Brabourne would later produce two more Christie films- The Mirror Crack’d and Evil Under the Sun.ĭeath on the Nile was directed by another Englishman named John, John Guillermin whose few other good films include The Blue Max and The Bridge at Remagen. The premise would be the same-a star-studded cast, beautiful scenery and a journey aboard a confining conveyance from which suspects and murderers alike could not escape. John Brabourne, who had produced Murder on the Orient Express, as well as Sink the Bismarck!, A Passage to India and other theatrical films, wanted to assemble another mega-hit, and a second Christie mystery. Karnak is also the name of the Egyptian temple where occurs one of two failed murder attempts.
Four weeks were spent filming at Pinewood studios, England, aboard a mock-up of the actual Nile paddle steamer Memnon, renamed Karnak, that was used in location filming. The Nile company spent seven weeks on location in Egypt, with plot excursions to Cairo, Aswan, Luxor and Abu Simbel-scenery galore. Superior except- Where Death on the Nile does excel is in the scenery, spectacular indeed, shot by Jack Cardiff, one of the great color cinematographers ( The Red Shoes, The African Queen and his one Oscar win, Black Narcissus). Murder is superior in every detail and aspect regarding production, acting, script and score even the all-star level, with perhaps a deliberate avoidance of duplicate big-name appearances, is noticeably less brilliant.
The obvious, summarizing comment is that it isn’t as good as Murder on the Orient Express, made four years earlier-not a great film itself, but, at the time, the largest British movie money-maker, ever. It is easy to write about the 1978 screen version of Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile. “Do not allow evil into your heart, it will make a home there.” -Hercule Poirot
0 kommentar(er)
