
Emily Boynton (Piper Laurie), stepmother to the three Boynton children, and mother to Ginevra (Amber Bezer), blackmails the family lawyer, Jefferson Cope (David Soul), into destroying the second will of her late husband, which would have freed the childern from her dominating influence. She takes herself and the children on vacation to Europe and the Holy Land. In Jerusalem, Hercule Poirot (Sir Peter Ustinov) meets up with a woman friend, Dr. Sarah King (Jenny Seagrove), who ... (Full plot summary below)
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Emily Boynton (Piper Laurie), stepmother to the three Boynton children, and mother to Ginevra (Amber Bezer), blackmails the family lawyer, Jefferson Cope (David Soul), into destroying the second will of her late husband, which would have freed the childern from her dominating influence. She takes herself and the children on vacation to Europe and the Holy Land. In Jerusalem, Hercule Poirot (Sir Peter Ustinov) meets up with a woman friend, Dr. Sarah King (Jenny Seagrove), who falls in love with Raymond Boynton (John Terleskey) to Emily's disapproval. Lady Westholme (Lauren Bacall), her secretary, and Cope are following them too. The children learn about the second will, and Emily succeeds in rubbing the rest the wrong way, causing much hatred towards her. At a dig, everybody wonders about the camp, and Emily is found dead, poisoned. Poirot investigates.
Leave your thoughts about Appointment with Death.
| Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)Ken HankeWinner has never quite maintained a consistent quality, though he certainly has maintained a consistency of style -- and that makes this both interesting and wrongheaded. |
| User ReviewRichard SA textbook example of an Agatha Christie/Hercule Poirot adaptation starring Peter Ustinov as Poirot. Michael Winner has gone out of his way to make it look good: nice scene setting, well-chosen costumes, no overtly clear anachronisms, etc. Like in all Poirot stories, a lot of time is spent introducing characters/suspect with matching motives. Poirot is in the dark for a long time, as is the audience. In the end, Poirot miraculously solves the puzzle (which is hardly solvable for anyone). The solution tends to be a bit far-fetched, but that's just how we like it from Agatha Christie. Winner did a very decent job here. |
| User ReviewThomas KThis is a "whodunit" style murder mystery starring Peter Ustinov as Agatha Christie's famous French detective Hercules Poirot. Ustinov is terrific and the rest of the cast (which includes big names Lauren Bacall, Hayley Mills, Piper Laurie, and Carrie Fisher) is quite good. The plot is laid out nicely and is wrapped up well at the end. The scenery is also interesting as most of the movie takes place in Jerusalem. The only negative for me (and it is a small complaint) is the silly, bouncy tune used when the credits run at the beginning and the end. It didn't fit the tone of the film and would have been more suited for an 80's sitcom like "Bosom Buddies" or "Perfect Strangers". |
| User ReviewAndrew WNot as enjoyable as the previous Ustinov Poirots - this was quite a dry book without much intrigue and too many characters and that shows in the film. Ustinov is more serious in this film than in Death on the Nile and Evil Under the Sun. It is still a decent film but falls down when compared with the previous installments. |
| User ReviewDavid BLike a bad version of the Love Boat, without the charming wit and subtle story lines. Death on the Nile and Murder on the Orient Express are the Agatha Christie films to see. |