Death on the Nile
I have many of the same issues with the 1978 adaptation of Agatha Christie's Death on the Nile as I did with Kenneth Branagh's version nearly half a century later. The first film to feature Peter Ustinov as renown detective Hercule Poirot is a dreadful bore that takes more than an hour to get going attempting to rely on beautiful shots of Egypt and overheard snippets conversations to build tepid tension as it treads water until the murder aboard the paddle steamer finally takes place.
Very similar to Murder on the Orient Express, but far less satisfying, the setup of the story is to trap a single loathed victim in a confined location with a host of people who all want them dead for various reasons. This swaps out the famous train for a boat on the Nile where sadly, despite all the would-be intrigue, the most obvious suspect is the the murderer. The only mystery for Poirot is to break the unshakable alibi of one person aboard the boat and expose the plot.
The film stars Lois Chiles as the rich heiress ripe to be killed, Simon MacCorkindale as her new husband whom she stole from her former best friend (Mia Farrow) who spends the entire movie attempt to destroy their happiness. Various other passengers in the roles of red herrings include Jane Birkin, Bette Davis, Olivia Hussey, Jon Finch, Maggie Smith, and Angela Lansbury in a bizarre performance that may be the worst of her career.
Lackluster is the best way I can describe the film. Like Branagh 44 years later director John Guillermin struggles to breathe any life into the first-half of the film or shake-up events of the investigation in a way that makes the final reveal any more palatable. Released several times over the years, the new 4K edition includes both 4K and Blu-ray discs. Both have audio commentary, and the Blu-ray also includes previously-released interviews and the film's trailer.
- Title: Death on the Nile (1978)
- IMDb: link
