Death on the Nile (1978): A Review

DEATH ON THE NILE (1978)

This review is part of the Summer Under the Stars Blogathon. Today's star is Peter Ustinov.

It is a curious thing that while Dame Agatha Christie saw her novels as serious, the film versions tended to be more lighthearted. The Margaret Rutherford Miss Marple films were the apex or nadir, depending on your view, of how the Christie mysteries were seen as comedies. The Peter Ustinov Hercule Poirot films were not far behind. Death on the Nile, the first of the Ustinov as Poirot projects, is perhaps longer than it should be but does manage to entertain and keep viewers in suspense. 

The beautiful Lynette Ridgeway (Lois Chiles) is the original golden girl: rich, beautiful and aware of it. Her poor friend Jaqueline de Bellefort (Mia Farrow) comes to her for help. She asks Lynette to give her lover Simon Doyle (Simon MacCorkindale) a job so that they can get married. Upon seeing the beautiful Simon, Lynette decides to give him a job: as her husband. Now honeymooning in Egypt, Simon and Lynette Doyle find only one thing kills their happiness. That one thing is a vengeful Jackie, who has pursued them throughout all their honeymoon. Into this situation comes Hercule Poirot (Peter Ustinov), the celebrated Belgian detective currently on holiday in Egypt. He runs into his friend Colonel Race (David Niven), who is there on business related to Lynette Doyle. 

Also traveling in Egypt is a who's who of people connected or hostile to Lynette in some way. Grande dame Mrs. Van Schuyler (Bette Davis) longs after Lynette's pearls, and her traveling companion Miss Bowers (Maggie Smith) was financially ruined by Lynette's father. James Ferguson (Jon Finch) is a Communist who detests this parasite. Rosalie Otterbourne (Olivia Hussey) and her mother, celebrated romance novelist Salome Otterbourne (Angela Lansbury) face a libel lawsuit after Salome publishes Passion Under the Persimmons, a tawdry novel based on the Simon/Lynette/Jackie love triangle. "Uncle" Andrew Pennington (George Kennedy), Lynette's American lawyers, is desperate to cover up financial shenanigans he's gotten into with Lynette's money. The German doctor Bessner (Jack Warden) faces accusations from Lynette about his medical treatments that led to one of her friends dying. Even Lynette's maid, Louise Bourget (Jane Birkin) resents her boss' refusal to sanction a marriage to an Egyptian and give her a good dowry.

As they sail down the Nile, Poirot senses that there is evil all around them. That is confirmed when Lynette is murdered, shot in the temple at close range. Whodunit? As Poirot and Race begin investigating, more murders take place, secrets are revealed and Poirot gathers the remaining suspects to unmask the real killers. This leads to a shocking ending, but with the case resolved, 

I do not know if Death on the Nile can be called a sequel or even follow-up to Murder on the Orient Express since we have a new actor taking over the role of Hercule Poirot. As such, I think we can separate what came before with what we have now and judge Ustinov's Poirot apart from Albert Finney's version. 

I think Peter Ustinov was a bit more deliberately humorous and almost camp as Poirot. He refers to himself in the third person or thinks that by merely dropping his name that everyone will react with awe. There is an almost mischievous manner to Ustinov's Poirot, forever correcting anyone who called him French by pointing out he was actually Belgian. When Mrs. Van Schuyler calls him a "French upstart", Ustinov's Poirot merely says in a somewhat mocking tone, "Belgian upstart". 

Ustinov is quite good as Poirot: charming, amusing and able to be less comic at the end when he does his summation. I do wonder if he was directed by John Guillerman to be more droll and not as serious as Poirot. While I like Ustinov as an actor and his version of Poirot, I do think it leans a bit too much into humor as to make Death on the Nile a bit lighter than perhaps it should be.

In his scenes, David Niven steals the show as Colonel Race. He can be serious, such as when confronting Pennington or assisting Poirot in his case. However, he has some wonderful eyerolls and facial expressions of exasperations whenever Poirot goes on about Poirot's elegant mustache.

Of the suspects, the clear standout was Lansbury's Salome Otterbourne. She dived into this wildly over-the-top character with gusto, playing things for laughs but always being fully aware of the joke. Looking and behaving as if she is inches from being a falling-down drunk, Lansbury is overtly comical but delightful as this addled Barbara Cartland type figure. 

The other suspects were hit and miss to varying degrees. Davis was adept at playing a mostly bemused figure delighting in insulting people. Smith's henpecked but bitchy nurse to Mrs. Van Schuyler gave as good as she got. Warden went a bit broad, especially with his German accent. Kennedy did not impress me well, Hussey was fine as the mousier Rosalie, Finch had little to do as the Commie Ferguson.

I will say that our star-crossed lovers were the weakest of the cast. Farrow's Jackie had an odd habit of spouting off historical information every time she pops up to torment Lynette and Simon. I think Anthony Shaffer's adaptation could have made her entrances more dramatic than telling us the height of the Abu Simbel temple. Lois Chiles and Simon MacCorkindale are beautiful looking people. Their beauty dazzles when they are on screen. Their acting however does not match their beauty. Both are pretty blank to boring as Lynette and Simon.  

Death on the Nile has what became standard for Agatha Christie adaptations: an all-star cast in exotic settings. It has Academy Award-winning costumes which fit the characters and the time setting, elegant, beautiful and at times a bit weird but effective. Nino Rota's score balances menace with mirth, which is what I think Death on the Nile was going for. I did enjoy how the various recreations of potential murderers made it plausible for that person to be the killer. 

I do find some faults with Death on the Nile. At two hours twenty minutes I think it is much longer than it should be. It takes almost a whole hour before we get to the first attempt at Lynette Doyle's life, and if I understand it correctly the attempted killer is someone other than the actual murderer. The affair of the necklace too is a bit of a puzzle. A suspect is found to have been the thief, but not the murderer. I also could have done without the comical Indian riverboat head, but sign of the times.

Death on the Nile is a good film if a bit long. Performances ranging from good (Ustinov, Lansbury, Niven) to bad (Chiles, MacCorkindale), with sumptuous costumes and beautiful images of Egypt, Death on the Nile is good viewing for solid entertainment. 

DECISION: B-