While traveling on the Nile on board the riverboat Karnak, Hercule Poirot (Peter Ustinov) passes time solving the murder of a young, female passenger.

Meticulously staged in terms of costumes and production design, this murder mystery has its similarities with Murder on the Orient Express (1974). Everything looks just dandy and Poirot has an all-star cast to interrogate. It’s Ustinov’s first movie as the detective and he’s excellent; the stars are also amusing.

But director John Guillermin fails utterly in creating tension and spends most of the long running time focusing on lavish details.

1978-U.K. 140 min. Color. Directed by John Guillermin. Screenplay: Anthony Shaffer. Novel: Agatha Christie. Music: Nino Rota. Costume Design: Anthony Powell. Cast: Peter Ustinov (Hercule Poirot), Bette Davis (Marie Van Schuyler), David Niven (Johnny Race), Mia Farrow, Angela Lansbury, George Kennedy, Maggie Smith, Jack Warden, Lois Chiles, Olivia Hussey, Jane Birkin… Celia Imrie. 

Trivia: Albert Finney was offered to repeat his performance as Poirot from Murder on the Orient Express. Ustinov reappeared as the detective in Evil Under the Sun (1982) and in several TV movies during the 1980s. Remade as Death on the Nile (2022).

Oscar: Best Costume Design. BAFTA: Best Costume Design.