In this post, we look at another Agatha Christie whodunit where Peter Ustinov reprises his role as the classic sleuth Hercule Poirot for the last time. Like most Agatha Christie movies, Appointment with Death features a stellar ensemble cast, including Lauren Bacall, Carrie Fisher, John Gielgud, Piper Laurie, Hayley Mills, Jenny Seagrove, and David Soul. The film is directed by Michael Winner.

The movie follows a familiar template found in many of Christie’s novels. There is an evil dowager with no shortage of enemies, each with a motive to kill her. Sure enough, she is killed. There are a handful of suspects, and Poirot must work his magic to solve the crime.

The movie opens with Emily Boynton (Piper Laurie) in the office of her attorney, Jefferson Cope (David Soul), discussing the will of her late husband, which has been altered for the second time shortly before his demise. The altered will divides the Boynton estate equally among Emily and her three stepchildren: Lennox (Nicholas Guest), Raymond (John Terlesky), and Carol (Valerie Richards). The older will, on the other hand, gave Emily exclusive control of the estate until her death. Emily successfully blackmails Cope into destroying the altered will and takes control of the Boynton property.

Pretending to be a caring mother to her stepchildren, she takes them, along with Nadine (Carrie Fisher), Lennox’s wife, on a trip to Europe and Israel. Her stepchildren see through her charade and hate her all the more for it. The Boyntons make a stopover in Trieste, Italy, where they board a ship to Israel. Hercule Poirot, a young doctor named Sarah King (Jenny Seagrove), and Lady Westholme, an acquaintance of Emily, also join them on the trip. Sarah and Raymond are attracted to one another, which does not sit well with Emily. Sarah soon develops a dislike for Emily. To make matters worse for Emily, Cope, who is having a secret affair with Nadine, also joins them on the ship.

The ship stops in Jerusalem, where the group—and the audience—are treated to great visuals of the Western Wall. The group then reaches Qumran, an archaeological site on the West Bank managed by Israel.

It is here that Emily meets her end, which at first is suspected to be a homicide, though Poirot knows better. Sure enough, the authorities put Poirot in charge of the investigation. Given a timeline of 48 hours, it is up to the famous sleuth to unravel the case.

While this is not among the best movies based on Christie’s books, it offers some good acting performances from the cast. The movie’s cinematography by David Gurfinkel provides excellent footage of the Western Wall and the archaeological digs at Qumran from the late 80s. Appointment with Death is a good one-time watch.