Death On The Nile Details

The biggest mystery here is how director John Guillermin managed to take a splendid Agatha Christie novel, some stunning scenery and a stellar cast and produce such a disappointing film. Admittedly, setting the scene and establishing the characters is a vital part of any whodunnit. But the only thing fatal about this picture's first half is its pace. Peter Ustinov clearly enjoys his first outing as the fastidious Belgian super-sleuth Hercule Poirot, and there's some delicious overplaying by Maggie Smith and Angela Lansbury. Yet David Niven and Bette Davis are wasted, and George Kennedy and Lois Chiles are simply dreadful.

A pleasant thirties atmosphere and the travel poster backgrounds are the chief assets of this rather hesitant whodunnit which plays fair enough with the audience but gives its popular cast too little to do, while its constant repetitions of the crime beco