Review: 1978 Version of "DEATH ON THE NILE" Still Has Some Charms

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 29 of 2022 (No. 1841) by Leroy Douresseaux

Death on the Nile (1978)
Running time:  140 minutes (2 hours, 20 minutes)
MPAA – PG
DIRECTOR: John Guillermin
WRITER: Anthony Shaffer
PRODUCERS:  John Brabourne and Richard Goodwin
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Jack Cardiff (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Malcolm Cooke
COMPOSER:  Nino Rota
Academy Award winner

MYSTERY

Starring:  Peter Ustinov, Mia Farrow, Simon MacCorkindale, Jane Birkin, Lois Chiles, Bette Davis, Jon Finch, Olivia Hussey, I.S. Johar, George Kennedy, Angela Lansbury, David Niven, Maggie Smith, Jack Warden, Harry Andrews, and Sam Wanamaker

Death on the Nile is a 1978 British mystery film directed by John Guillermin.  It is based on the 1937 novel, Death on the Nile, written by Agatha Christie (1890-1976).  Death on the Nile the movie finds Hercule Poirot investigating the murder of a newlywed heiress, committed during a luxurious cruise.

Death on the Nile finds famous detective Hercule Poirot (Peter Ustinov) embarking on a luxurious cruise on the Nile River in Egypt.  Poirot is delighted to discover that his friend, Colonel Race (David Niven), will also be aboard the Nile paddle steamer, the “S.S. Karnak.”

Also aboard are the newlyweds:  wealthy heiress, Linnet Ridgeway (Lois Chiles), and her husband, Simon Doyle (Simon MacCorkindale).  While in Egypt on their honeymoon, they are being stalked and hounded by Simon's former fiancé, Jacqueline “Jackie” de Bellefort (Mia Farrow), who was also Linnet's close friend.

When Linnet is found shot to death aboard the Karnak, Jackie is the most obvious culprit, but there are others on board who have reason to want Linnet dead.  There is Linnet's maid, Louise Bourget (Jane Birkin), who was bitter due to her mistress' refusal to grant her a promised dowry.  Linnet's shady American attorney and estate trustee, Andrew Pennington (George Kennedy), whom she called “Uncle Andrew,” was stealing from her.  Elderly American socialite, Mrs. van Schuyler (Bette Davis), is a kleptomaniac who wanted to steal Linnet's pearl necklace.  Miss Bowers (Maggie Smith), van Schuyler's nurse, blamed Linnet's father for financially ruining her own father.

Linnet was suing Salome Otterbourne (Angela Lansbury), a brassy romance novelist, for libel regarding a similarity between Linnet and one of the characters in Otterbourne's novel, “Passion Under the Persimmon Tree.”  Meanwhile, Mrs. Otterbourne's daughter, Rosalie (Olivia Hussey), was anxious to protect her mother from financial ruin.  Linnet was also threatening to expose Dr. Ludwig Bessner (Jack Warden), a Swiss psychiatrist faced with exposure because his unorthodox treatments affected one of Linnet's friends.  Finally, Jim Ferguson (Jon Finch) is an outspoken Communist, and he resented Linnet's wealth.

Can Poirot uncover the identity of the killer before the Karnak reaches the end of its journey?  He better hurry because the bodies are starting to pile up.

If I had heard of this 1978 take on Death on the Nile, I did not remember it.  I decided to watch it when I learned that director Kenneth Branagh was directing a new film version of Agatha Christie's novel, which was released to theaters earlier this year (2022).  Branagh also directed a 2017 film version of Christie's world famous novel, Murder on the Orient Express.

I enjoyed the 1978 Death on the Nile, but not as much as I enjoyed the 1974 Murder on the Orient Express, which starred Albert Finney as Hercule Poirot.  When Finney decided not to return for Death on the Nile, actor Peter Ustinov was cast to play Poirot.  Finney's Poirot had a humorous side, but he was deadly serious about his profession and did not suffer fools.  Ustinov's Poirot is playful, but conceited, and even a bit randy.

Death on the Nile is a sedate film, its narrative lazily moving through this plot to match the languid pace with which the S.S. Karnak sails the Nile.  The performances are nice, but a number of luminaries who appear in this film, including Bette Davis, Angela Lansbury, and Maggie Smith, are merely passing through this film and resting on their laurels..  However, Mia Farrow proves just how good and perfect she is at playing crazy, unbalanced, and unstable characters.

