Death on the Nile
21041
Professor Michael McMurray
IENG 030/031.01
Summer 2011
Death on the Nile: Novel and Film
Agatha Christie’s 1937 novel Death on the Nile (adapted by Nancy Taylor for Penguin Readers in 2008) tells the murder mystery novel of a rich, upper-class and young woman her name is Linnet Ridgeway who marries the fiancé of her best friend Jacqueline. Linnet and her husband Simon go to Egypt to spend their honeymoon there. Jacqueline feels envy from Linnet because she steals her fiancé from her, so she keeps following them everywhere they go. In the middle of the trip Linnet murders while she is on her honeymoon in the Nile. There are many suspects on the boat because many people hate her and have a motive for killing her. The detective Poirot who is in the same boat tries to figure out who kills Linnet and solves the problem. One major theme of the novel is how envy leads the person to kill others. The movie version of Agatha Christie’s popular novel Death on the Nile was released in September 1978, produced by Paramant Picture, directed by John Guillermin, and adapted for the screen by Anthony Shaffer. In this paper I will compare and contrast the manner in which one element has been adapted by the filmmakers and I will offer a hypothesis about why filmmakers make this change; in addition, I will synthesize the opinions of two film critics.
One significant plot element that appears in the novel and that adapted for the film version concerns Colonel Race. The character of Colonel Race in the novel is overall similarity from the film. In the novel, Colonel Race is a man who travels round the world and solving important cases for the British government. The first time he shows in the novel is in Abu Simbel when he visits the temple; whereas, in the film the first time he shows in the hotel in Cairo with the first group. Also in the novel he has a motive for being in the boat and it is to follow Signor Richetti who is a criminal and pretending to be another person
Professor Michael McMurray
IENG 030/031.01
Summer 2011
Death on the Nile: Novel and Film
Agatha Christie’s 1937 novel Death on the Nile (adapted by Nancy Taylor for Penguin Readers in 2008) tells the murder mystery novel of a rich, upper-class and young woman her name is Linnet Ridgeway who marries the fiancé of her best friend Jacqueline. Linnet and her husband Simon go to Egypt to spend their honeymoon there. Jacqueline feels envy from Linnet because she steals her fiancé from her, so she keeps following them everywhere they go. In the middle of the trip Linnet murders while she is on her honeymoon in the Nile. There are many suspects on the boat because many people hate her and have a motive for killing her. The detective Poirot who is in the same boat tries to figure out who kills Linnet and solves the problem. One major theme of the novel is how envy leads the person to kill others. The movie version of Agatha Christie’s popular novel Death on the Nile was released in September 1978, produced by Paramant Picture, directed by John Guillermin, and adapted for the screen by Anthony Shaffer. In this paper I will compare and contrast the manner in which one element has been adapted by the filmmakers and I will offer a hypothesis about why filmmakers make this change; in addition, I will synthesize the opinions of two film critics.
One significant plot element that appears in the novel and that adapted for the film version concerns Colonel Race. The character of Colonel Race in the novel is overall similarity from the film. In the novel, Colonel Race is a man who travels round the world and solving important cases for the British government. The first time he shows in the novel is in Abu Simbel when he visits the temple; whereas, in the film the first time he shows in the hotel in Cairo with the first group. Also in the novel he has a motive for being in the boat and it is to follow Signor Richetti who is a criminal and pretending to be another person
Cited: Christie, Agatha. Death on the Nile. Ed. Nancy Taylor. Harlow, England: Pearson Education Limited, 2008. Print. Clarke, Anthony. “Death on the Nile.” DVD.net.au. DVD.net.au, n.d. Web. 24 July 2011. Death on the Nile. Dir. John Guillermin. Perf. Peter Ustinov, Lois Chiles, Mia Farrow, Simon MacCorkindale, David Niven. 1978. DVD. Anchor Bay Entertainment, 2002. “Death on the Nile.” The Stop Button. The Stop Button, 23 Feb. 2011. Web. 24 July 2011.