Death on the Nile

Death on the Nile is a 1978 British mystery film based on Agatha Christie's 1937 novel of the same name, directed by John Guillermin and adapted by Anthony Shaffer. The film features the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, played by Peter Ustinov for the first time, plus an all-star supporting cast that includes Maggie Smith, Angela Lansbury, Bette Davis, Mia Farrow, Jane Birkin, David Niven, George Kennedy, and Jack Warden. The film is a follow-up to the 1974 film Murder on the Orient Express. It takes place in Egypt in 1937, mostly on a period paddle steamer on the Nile. Various famous Ancient Egyptian sights are featured in the film, such as the Great Pyramids, the Sphinx, and temples at Abu Simbel and Karnak, sometimes out of sequence (the boat trip scenes start at Aswan, move downstream to Karnak, and then shift upstream to Abu Simbel). Death on the Nile won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design at the 51st Academy Awards. Plot Wealthy heiress Linnet Ridgeway agrees to hire her friend Jacqueline "Jackie" de Bellefort's unemployed fiancé, Simon Doyle, as her estate manager. Soon after, Linnet and Simon marry after a whirlwind courtship. While honeymooning in Egypt, they are continually stalked and hounded by the jilted Jackie. To evade her, the Doyles pretend to go to the Aswan railway station before backtracking to board a Nile paddle steamer, the S.S. Karnak. Also in Egypt is detective Hercule Poirot, who will slowly learn about the situation.