Death on the Nile 1978 is a nice whodunit film and cozy mystery movie, and I would probably watch it again.  At times, it seems to be a surprisingly average and somewhat uninspired film, but, on the other hand, it has its charms.

5 out of 10
B-
★★½ out of 4 stars

Tuesday, May 10, 2022


NOTES:
1979 Academy Awards, USA:  1 win: “Best Costume Design” (Anthony Powell)

1979 BAFTA Awards:  1 win: “Best Costume Design” (Anthony Powell); 3 nominations: “Best Actor” (Peter Ustinov), “Best Supporting Actress” (Angela Lansbury), and “Best Supporting Actress” (Maggie Smith)

1979 Golden Globes, USA:  1 nomination: “Best Foreign Film” (England)


The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site or blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: KILLER OF SHEEP Remains Fascinating

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 27 of 2021 (No. 1765) by Leroy Douresseaux

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

Killer of Sheep (1978)
Running time:  80 minutes (1 hour, 20 minutes)
WRITER/DIRECTOR:  Charles Burnett
PRODUCER:  Charles Burnett
CINEMATOGRAPHER/EDITOR:  Charles Burnett

DRAMA

Starring:  Henry G. Sanders, Kaycee Moore, Charles Bracy, Angela Burnett, Eugene Cherry, and Jack Drummond

Killer of Sheep is a 1978 film drama from writer-director, Charles Burnett, who also produced, photographed and edited the film.  Burnett shot Killer of Sheep on 16mm black and white film, and he filmed it mostly on weekends in the Watts neighborhood of southern Los Angeles in 1972 and 1973.  He originally submitted the film to the UCLA School of Film in 1977 as his Master of Fine Arts thesis.  Set in Watts, Killer of Sheep focuses on a slaughterhouse worker who suspends him emotions to continue working in such a job, but ends up have little sensitivity for the very family in which he works so hard to support.

Killer of Sheep premiered at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York on November 14, 1978.  It did not receive a general theatrical release because Burnett has not secured the rights to the music he used in the film.  Over the years, however, people were apparently able to see the film at small film festivals, on the college film circuit, and via bootleg copies.  It was inducted into the “National Film Registry” in 1990, the second year of the registry.

In 2007, a group of interests, including the UCLA, Steven Soderbergh, and Milestone Films, worked to purchase the music rights and to restore Killer of Sheep to 35mm film.  It received a limited release in late 2007 and several “Top 10” lists, including being chosen the best film of the year by Ed Gonzalez of Slant Magazine.

Killer of Sheep is a depiction of the urban Black Americans of Watts as seen through a series of loosely connected vignettes.  If the film has a focus, it is on Stan (Henry G. Sanders), a husband and father who works at the slaughterhouse, Solano Meat Co., where he helps process sheep for slaughter.  Stan finds the monotonous work to be repugnant, and he seemingly suspends his emotions to deal with the job.  The result is that his home life suffers.  He shows little sensitivity to his unnamed wife (Kaycee Moore) and to his two children, son (Jack Drummond) and daughter (Angela Burnett).  Stan has trouble sleeping, does not play with his children, and avoids sex with his wife, who wants intimacy and real affection from her husband.

Stan wants another job, and he often finds himself caught up in the schemes and plots of friends and associates.  Stan and his friend, Bracy (Charles Bracy), attempt to buy a car engine from a squabbling family.  Two fast-talking acquaintances want Stan to help them in their plot to murder a man.  All the while, a portrait of the austere and impoverished life of poor and working-class African-Americans emerges.  Can Stan better his life even if he feels unable to affect the course of his life?

I have previously seen two of Charles Burnett's films, To Sleep with Anger (1990) and The Glass Shield (1994).  I had not heard of Killer of Sheep until its surprise inclusion in the list of films inducted into the 1990 class of the National Film Registry.  I have been putting off seeing the film for years since the DVD release of the 2007 restoration and limited theatrical run.

Burnett made Killer of Sheep with nonprofessional actors, reportedly a nod to the influence of “Italian neo-realism.”  I can't say exactly as I have never seen such a film.  I also would not describe Killer of Sheep as having a documentary feel.  The film's loose collection of vignettes have informal story acts, although the film does not have a plot.  Burnett provides the slimmest character development and something like a narrative, but the actors are quite convincing in their portrayals.  I found myself fascinated by the way they sold the idea that they are indeed playing characters and that they made those characters seem real.  Henry G. Sanders makes Stan the solid center of Killer of Sheep.

