An all-star cast, exotic locations and a good, if not very original. plot distinguish this otherwise workmanlike screen version of Agatha Christie's "Death on the Nile", directed by John Guillerman and adapted by none other than Anthony Shaffer. Despite everyone's best intentions it's not in the same class as Lumet's "Murder on the Orient Express" but is vastly superior to the later "Evil Under the Sun".Lois Chiles is the rich bitch heiress barging down the Nile on her honeymoon. When she's bumped off all her fellow passengers are suspects, mainly because each of them has a motive to kill her. It might all be a bit ho-hum were it not for the fact that the passengers include Bette Davis, Maggie Smith, Mia Farrow, Angela Lansbury, David Niven and Jack Warden so there's a lot of bitchy fun to be had. Peter Ustinov is a less eccentric Poirot than Albert Finney which means he's basically upstaged by the film'sgrande dames. Enjoyable then, but no classic.
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