On D List of Movie Reviews
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Death on the Nile (1978)
Rate:
8
Viewed:
1/21, 4/22
1/21:
Murder on the Orient Express was the one that restarted the cycle of whodunnit pictures, and then, Death on
the Nile came out four years later.
Albert Finney was asked to come back to play Hercule Poirot again but declined. He simply didn't want to undergo
the ordeal of wearing heavy makeup in the heat. It's a shame because he was excellent playing the famed detective.
Happily, his replacement is Peter Ustinov, and he's quite good, if different but more human. He went on to do five more Agatha
Christie films: Evil Under the Sun,
Thirteen at Dinner, Dead Man's Folly,
Murder in Three Acts, and Appointment with Death.
A real treat of such pictures is the all-star cast. Death on the Nile has got it which is
British-majority/American-minority: Peter Ustinov, Lois Chiles, Bette Davis, Mia Farrow, Jon Finch, Olivia Hussey, George
Kennedy, Angela Lansbury, Simon MacCorkindale, David Niven, Maggie Smith, and Jack Warden. That's 28 Oscar nominations among
them with eight wins and one Honorary Oscar.
Another is the picturesque location shots of Egypt, especially the Great Pyramids, the Sphinx, and the temples at Abu
Simbel and Karnak. I didn't know anyone could climb the pyramids. That being said, the cinematography is outstanding. A paddle
steamer is featured which goes up and down on the Nile River.
Of course, it's convenient to have everybody on the same boat, and all had the motive to kill Linnet Ridgeway Doyle. The
only question is: who did it? Honestly, I figured it out way early only that I didn't know how it was done. Poirot's walkthrough
of the crime is keen, and there are some moments of extreme violence that make Death on the Nile an
unusual murder mystery picture.
It's also hard to go wrong with an Anthony Shaffer screenplay. The lines are well-written and easy to listen to. Once the
script is set with excellent players in place, they only need costumes to perfect the period, hence the sole Oscar win. By
far, the funniest part, apart from the manager being accused of murder in case of misidentification, is the Egyptian children
mooning unexpectedly at Bette Davis after waving at her from afar.
All in all, despite the lesser all-star treatment, Death on the Nile is a lot better than
Murder on the Orient Express because it's more engaging, easier to figure out, and more fun to watch.
4/22:
Dropping my rating from '9' to '8', Death on the Nile remains a well-made film.
It's just that the first half is slow. By the time Simon is shot, things finally start to cook, and Peter Ustinov steps
in to fill Albert Finney's large shoes quite nicely. I like the last half hour when he explained everything. It's still
ingenious although I knew the initial shooting incident had been faked. Of course, I wasn't afraid of the cobra because of
the reflecting glass.
All in all, patience will pay off when you stick with Death on the Nile longer.