Death on the Nile (1978)

Directed by John Guillermin. Starring Peter Ustinov, Mia Farrow, Simon MacCorkindale, David Niven, Lois Chiles, Angela Lansbury, Jane Birkin, Bette Davis, Jack Warden, Maggie Smith, Jon Finch, George Kennedy, Olivia Hussey, Sam Wanamaker. [PG]

As in a different Mia Farrow-starring literary adaptation from the decade (The Great Gatsby), the sets/scenery, costumes, and makeup upstage the rest of the show, in no small part because the show ain’t all that great. Following in the footsteps of Murder on the Orient Express, another Agatha Christie-penned murder mystery gets the exotic-locale, ensemble-friendly treatment, as Hercule Poirot (Ustinov, replacing the unavailable Albert Finney) goes about determining the responsible party or parties in a series of slayings aboard a paddle steamer cruising the Nile River. The all-star cast has been encouraged to chase colorful affectations to stand out from the pack (Davis hamming up the old dowager japery, Warden’s vaudeville-act Swiss-German accent, and so on), though a few old pros like Smith manage solid work. Director Guillermin does no favors for Anthony Schaffer’s stubborn scripting, laying out murderous motivations for several of the key players with the sort of tactlessness that would barely pass muster on Lansbury’s television-roost-to-come, “Murder She Wrote.” A bit aimless for long stretches, and even when things start heating up in the second half, it’s still short on the atmosphere that Christie was known for. Ustinov would reprise the role of Poirot five more times, starting with Evil Under the Sun.

48/100

RENT/BUY