Autumn in August discovers Death on the Nile

 Welcome to LRG’s summer series, Autumn in August, where we look at films that just give you that Fall feeling during one of hottest months of the year (which is rapidly changing due to climate change but let’s take a break from reality at the moment there).

Agatha Christie’s works have always lent themselves to cinematic adaptations and I plan to highlight three of those movies starting with 1978’s Death on the Nile.

It’s a Hercule Poirot mystery with Peter Ustinov playing the Belgian (as he repeatedly has to keep telling his fellow travelers) detective who finds himself dealing with the death of heiress Linnet Ridgeway(Lois Chiles) onboard a cruise ship down the title river.

While Linnet happens to be traveling with a great number of passengers who wish her dead, a rather obvious suspect is eliminated from suspicion right away or should I say two suspects as Linnet is on her honeymoon with Simon(played by Simon MacCorkindale) who met her through his then current fiancé Jacqueline “Jackie “ de Bellefort(Mia Farrow).

Jackie did not take Simon’s switching his affections over to her very wealthy friend quite so well and has been haunting them during their entire trip. 

Poirot at one point had been asked to convince Jackie to give up her fury quest but such a betrayal is hard to get over. Honestly, I’m kind of on her side at first and her sudden appearances at certain spots with handy tourist facts are charmingly passive aggressive:

However, during the time that Linnet was killed, Jackie and Simon had a falling out that resulted in her shooting him in the leg, which lead to Simon being unable to walk on his own and Jackie going into hysterics that required sedation. 

That whole sequence is a pivotal part of the story that gets replayed during the investigation as other passengers are quizzed by Poirot and his friend Colonel Rice(David Niven) as to what they might have seen and possibly done during that time. Mia Farrow is quietly compelling in this role and this scene showcases her considerable acting powers grandly in my opinion:

Old school murder mysteries like this tend to attract great casts and Death on the Nile features some iconic legends such as Angela Lansbury who plays drunken romance writer Salome Otterbourne, who is being sued for libel by Linnet and therefore a suspect. 

She not only steals every scene she’s staggering in, her character even gets a “I know who the murderer is!’ speech that foreshadows her future role as Miss Marple a few years later(The Mirror Crack’d, which is on the AIA schedule).

My ultimate favorites, however are Bette Davis as Mrs. Van Schuyler, a cranky widow with a too eager eye on other people’s jewelry and Maggie Smith as Bowers, her nurse companion whose family was financially ruined by Linnet’s late father.

Watching the two of them sharply snipe at one another is just a masterclass in acting and my only regret is that they don’t get more screen time:

The mystery is well played out and I personally enjoy Ustinov’s take on Poirot; he exudes a kindly yet eccentric uncle vibe that can command serious attention when necessary there. 

While we get a couple of over dramatic moments (a cobra placed in Poirot’s cabin is needless tension thrown in), most of the film deals with the emotional stakes of the characters that makes it so richly satisfying to savor onscreen (and no, I haven’t seen the remake and don’t plan to.) 

Death on the Nile has that sophisticated sinister summer vacation energy that sits well in the shade indeed:

Speaking of sinister summer outings, our next Autumn in August feature film is Evil Under the Sun as Poirot goes island hopping and runs into Maggie Smith again, this time as a resort owner looking to boost her failing business.

The arrival of obnoxious actress Arlena Stuart(Diana Rigg) might be helpful in that department but she brings a lot of baggage with her that , of course, leads to murder. Please join us next week for more Christie capers and a sassy singalong to boot: