Rendez-vous avec la mort

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.

Peter Ustinov investigates into the murder of a rich heir during a cruise with the children of his deceased husband. Peter Ustinov lends once more his mockery and his gentleness in acute Hercule Poirot in this pleasant adaptation of Agatha Christie's novel.

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

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.