Cita con la muerte

I have seen all of the old Hercule Poirot with Peter Ustinov and I liked most of them, and I had to watch this one too as it's considered the weakest of those movies. It wasn't terrible tho.

This film is set in Jerusalem. When it begins the Boynton family (with Piper Laurie as the martiarch Emily and Carrie Fisher as one of her daughters) is preparing for destroying the patriarch's will as he died recently. They go in Jerusalem and Poirot casually happens to be there. Along them also Lady Westholme (Lauren Bacall), her secretary Miss Quinton (Hayley Mills) and her lawyer Cope (STARSKY & HUTCH's David Soul). At a dig, Emily is found dead with pin marks on her wrist, suggesting that she had an injection with a syringe. With the help of Colonel Cadbury (John Gielgud) Poirot investigates. I won't spoil the ending.

The scenery is great and the soundtrack was decent. The cast is full of famous stars apart Ustinov: Lauren Bacall, Carrie Fisher, Piper Laurie, David Soul and legendary stage actor John Gielgud are quite an ensemble cast of A-listers. The problems with this movie were that at times it was sloppy and slow paced, and Mrs Boyinton looked a bit too cantankerous than a tyrant. And the plot twist at the end was hard to believe.

Not a complete disaster but with some faults (and the fact that it was produced by Cannon films probably says a lot).

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.

the story isnt as good as evil under the sun or death on the nile however it is interesting enough to watch.the sorely underused carrie fisher is good in this a small role for david soul who i met once in Hull about 1980.not a typical Michael Winner film though in fairness he has had that Death wish tag for too long.needless to say it isnt overlong thanks to tight editing from Arnold crust Winner himself.

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.

If you're an Agatha Christie fan then you'll enjoy this whodunit, a Christie tale with all her classic ingredients. The locations are superb, as are the period costumes and surroundings. The plot certainly rolls along at a good enough pace and there's enough change of location to keep the whole thing interesting. The cast list is spectacular and........you're probably waiting for the'but!'. Well, the 'But' is that the acting in all honesty, with the exception of Bacall, Mills & Seagrove, is decidedly average. Ustinov was undoubtedly talented, but does not put across the little mannerisms that make Poirot such a classic character. David Soul is very disappointing, as are several other of the leads. Michael Winner seems to have concentrated so much on location and period that he forgot about the performances. This is an enjoyable enough romp but if you're looking for classic acting, this is not the movie for you.