Terrible waste of Bette Davis and Maggie Smith. I wonder why did they even agree on to do this. Their roles were more like cameos. Bette Davis is like one of the greatest of all time. It was really shocking to see her do this little inconsequential role. And Maggie Smith was doing rather well that time, I wonder if working with BETTE DAVIS was her temptation.
shareI think Davis and Smith added to the already good flavour of the film. I love them both, and too see them working together is a dream come true (even if they are tiny roles)
But you'll find most 'Agatha Christie mystery films' usually consist of big stars playing small roles, just look at Murder on the Orient Express, The Mirror Crack'd and Evil Under the Sun-which also starred Maggie Smith in a small part.
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I really loved them in this film.
Davis and Smith are two of my favorite actresses, and seing them here did much of the film for me. Plain wonderful!
Just the little argument they have at the end of the film is pure brilliance:
Mrs. Van Schuyler:
Come Bowers, it's time to go, this place is beginning to resemble a mortuary.
Miss Bowers:
Thank God you'll be in one yourself before too long you bloody old fossil!
its funny because davis' role here is the type that maggie smith has now become famous for, the bitter old woman.
"they should give nicole kidman an oscar for being able to show any emotion after THAT much botox".
I really loved them in this film.Exactly! I didn't care for the movie much over-all (thought it was too gross and crude in parts), but those two make it worth the time! Loved their chemistry in this!!
Davis and Smith are two of my favorite actresses, and seing them here did much of the film for me. Plain wonderful!
Just the little argument they have at the end of the film is pure brilliance:
Mrs. Van Schuyler:
Come Bowers, it's time to go, this place is beginning to resemble a mortuary.
Miss Bowers:
Thank God you'll be in one yourself before too long you bloody old fossil!
I espessially love the way Davis spits her lines out.
The answer to why two such great actors (not to mention most of the remaining cast) agreed to small parts in a big-budgeted film is quite simple....
GOOD MONEY!!!!
Movie stars have bills to pay too, ya know.
Yes and it was a big movie which unfortunately Bette didn't have too many of in the 70s. I've always wondered why Bette found it so difficult to find really good projects in the 70s and 80s when studios were practically falling over themselves to employ lesser actresses like Katharine Hepburn. Perhaps it was her occasional tendency to ham plus not always being agreeable or easy to get along with. her scenes with Maggie Smith crackled in this movie and I also enjoyed Angela Lansbury's over-the-top performance.
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Bette liked Murder on the Orient Express and the fact that it won Ingrid Bergman an Oscar for playing such a tiny role must have encouraged her to do Death on the Nile. A lot of film critics agreed that Bette, Maggie and Angela were the three best reasons to watch Death on the Nile.
When this film was made, Bette was experiencing a career resurgence. She was filming several prestigious projects for TV. Kate Hepburn at this time was also busy making acclaimed TV specials. In fact, both were nominated for an Emmy for Best Actress in 1979. Bette won.
Those networks wouldn't have hired Bette all the time if she was always a trial to work with. She was a dream to work with as opposed to Lana Turner or Loretta Young, whose careers on TV in the 1980s were cut short by their prima donna ways.
Davis hated the location filming in Egypt, though, and proclaimed that in the "Golden Age" Warner Bros. would have built Egypt on the sound-stages or back-lot and the audience wouldn't have known the difference. I disagree with Davis on that point. I recently watched Warners' THE BIG SLEEP, and most of the outdoor scenes looked like what they were - sets on a sound-stage. MGM's BRIGADOON was filmed entirely on sound-stages, three combined, in fact, and the use of Cinemascope only made it look more fake. Warners filmed every inch of MY FAIR LADY on sound-stages and the back-lot, and the film doesn't have a breath of air in it.
"Stone-cold sober I find myself absolutely fascinating!"---Katharine Hepburn
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And you can always tell "soundstage lighting" by the multiple shadows cast around actors' feet and legs, especially on "outdoor" sets.
"Stone-cold sober I find myself absolutely fascinating!"---Katharine Hepburn
Why are Bette Davis fans not able to talk about Katharine Hepburn without trashing her? Is it envy?
shareShe was not the legendary dame Maggie Smith back then. She had only been in films for a little over a decade.
share^ "She was not the legendary dame Maggie Smith back then. She had only been in films for a little over a decade."
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Mmmmmmm......That's debatable. She was already becoming something of a legend.
Smith had already won the Oscar for "The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie," and was already a revered stage actress. She won her second Oscar for "California Suite" which was released JUST AFTER "Death On The Nile."
Everyone in show business knew who she was by 1978, and admired her immensely.
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Agatha Christie films are notorious in terms of giving the actors barely anything to work with. Look at Vanessa Redgrave, Jacqueline Bisset in Murder on the Orient Express, and some others in The Mirror Crack'd. They are obviously doing it for the $$.
Maggie Smith BlogSpot: http://maggiesmithfan.blogspot.com.au
I thought Maggie Smith had a much bigger part, and a far more likable character, in "EVIL UNDER THE SUN".
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