Death On The Nile is certainly one of Agatha Christies most notable books and it was the very first of the publisher’s films I watched. The 1978 classic saw Peter Ustinov take the leading role as the fictional, Belgium investigator Hercule Poirot and his travelling partner Colonel Race who was played by David Niven.
As the title suggests, the motion picture is set on the River Nile in Egypt. The minute a young heiress is murdered, Poirot is asked to clear up the crime. The motion picture is set on board the Nile River boat the SS Cataract with visits at a few of Egypt’s best known ancient sites.
After Linnet Doyle (nee Ridgeway) is murdered it quickly becomes evident that there is at least one individual with a prospective motive for murder. Linnet Doyle was on honeymoon in Egypt with her new husband Simon. The pair were being followed by Jacqueline, Simon’s jilted girl friend. She pursues the husband and wife from the Pyramids in Cairo down to the Nile and boards the SS Cataract.
Linnet Doyle was the initial victim and as Poirot began to look into, the various other suspects motives began to be discovered. Her valuable necklace was sought after by Mrs van Schuyler, Salome Otterbourne faced a law suit from Doyle over something she had written, Doyle had refused her maid the dowry she had guaranteed and there were others too.
As the vessel sailed along the River Nile stopping at places such as the Temple of Karnak, Aswan and the Temple of Abu Simbel, other travellers were also being murdered. In due course Poirot works out the signs and the murderers are unmasked. Simon Doyle had married Linnet to obtain access to her cash. With her out of the way, Simon would be clear to marry his true love, Jacqueline.
The deaths don’t stop here as in desperation, Jacqueline first kills Simon then herself instead of face justice. Initially written in the 1930s, the storyline is a Christie classic. Even though a few of the trips are unlikely (such as cruising from Karnak to Abu Simbel in an afternoon), this doesn’t deter from the movie by any means. Happily, todays tourists don’t encounter quite so much drama on their Nile Cruise holidays.