Spotlight

Spotlight Date: 1-March-09
Spoiler Rating: Medium

Death on the Nile (1978)

I wonder if a detective has ever really assembled the suspects in a murder case and dramatically announced who the killer is. The appeal of the scene is obvious: it invites a desperate confession in front of witnesses who have been primed by anxiety to appreciate the detective's genius. In fact, the detective would appear almost godlike, capable of unraveling the mysteries of death that baffle other men.

Laws and protocol probably preclude such a situation in real life, but it has certainly embellished a number of movies including Death on the Nile. The dramatic finale follows a parade of gorgeous costumes and settings which are bolstered by an impressive cast and a droll sense of humor. As Hercule Poirot, Agatha Christie's famous Belgian sleuth, Peter Ustinov looks more like the millionaire from Monopoly than a pharaoh, but he notices everything and extracts the truth from what he sees. He encounters a mystery on an Egyptian cruise when a fellow traveller, a newlywed heiress (Lois Chiles), is murdered. Every other passenger has a motive save one, an old friend of Poirot's who helps him investigate the case (David Niven).

The suspects are rife with idiosyncrasies and passions, making the cinematic line-up fun to behold. The crusty dowager with a penchant for pearls (Bette Davis) is accompanied by a paid companion with a nasty chip on her shoulder (Maggie Smith). A vulgar writer of romance novels (Angela Lansbury) embarrasses the ship at large and her demure daughter (Olivia Hussey) in particular and happens to be the defendant in a libel suit brought by the deceased. The daughter takes refuge in the attentions of a soap-box Communist who advocates "bumping off" the rich (Jon Finch). The dead woman's trust fund lawyer (George Kennedy) is an embezzler, and her lady's maid (Jane Birkin) wants money to elope. Even the bumbling doctor (Jack Warden) harbors secrets as he tends to the wounded young widower (Simon MacCorkindale) and the jilted ex-girlfriend (Mia Farrow) who was persecuting the honeymooners but has a solid alibi for the time of the murder.

Cobras, drunken come-ons, more corpses: nothing flusters Poirot except people mistaking him for a Frenchman. If death ever really did strike an exotic tour, he would be just the portly genius to shine light into dark places.

Copyright © 2009 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.