Killer of Sheep indirectly speaks to the economic exclusion and segregation faced by black people in Watts then and for decades.  Stan, his family, and their friends and neighbors are always short of money and resources and hope.  Still, their lives are filled with moments of happiness and joy, and they make good times out of whatever they can.  There are also moments of beauty, such as when Stan's daughter sings an Earth Wind & Fire song to her doll while her mother (Stan's wife) watches.

Killer of Sheep is not a film to be described so much as it us a film to be watched and experienced.  There is such a sense of naturalism about it.  The film is not so real that it is a documentary, nor is it so surreal that it becomes a black and white dream.  Killer of Sheep is a story, a story of ordinary Black people in a particular place and time.  Killer of Sheep is so special because it tells a story that most American filmmakers would have not bothered to tell.  That makes Killer of Sheep and its maker, Charles Burnett, national treasures.

9 of 10
A+

Friday, March 12, 2021


NOTES:
1990 National Film Preservation Board, USA:  1 win: National Film Registry


The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: "Superman: The Movie" and Christopher Reeve Are Still Great

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 148 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

Superman: The Movie (1978)
Running time: 143 minutes (2 hours, 23 minutes)
MPAA – PG
DIRECTOR: Richard Donner
WRITERS: Mario Puzo, David Newman, Leslie Newman, and Robert Benton; from a story by Mario Puzo (based upon the characters and situations created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster)
PRODUCER: Pierre Spengler
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Geoffrey Unsworth
EDITORS: Stuart Baird and Michael Ellis
COMPOSER: John Williams
Academy Award winner

SUPERHERO/ACTION/DRAMA with elements of comedy and sci-fi

Starring: Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman, Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Ned Beatty, Jackie Cooper, Glenn Ford, Phyllis Thaxter, Valerie Perrine, Jeff East, Marc McClure, and Susannah York

The subject of this movie review is Superman: The Movie, a 1978 superhero drama and action film from director Richard Donner. This movie is based on the DC Comics character, Superman, created by comic book writer Jerry Siegel and comic book artist Joe Shuster. Superman: The Movie is a very good film, but more important is this film’s influence on the superhero movies that followed it. Superman: The Movie took its subject matter seriously and played it straight, rather than campy, proving that superhero movies could be more than silly comedies looking for cheap laughs.

Superman: The Movie is the first of four films starring the late actor, Christopher Reeve, in the role of Superman and also his civilian identity, Clark Kent. Although he does not receive a screenwriting credit, Tom Mankiewicz wrote Superman: The Movie’s final draft script. The father-son team of Alexander and Ilya Salkind produced this movie along with Pierre Spengler. The movie depicts Superman’s origin, from his birth on a distant planet to his youth in a rural small town, Smallville. The movie also begins to chronicle his adult life as a big city newspaper reporter and as Superman.

Mild-mannered Clark Kent (Christopher Reeve) works as a reporter at The Daily Planet, one of the major newspapers in the city of Metropolis (a stand-in for New York City). He has a crush on fellow ace reporter, Lois Lane (Margot Kidder), but Lois has a crush on the flying, impossibly strong hero, Superman (Christopher Reeve). Superman, however, is the alter ego of Clark Kent, and Kent also has many other secrets. He’s from another world, the planet Krypton, and before Krypton exploded, his father, Jor-El (Marlon Brando) sent baby Clark, whose birth name is Kal-El, in a starship on a three-year journey to Earth. Shortly after the star ship carrying Kal-El crashes in a Kansas field, a middle-aged couple, Martha and Jonathan Kent (Phyllis Thaxter and Glenn Ford), takes Kal-El as their own and names him Clark Kent.

Not long after Superman reveals himself to the world, he runs up against the nefarious genius, Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman), who has launched a plan to destroy much of western California in a real estate scheme that will make him perhaps the richest man on earth, although it will kill millions of people. Superman has met his match. Not only must he save millions of lives, but he must also save his friends Lois and cub reporter, Jimmy Olsen (Marc McClure), and even Superman might not have enough time to do that.

Nearly 30 years after its first release, many critics and fans still consider director Richard Donner’s (The Omen) Oscar-nominated film, Superman: The Movie, to be the definitive big screen version of DC Comics’ venerable superhero. Christopher Reeve, a then unknown when cast to play Clark Kent/Superman, also remains for many the definitive screen Superman, be it TV or film (I personally prefer George Reeves of the 1950’s “Superman” TV series).

