Death on the Nile

'Death on the Nile' is a British mystery film directed by John Guillermin and written by Anthony Shaffer. It is based in the novel of the same name published in 1937 by Agatha Christie. The film stars Peter Ustinov with a stellar cast with names such as Maggie Smith, Bette Davis, Angela Lansbury or Mia Farrow. It has a remake in 2022 directed and starred by Kenneth Branagh.

The story starts with the presentation of Linnet Ridgeway, a rich heiress who accepts to hire Simon Doyle, the fiancé of her best friend, Jackie de Bellefort. However, Linnet falls in love with him and they end up marrying. They fly to Egypt for their honeymoon, where Jackie is also travelling following them. To try to get rid of her, they end up boarding a cruise on the Nile while they were simulating to go to the train station.

But Jackie finally reaches the cruise, where she confesses to be travelling with a gun. In the cruise is also detective Hercule Poirot, who is following Jackie's footsteps. One evening, drunk, she shots Simon on the leg and she is retained. The next day, Linnet is found dead with a headshot and the letter J written in blood. However, Jackie has a powerful alibi to not be suspected, because she was retained, sedated and watched all night by Miss Bowers. Now, detective Poirot has to investigate who is the author of the crime and what was the motive. He will soon discover it won't be an easy job, because the boat is full with suspects with motive enough to have done it.

The film was released as a sort of sequel of 'Murder in the Orient Express', who was a big box office hit four years earlier. But, even in the critics were mainly positiva, the film couldn't reach that box office gross.