A murder is committed on a Nile steamer, but Hercule Poirot is on board to discover who did it. [imdb] Nominated for 1 Oscar: Best Costume Design (WINNER)
This was mostly campaigned as connected to Murder on the Orient Express (1974); even the poster wears a striking resemblance. Yet, while Murder itself is not considered a great success, this one is even less. What it does share with its Agatha Christie predecessor is a just-as-impressive allstar cast: Peter Ustinov, David Niven, Bette Davis, Maggie Smith, Angela Lansbury, Mia Farrow, George Kennedy and a couple more names.
As a murder mystery, it's a weak film. It's not that well directed, the screenplay is shaky and I guessed who the killer was as soon as the first murder happened. That's not because I'm a genius at such things, but because all the others were too less-striking to earn the title of the murderer. The performances are ok, none spectacular (Lansbury is the highlight) and the costume design win is pretty worthy. Bette Davis was fine, but she had already reached the age where she lost a bit of her acting hunger.
My rating for the film: 5/10. Nice to see the actors together, but not an interesting film.
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It's a massive step down for Hercule Poirot movies (although it's by far the best Ustinov one). Clearly wears the comedy on it's well costumed sleeve.
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