This version of Superman is an example of producer spending a large sums of money on a film and actually getting superior results. A talented director and crew of good writers took a cast that included a few great actors and movie stars, quality character actors, and some up and coming new talent and told an epic story that fills the viewer with the same kind of wonder of which the film itself is made. Everything works: Marlon Brando is a solemn, otherworldly, mystic-like figure that presides over the first half of the film like a grand marshal in an ambitious parade.

Gene Hackman is a smooth, scene-stealing, genius wise guy as Lex Luthor (and though I’m a big fan of Hackman, I’ve always had slight misgivings about Hackman as Luthor). Other cast members also resonate: Jackie Cooper is pitch-perfect tart as Planet boss, Perry White; Margot Kidder as Lois Lane is both tomboyish and girlish with a touch of feminism; and Marc McClure is spot-on as a Jimmy. Simply put, Reeve seems to embody both Clark and Superman. It’s as if he stepped out of a classic Superman comic book, and that’s enough to make it all work.

Superman’s technical aspects were also high quality. The visual effects are actually still good; they stand up to much of the high-priced, over-the-top computer effects done today. Using a harness and cranes to lift Christopher Reeve and give him the illusion of flying was and still is great stuff. As the film’s tagline says, “You’ll Believe a Man Can Fly.”

8 of 10
A

NOTES:
1979 Academy Awards, USA: 1 win: “Special Achievement Award for Visual Effects” (Les Bowie, Colin Chilvers, Denys N. Coop, Roy Field, Derek Meddings, and Zoran Perisic); 3 nominations: “Best Film Editing” (Stuart Baird), “Best Music, Original Score” (John Williams), and “Best Sound” (Gordon K. McCallum, Graham V. Hartstone, Nicolas Le Messurier, and Roy Charman)

1979 BAFTA Awards: 1 win: “Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles” (Christopher Reeve); 4 nominations: “Best Cinematography” (Geoffrey Unsworth), “Best Production Design/Art Direction” (John Barry), “Best Sound” (Chris Greenham, Gordon K. McCallum, Peter Pennell, Mike Hopkins, Pat Foster, Stan Fiferman, John Foster, Roy Charman, Norman Bolland, Brian Marshall, Charles Schmitz, Richard Raguse, and Chris Large), and “Best Supporting Actor” (Gene Hackman)

1979 Golden Globes, USA: 1 nomination: “Best Original Score - Motion Picture” (John Williams)

Friday, July 14, 2006

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Review: John Carpenter's "Halloween" is a Great Horror Movie and Great Film

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 112 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

Halloween (1978)
Running time: 91 minutes (1 hour, 31 minutes)
DIRECTOR: John Carpenter
WRITERS: Debra Hill and John Carpenter
PRODUCER: Debra Hill
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Dean Cundey
EDITORS: Tommy Lee Wallace and Charles Bornstein

HORROR/THRILLER

Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasence, Nancy Loomis, P.J. Soles, Charles Cyphers, Kyle Richards, Brian Andrews, and Nick Castle

On Halloween night 1963 in Haddonfield, Illinois, six-year old Michael Myers stabbed his sister to death. Fifteen years later, Michael escapes from a mental institution in Smith’s Grove, IL, and he heads back to Haddonfield with his psychiatrist, Dr. Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasence), hot on the trail. Halloween night 1978, Michael is about to go on a bloody rampage, and high school student and babysitter Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her friends are his targets.

John Carpenter’s Halloween, more than any other film, was responsible for the 1980’s slasher movie genre. Lunatic/spree killer Michael Myers would influence the horror movies psychos that would wield knives, axes, and assorted sharp and blunt instruments to kill their teenage and 20-something victims in such films as Friday the 13th and Prom Night, especially the characters that had sex sometime during the course of the movie.

Although slasher films are a particularly bloody movie genre, Halloween is relatively free of blood and gore. There are only four onscreen murders (one off screen), and one of those happens at the beginning of the film to establish Michael’s legend. Carpenter spends most of the films first 50 minutes or so establishing mood and atmosphere. Once night falls, Carpenter allows only minimal lighting, so that most of the violence occurs in near total night darkness, which only adds to the creepiness and heightens the scares.

Carpenter also scored the film, and his “Halloween theme” is one of the most famous scary pieces of movie music. The other element that helped Carpenter create such a great horror flick is actress Jamie Lee Curtis, whose appearances in scary movies in the late 70’s and early 80’s made her the quintessential scream queen. Here, she personifies suburban innocence and all-American teen beauty – a flower ready to be plucked – which makes her the perfect victim for a knife-wielding maniac.

9 of 10
A+