This film does have a lot more humor and entertainment than the other films in the series. When such a fault in the script is so obvious that the director feels he must give an explanation (a shoddy one at that) to the audience, I suppose the movie moves more into the realm of spoof than mystery. In the first hour, the detective overhears just about everything the audience hears merely by the coincidence of having his chair in the right place at the right time. Ustinov perhaps does a little less sleuthing here than usual and is really not much more than an excuse for the film to be made. To fill out the cast we have Hayley Mills as Lauren Bacall's assistant, John Gielgud underused as the governing legal agent, Colonel Carbury, and a host of capable actors as the usual assembly of suspects in the usual assembly of sub-plots, mostly red-hearings. An opportunity missed and for the most part just two women who happen to be on the same tour.

If anyone could stand toe-to-toe with Piper Laurie's over-the-top performance it would be Lauren Bacall, but we see very little interaction between the two grand ladies of cinema.

While on holiday she meets up with Lady Westholme (Lauren Bacall.) Bacall is quite good as the American-turned-British member of Parliment. She knows the lawyer to have a few skeletons in his closet and forces him to burn the will, then announces she is taking her brood on a vacation to the Holy Land. The film begins when her lawyer, Jefferson Cope (David Soul), tells her that her recently deceased rich husband made up a second will that split her inheritance with her grown children, a rather spoiled and naive group of sniveling brats.

She has had a great second career in her elder years('Carrie,' 'Wrestling Ernest Hemingway').

Every moment she is on screen is pure delight as she marches around and belts out orders. Long time film star Piper Laurie steals the film as Emily Boynton, a Cruela deVile style evil stepmother, and former prison wardress. Peter Ustinov's Hercule Poirot returns to it's big screen roots with lavish travelogue scenery and a roster of legendary stars.

Hercule poirot appointment with death