Birkin, Bette Davis,
Maggie Smith, George Kennedy, Angela Lansbury,
Jack Warden, Sam Wanamaker, Harry Andrews
A boatload of vaguely suspicious characters sail up the Nile, posing elegantly and taking in some of the world's most famous ruins. When one of them is found dead, shot in the head, it's up to Hercule Poirot (Peter Ustinov) to figure out whodunit. The plotting's complicated: As Poirot interviews each suspect in turn, it becomes clear that they all had a reason to hate the victim, any one of them could be the killer, and the detective imagines multiple ways the murder could've played out. The solution is far-fetched, and at 2 hours and 20 minutes, the movie's a little long. It's not hard to look at, though, the actors tear into their roles with relish, and cinematographer Jack Cardiff has a good time with the Egyptian locations.
Maggie Smith
(1934-2024)
