Movie Review # 505: Death On The Nile (1978)

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen! Hope you all are doing well! Today, we are going to be reviewing the old version of Agatha Christie’s Death On The Nile. Now, before we dive into the plot, and the review, and things like that, I must confess that I felt somewhat reluctant to see this older version of the story after not having the best experience with the newer one recently. However, since I already ordered it from the library shortly before seeing the newer Death On The Nile, I went ahead, and went into this old one with an open mind. Was this old version any better? Well, let’s find out in a moment, shall we?

Plot: When a detective named Hercule Poirot (Peter Ustinov), a couple named Simon, and Linnet Doyle (Simon MacCorkindale, and Lois Chiles), their friend Jackie Bellefort (Mia Farrow), and some other people board a mini cruise ship called the S.S. Karnak that cruises along some of the Nile River, a murder occurs. Now, it is up to detective Poirot, and his friend, Colonel Race (David Niven) to find the culprit. Will they succeed?

Now, you may all be wondering, is this version any better than the newer one? Miraculously, it actually is. Yes, the story does still feel somewhat convoluted, especially near the end. However, despite that, this one seems to still feel a little more fun, and upbeat. Yeah, that’s more than one can likely say about the newer one. Why is that, you may wonder? Could it be due to people like Angela Lansbury adding a sort of flare with her comedic delivery lines on occasion throughout this film? Maybe it’s Nino Rota’s musical score that seemed more fun, and upbeat than that of Patrick Doyle in the newer one (even if Doyle’s score was good too)? Or better yet, maybe the 140 minute running time, which was more than the 127 minutes that the newer one had, seemed to help to flesh out the characters a little more? One could only speculate as far as reasons for this older being the superior film of the two goes. One way, or the other, this film is really good in nearly every way. The cinematography is really good, especially when it comes to seeing the pyramids of Egypt, and the beauty of the Nile River. Also the fun, and playful banter between some of the characters is a fun watch onscreen throughout this film. Additionally, the acting is really good. First of all, I was surprised to see Peter Ustinov, who voiced the villain, Prince John in the 1973 Disney animated film, Robin Hood, go from voicing a villain like him, to playing a heroic character like Hercule Poirot in this film. Pretty big role change, wouldn’t you say? Also, as mentioned before, Angela Lansbury, as Salome Otterbourne, was a fun watch onscreen, along with Mia Farrow (who would go on to voice the main Unicorn character in The Last Unicorn four years later, in 1982), Simon MacCorkindale as Simon Doyle, Lois Chile as Linnet Ridgeway Doyle, and the rest of the cast. Speaking of the characters, they were much more fun this time around. Again, definitely more than one can say about at least some of them in the newer one. Additionally, can we take a moment to appreciate how detective Poirot was not willing to give up on his mission, even in spite of his, and Colonel Race’s mission becoming rather difficult to the point where it would have been easy to do so? Oh, and another thing! How could one not like how both the beginning, and end credits were set up? Finally, the rest of the script, in addition to the comedic moments, was brilliantly executed.

And that’s my review for 1978’s Death On The Nile. Yeah, after seeing both this film, and the new 2022 remake, it may, or may not be surprising how much more fun, and upbeat the older one seems to be. Sure, the newer one isn’t exactly bad by any means. In fact, that one seems to have it’s good points too. Still, it’s this older one seems to have it’s dark moments, while surprisingly having it’s more lighthearted ones too. Again, I would probably at least recommend that one see the newer one at least once. Still, this older one is worth rewatching much more than the newer version. If you haven’t seen the old version of this story, definitely make a point to see it, and see what you think!

Final Grade: A