BY TIM MCGLYNN
During
the pre-video/broadcast television era of the mid-seventies, college campuses
were teeming with movie offerings on a weekly basis. It was the only way to see older theatrical
titles in their uncensored form. My own
experience at the University of Illinois provided 8 to 10 films per weekend
with recent Hollywood hits, classic revivals and the occasional porn flick
being the usual choices. Lecture halls,
auditoriums and even church sanctuaries were converted to temporary cinemas
that offered a cornucopia in 16mm. These
were quality exhibitions with twin projectors, external speakers for clear
dialogue and anamorphic lenses when needed. It seemed a little odd that one could view a somewhat racy movie in the
same space that would be used for worship the next morning. I would often take in several titles on
Friday and Saturday nights for the bargain price of $1.00.
Agatha
Christie’s Death on the Nile was one such movie that I chose to see on a snowy
evening in January as it played right in the lobby of my dorm. John Guillermin’s star-studded whodunit was
the follow up to the hugely successful Murder on the Orient Express from
1974. Once again we find Belgian
detective Hercule Poirot, played this time by the wonderful Peter Ustinov,
matching wits with a collection of suspects in the killing of heiress Linnet
Ridgeway. A running gag throughout the
film concerns Poirot having to remind everyone that his is not French.
The
setting this time is 1937 onboard a luxury steamer, the Karnack, navigating the
Nile where Poirot is on an Egyptian holiday before being drawn into the case of
the murdered newlywed. Linnet’s husband,
Simon, had recently ended an engagement with Jackie, former best friend of the
victim. Jackie has been stalking the
couple as she was still in love with Simon.
Poirot,
with the assistance of his good friend Colonel Race, begins to investigate the
murder and soon discovers that everyone on board the Karnack has a motive for
Linnet’s murder and Jackie appears to have an airtight alibi. We have Linnet’s maid, an American lawyer, a
romance novelist and her daughter, a jewel thief, a medical doctor and a
communist agitator whom all have ties to Linnet and her money.
The
tale becomes more twisted as the detective interviews all of the passengers
during the voyage hoping to ferret out the guilty party before the steamer
arrives at the final destination. Poirot
is able to create scenarios where everyone had access to the victim and could
have been the perpetrator. Soon,
however, several of the suspects are themselves murdered adding a sense of
urgency to the case.
Following
the usual format of Ms. Christie’s famous novels, Poirot assembles the
remaining passengers in the onboard saloon and, one by one, eliminates suspects
while revealing the identity of the killer.
Director
John Guillerman, an experienced, gentlemanly director, was experienced at
handling ensemble casts made up of international stars. His previous efforts included Skyjacked, The
Towering Inferno, The Bridge at Remagen and The Blue Max. His cast in Death on the Nile featured Bette
Davis, Maggie Smith, Angela Landsbury, David Niven, Jack Warden, George
Kennedy, Mia Farrow, Olivia Hussey, Jane Birkin, Simon MacCorkindale and future
Bond girl Lois Chiles. Cameo appearances
were provided by Harry Andrews and L.S. Johan.
The
star-studded cast was a 1970s marketing gimmick that began with disaster epics
such as Airport and Earthquake and then spilled over to whodunits and
television mini-series. Print ads and
trailers would play up the star attractions without revealing much about the
plots. Television anthology series made
a success comeback as well with the likes of Fantasy Island, The Love Boat and
Night Gallery. The “stars†featured in
these programs were often second tier, but still recognizable to viewers.
Director
Guillerman, along with producers John Bradbourne and Richard Goodwin, also
assembled a stellar crew behind the scenes starting with a script by Sleuth
author Anthony Shaffer. Aside from some
witty dialogue, Shaffer makes clever and veiled references to Maggie Smith’s
maid character being a lesbian as she seems to express total disdain to the
idea of a man and woman united in marriage.
Director
of Photography Jack Cardiff gave a bright, open and colorful look to the warm
weather cruise, which was the opposite of the dark, confined setting of Murder
on the Orient Express. An especially
beautiful scene is set at the Great Pyramids near Cairo as Linnet and her
husband climb to the top of one of the epic structures. It seems surprising that the production crew
would have access to this site as it was devoid of tourists at the time of
filming.