Trivia / Death on the Nile (1978)

• Ability over Appearance: Peter Ustinov doesn't match Christie's description of Poirot, but he nails it.
• Actor-Shared Background: David Niven served in the military, like his character Colonel Race (though he came just shy of that rank himself, having ultimately achieved the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel).
• All-Star Cast: In addition to Peter Ustinov as Poirot, the film version featured Mia Farrow, Bette Davis, Maggie Smith, Angela Lansbury, David Niven, Olivia Hussey, and George Kennedy. Bond girl Lois Chiles is actually one of the lesser names in the cast.
• Backed by the Pentagon: The Egyptian government supported the film because it was "unpolitical", and there were a large amount of Agatha Christie fans in the country.
• California Doubling: Pointedly averted, as the film was shot on-location. Bette Davis commented.
  "In the older days, they'd have built the Nile for you. Nowadays, films have become travelogues and actors, stuntmen."
• The Danza: Simon Doyle is played by Simon MacCorkindale in the 1978 film.
• Fake Nationality:
  • British Peter Ustinov as the Belgian Hercule Poirot.
  • The French maid Louise is played by Jane Birkin (English, though she has acquired French citizenship since).
  • The German Dr Bessner is played by the American actor Jack Warden.
• Hostility on the Set: Bette Davis and Olivia Hussey didn't get on during filming. In her autobiography, Olivia joked that Bette would have preferred their cast picture to be taken with her in a dinghy behind the boat.
• Irony as She Is Cast: English actress, singer and songwriter Jane Birkin is very famous in France, and her English accent (still prominent after over 50 years) when she speaks French is instantly recognisable. Here, she plays a French maid (and dubs herself in the French dub, becoming an English maid despite her French name).
• Prop Recycling: Marie Van Schuyler's wig was one of Bette Davis', she had worn it for the short-lived Musical Miss Moffat (a musical version of The Corn is Green) and would also use it in the TV Movie Murder with Mirrors
• The Other Darrin: Albert Finney was asked to reprise his role as Poirot, but he refused since he didn't want to have to go through the process of a three hour makeup job in the Egyptian heat.
• Troubled Production: As you would expect of a seven week shoot on-location in Egypt, four of which were on the boat itself. Every day, filming had to be stopped for two hours at noon, because the heat was just too intense. On the boat, no one was allowed a dressing room - Maggie Smith, Angela Lansbury and Bette Davis in fact having to share a room. And on land, no hotel reservations had been made, and cast and crew shifted from hotel to hotel - sometimes on a daily basis. The rushes couldn't be seen by John Guillerman, as producers ordered them to be sent straight to London. Also no telephones were available the whole time they were in Egypt, requiring people to communicate by telegram. Despite this, John Guillerman said everyone got into the spirit of the film and most of the cast got on very well.
• Uncredited Role: Indian actor Saeed Jaffrey is uncredited as the man who discovers Louise's body.
• What Could Have Been:
  • At one point, Michael York, who played Count Rudolf Andrenyi in Murder on the Orient Express (1974), was attached to the role of James Ferguson.
  • Cybill Shepherd turned down the role of Linnet Ridgeway Doyle.
• Working Title: The film at one point was going to be titled Murder on the Nile to let audiences know it was a sequel to Murder on the Orient Express. Some of the original poster artwork has that title.

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