Rendezvous mit einer Leiche

Agatha Christie's Appointment With Death is not her best book, but is well crafted and a pleasant read. This adaptation isn't terrible, but it is the weakest of Peter Ustinov's outings as Poirot. Speaking of Ustinov, he is excellent here, I had no problem with him. And Lauren Bacall, Carrie Fisher, Jenny Seagrove and John Gielgud give fine support. The film does have some splendid locations, even if Petra was changed to Jerusalem if I remember rightly, and the music was good too. However, the script isn't that polished, a lot is changed from the book and some of the changes are underdeveloped, the character of Hassan was unnecessary. But my main gripe with the movie was the character of Mrs Boynton. The same applies for the recent David Suchet version(which was more unfaithful but better musically and visually, and the acting was more solid in that one too), the character of Mrs Boynton was never done quite right, despite the wholly hateable portrayal given by Piper Laurie. In the book, she is a bit of a tyrant, in the adaptation, she was portrayed as nasty and cantankerous, but lacked the depth of the character in the book. Overall, not bad, but I did think Death on the Nile and Evil Under The Sun were better. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Peter Ustinov's Hercule Poirot returns to it's big screen roots with lavish travelogue scenery and a roster of legendary stars. Long time film star Piper Laurie steals the film as Emily Boynton, a Cruela deVile style evil stepmother, and former prison wardress. Every moment she is on screen is pure delight as she marches around and belts out orders. She has had a great second career in her elder years("Carrie," "Wrestling Ernest Hemingway"). The film begins when her lawyer, Jefferson Cope (David Soul), tells her that her recently deceased rich husband made up a second will that split her inheritance with her grown children, a rather spoiled and naive group of sniveling brats. She knows the lawyer to have a few skeletons in his closet and forces him to burn the will, then announces she is taking her brood on a vacation to the Holy Land. While on holiday she meets up with Lady Westholme (Lauren Bacall.) Bacall is quite good as the American-turned-British member of Parliment. If anyone could stand toe-to-toe with Piper Laurie's over-the-top performance it would be Lauren Bacall, but we see very little interaction between the two grand ladies of cinema. An opportunity missed and for the most part just two women who happen to be on the same tour. To fill out the cast we have Hayley Mills as Lauren Bacall's assistant, John Gielgud underused as the governing legal agent, Colonel Carbury, and a host of capable actors as the usual assembly of suspects in the usual assembly of sub-plots, mostly red-hearings. Ustinov perhaps does a little less sleuthing here than usual and is really not much more than an excuse for the film to be made. In the first hour, the detective overhears just about everything the audience hears merely by the coincidence of having his chair in the right place at the right time. "A gift" he tells one of the suspects. When such a fault in the script is so obvious that the director feels he must give an explanation (a shoddy one at that) to the audience, I suppose the movie moves more into the realm of spoof than mystery. This film does have a lot more humor and entertainment than the other films in the series. Whereas most of the Ustinov-Poirot films tend to be a bit dry and long, "Appointment with Death" is quite breezy and whisps us along a plot that has by now become way too familiar. Without the humor and eccentric performances there would have been little here to warrant a film. Like the 100th episode of "Murder She Wrote" it is no longer important who did it, or who got killed. It's just a lot of fun watching old pros ham it up.

What a relief! Appointment with Death is not the best nor the most perfect movie starring Peter Ustinov as Hercule Poirot, but still way better than the new modernized movies made by Kenneth Branagh. After watching that mediocre new Death on the Nile I had to put on some good old stuff, alone the cast: Ustinov, Lauren Bacall, Piper Laurie, and last but not least Carrie Fisher! Appointment with Death, directed by Michael Winner, who gave us such pleasures as Death Wish and Chato's Land (both starring Charles Bronson), got a solid production and fine exotic scenaries and settings that make this one still worth your time - if you still like from time to time to read or watch that classic crime genre of who-dunnit. Not the best one but still good.

You'd think that with a good story (an Agatha Christie whodunit), a solid cast of actors, and some great locations, it would be difficult not to produce a good movie. Unfortunately, in this case all that is for naught. "Appointment" has the look and feel (and lousy sound) of a badly done 'Movie of the Week' or an episode of 'The Love Boat' from hell. Most of the blame should go to director Michael Winner: every one of his directorial choices -- from his over-reliance on pedestrian shots, his ill-conceived blocking, or the waste of good acting talent (he should be shot for turning Piper Laurie and Lauren Bacall into scene-chewers) -- seems designed to make this production the movie equivalent of root-canal.

Poirot investigates the death of Lady Boynton, a former Prison Officer, and heiress who's conned her stepchildren out of their inheritance.

Where to begin.....so it's not a favourite book of mine, it's a bit messy here and there, and I understand why in Suchet's later adaptation, they chose to heavily rewrite it, this is a more faithful adaptation, albeit one with changes.

It's a great looking film, huge credit to the production team for using multiple filming locations, father than settling for some horrendous special effects, that part works very well.

I guess it comes down to whether or not you like the story, as I've said it isn't a favourite of mine, and at times I feel like it wanders a little, but as far as Ustinov's adaptations go, it isn't bad at all, it's very watchable.

The music is horrendous, it hasn't aged very well, you can argue it's of the era, but it's not good.

A terrific cast, Ustinov is great as Poirot, arguably one of his best performances in the role, Bacall and Fisher are great, for me it's the great John Gielgud that steals the show.

7/10.