Rating: PG
Genre:
Mystery
Release Date: 02/27/2001
Dubbed: English
Sound: DD1
Run Time: 140 Minutes
Flags: Violence, Adult Situations, Questionable for Children
Distributor/Studio: Anchor Bay
Peter Ustinov began his long association with the
Hercule Poirot character of murder mystery novelist
Agatha Christie with this lavish but financially disappointing follow-up to the popular
Murder on the Orient Express (1974). During a luxurious pleasure cruise down the Nile aboard a lavish vessel populated with wealthy passengers, widely despised heiress and home wrecker Linnet Ridgeway (
Lois Chiles) is murdered. Also aboard is famed Belgian detective Poirot (Ustinov) and his taciturn traveling companion, Colonel Race (
David Niven). Poirot undertakes an investigation into Ridgeway's killing. Among the colorful suspects are Salome (
Angela Lansbury) and Rosalie Otterbourne (
Olivia Hussey), Doctor Bessner (
Jack Warden), Mrs. Van Schuyler (
Bette Davis), Miss Bowers (
Maggie Smith), and Jacqueline De Bellefort (
Mia Farrow). As more bodies pile up, however, it appears that nearly everyone aboard has a motive. The script for
Death on the Nile (1978) was adapted by
Anthony Shaffer, the writer of
Sleuth (1972) and the identical twin brother of
Amadeus (1984) author
Peter Shaffer.
~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
