Costume Design by: Anthony Powell ( notable efforts: The Royal Hunt of the Sun (1969), Travels with My Aunt (1972), Papillon (1973), Sorcerer (1977), Death on the Nile (1978), Tess (1979), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), Pirates (1986), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), Hook (1991), 101 Dalmatians (1996), 102 Dalmatians (2000) )
This follow-up to
Death on the Nile was just as witty and stylish as its predecessor, with of course the costumes being amazing once again - this time Anthony Powell decided to go all-out with making the costumes as colourful and wacky as possible, fitting in perfectly with how this time the drama focused on actors and theatre producers. After all, 1930s Hollywood dresses still stand out as being some of the most wild ever created! Whilst of course Peter Ustinov returns as Poirot, also returning from the previous film is Maggie Smith who this time is playing the rather on-edge hotel owner Mrs Castle. Mrs Castle sports a variety of outfits toeing the line between formal and garish, a good deal of them utilizing the colours red and white, with more dashes of colour. Even Castle's more casual wear follows this, just look at the shirts!
For the most part, Castle wears a variety of polka dot white suits, with her first being this red and white suit with a large boutonnières as well as large red buttons.
Towards the end of the film she then wears this blue lined jacket with more colourful circle markings all over, with colourful 'bullseye' buttons fastening it.
Of course Castle wears dresses for the various dinner parties in her hotel, with one of her more standout dresses fitting in a bit with the polka dot motif, though is far, far more eye-catching as the jacket is encrusted with various gems, worn over a shirt covered in horizontal shiny coloured lines, and worn with a skirt segment that has vertical coloured lines. It's actually almost infuriating that this dress is never seen fully on-screen but thankfully there is a photo that was kindly provided to me.
In another dinner party, Castle wears this black dress and silver jacket that has glittery emblems stitched to each side.
Castle's final dress of note is barely seen in the movie itself, and is a silver deal with striped black and silver sleeves, specially cut to expose the shoulders.
The film centres on the murder of the arrogant actress Arlena Stuart Marshall (Diana Rigg), who is introduced wearing this zebra striped wide shouldered jacket and black skirt, with a black hat fitted with large black and white feathers and birdcage veil .
Arlena then sports this golden speckled dress with straps around the middle, and worn with a bejewelled skullcap as well.
Another delightful dress worn by Arlena is this glittery red dress fitted with red, gold and silver threaded bands on the shoulders, as well as one around a hole cut in the chest.
Arlena wears a variety of bathing suits in the film, with the first being this charming colourful polka dot deal that is worn with a head towel and gown in the same pattern - and can we also take a moment to appreciate the gown and beret worn by Poirot himself in that one publicity photo?
Arlena's second bathing suit is more conventional, but still stands out thanks to the red, white and black pointed straw hat she wears with it!
Arlena's last swimsuit (and last bit of clothing she'd ever wear, as she's murdered whilst wearing it) is a black and white patterned gown worn with another conical straw hat.
One of the hotel's guests (and thus, a potential suspect), is the theatre producer Myra Gardener (Sylvia Miles) who is first seen wearing this puffy shouldered polka dot blue dress with a wide-brimmed hat.
She is next seen briefly wearing this absolutely stunning black and white sequined dress, that is criminally only barely seen in the final movie, but thankfully there are auction photos showing it more clearly.
Myra's third dress is this wide shouldered white top with snake-like black lining around the shoulders, and worn with a very fetching white and black brimmed hat.
Another dress worn by Myra is this black deal fitted with a large white furred collar and cuffs, with pom-poms being fitted on the bottom of the dress as well.
One of Myra's most standout dresses is worn during the dinner party where Arlena sings, this being a puffy-sleeved dress fitted with shiny gold and red balloon markings all over it it, worn with black gloves.
When going on the beach, Myra wears this deep blue jumpsuit with a large bow and hat made of a light blue patterned material.
The jumpsuit and hat is in one scene worn with a large-sleeved jacket made of the same material as the hat, and worn with Myra's large spectacles.
One really striking dress worn by Myra is this golden floral print jacket, which again is sadly not seen fully-onscreen, though I believe it is worn with a black dress.
Lastly for Myra is this slightly more reserved (compared to some of her previous outfits, anyway) blue shirt and skirt that is still pretty eye-catching, with a tie that seemingly has two ends, as well as large white buttons over the sleeves and front of the skirt piece.
Another guest (and again, potential suspect) is the nebbish Christine Redfern (Jane Birkin) who is first seen wearing this white dress fitted with several large black bows over the front and sleeves.
For the majority of the film's runtime, Christine mostly dresses in fairly unassming gowns, with one of the most notable being this brown and cream striped deal worn during the finale where Poirot exposes the killer.
Christine's last outfit is this wonderfully bold white jacket with large shoulders, a large black boutonnière and sloping black-lined lapel, worn with a wide-brimmed black and white hat with black gloves and skirt as well.
There is also the surly young Emily Hone (Linda Marshall) whose most notable outfits include a shark-patterned swimsuit, and a very colourful striped blouse.
Lastly are the various red, white and blue patterned dressing gowns worn by the snooping writer Rex Brewster (Roddy McDowell) who wears them over a sailor shirt and captain's hat!
