SAILING ON THE NILE WITH AGATHA CHRISTIE

The 1978 and 2004 movie adaptations of Agatha Christie's Death on the Nile had truly stellar casts.

- INO MANALO

Featured in the earlier version were the likes of Bette Davis, Maggie Smith, Angela Lansbury, and Peter Ustinov, while the later version had David Suchet and Emily Blunt. One can imagine what a typical day's filming on location must have been like with such sparkling personalities carrying on in the intense heat of the Egyptian desert!

Despite the presence of such luminaries, the real stars of the show, for me, were the ships used in the movies: the SS Menmon in 1978 and the SS Sudan in 2004. These were elegant paddle steamers, vestiges of an older age. Sadly, of the many similar vessels that used to ply the river, only the Sudan and one other (the SS Misr) remain.

Built in Scotland way back in 1885 for the Egyptian royal family, the Sudan became part of the fleet of the pioneering tour operator Thomas Cook who used it for Nile cruises. One passenger of these cruises was Agatha Christie who sailed on the SS Sudan in 1933 with her new husband, the archaeologist Max Mallowan, whom she married in 1930.

This was a few years after her divorce from Archie Christie, her first husband, and her much-publicized 10-day disappearance. Evidently, this was a rather tumultuous period in the author's life and a tranquil boat ride must have been a welcome respite. A delicious avocado terrine. Aside from the break it provided, the trip aboard the Sudan would turn out to be quite productive. In 1937, Christie's beloved Death on the Nile, would see print.