"On les vacances" - "Death on the Nile" 1978 Quiz

Answer: Estate management

Estate management, also known as property management, is the operation, maintenance, control and oversight of real estate and other property, taking into account the need for it to be monitored and looked after. In the case of a large country estate, the manager would have responsibility for overseeing the operation of the estate and its economic activities. Many universities in the UK offer degrees in estate management, with one institution, the University College of Estate Management, founded especially for the purpose of training staff to run large estates.

In the film, Jackie tells Linnet that Simon has studied Estate Management at Cambridge, and is an ideal choice to manage Linnet's new estate centered around Wode Hall. Upon meeting Simon for the first time, Linnet determines that he will do very well, which leads to a whirlwind romance and marriage between them, leaving Jackie in the cold.

Answer: Bremen

The SS "Bremen" was a transatlantic liner originally built for the Norddeutscher Lloyd Line. Built at the AG Weser shipyard in the city whose name she bore, "Bremen" was launched in August 1928, and undertook her maiden voyage in July 1929. On her maiden voyage, from Bremerhaven to New York, the ship undertook the Atlantic crossing in four days, 17 hours and 42 minutes, taking the Blue Riband for the fastest transatlantic crossing from the British liner "Mauretania". The commissioning of "Bremen" and her sister ship "Europa" led to a surge in the construction of big, fast and luxurious liners that served as national status symbols for their countries.

In the film, Pennington sees the wedding photo of Linnet and Simon in the newspaper. He realises that Linnet will be able to take control of her vast fortune, which was held in trust for her until her marriage, and will likely see the embezzlement he and his partner have been involved in. So, he decides to cross immediately on the first available ship, the "Bremen", to try and get her to sign a document that will leave him in control of her finances.

Answer: Pearls

A pearl is a hard object made of calcium carbonate that is produced within the soft tissue of a mollusc. The pearl is formed as a defence against a potentially threatening irritant - the mollusc has a protective membrane called the mantle; the mollusc forms a 'pearl sac' of mantle cells around the irritant, after which it begins depositing layers of calcium carbonatein the form of aragonite, held together by a complex protein called conchiolin, to cover the irritant. This process is repeated many times over, eventually leading to the production of a pearl. Freshwater peals are produced a number of species of freshwater mussels from the family Unionidae, while saltwater pearls come from oysters of the genus Pinctada.

In the film, Mrs van Schuyler first notices Linnet's pearl necklace, the famous Potsdam Pearls, in the wedding photo published in the American press. At that point, she tells her companion, Miss Bowers, to pack, as they will be taking a trip down the River Nile. Later, while on the steamer, Mrs van Schuyler explains the process of a pearl's production to Linnet, while admiring the necklace up close. Bowers admonishes her charge, stating that Mrs van Schuyler, who has an obsession with jewellery, would give "every tooth in her head" to possess them.

Answer: Das Kapital

"Das Kapital" is a work of political and economic philosophy written by Karl Marx, first published in 1867. In the book, Marx proposes the concept that exploitation of labour is the major motivating force of capitalism, with profit coming from the unpaid labour of workers. Marx stated that the 'capitalist mode of production', based on wage-labour and private ownership of the means of production and on industrial technology, was the precursor to what he called the 'socialist mode of production', where the sole criterion for production is satisfaction of human needs, or economic demands. Although three volumes of "Das Kapital" were eventually published, Volume I was the only one Marx himself completed. Volumes II and III were completed by Marx's friend and colleague Freidrich Engels based on Marx's notes.

In the film, Jim Ferguson introduces himself to Dr Bessner as a 'citizen of the world', who is travelling on the Nile steamer to observe "the decline
of the capitalist system". Ferguson never travels without his copy of "Das Kapital", and has a particular loathing for the incredibly rich, such as Linnet Ridgeway, who he describes as a parasite.

Answer: Derringer

A derringer is generally a small handgun that is neither a revolver nor a semi-automatic, but is instead a weapon that has a number of barrels each of which contains a cartridge. The term originated when, in 1852, Philadelphia gunmaker Henry Deringer produced a small, single-shot percussion cap handgun that came to be known as the 'Philadelphia Deringer'. Following this, other gun manufacturers began producing small weapons, beginning to add more than one barrel to the design. One of the more common derringer designs was the Sharps Pepperbox, a four barrelled weapon with a revolving firing pin that came in .22, .30 and .32 calibres.

In the film, Jackie shows Poirot her .22 Sharps Pepperbox, telling him that her father gave it to her, and that she often imagines putting the weapon to the head of her rival, Linnet Ridgeway, and "ever so gently pulling the trigger".

Answer: Wadi Halfa

Wadi Halfa is a city in northern Sudan on the shores of Lake Nubia, close to the border with Egypt. Although the modern city was founded in the 19th century, evidence has shown that there has been a settlement in the area for several thousand years. Modern Wadi Halfa was founded to serve as a port on the Nile for boats coming from the city of Aswan. The establishment of a railway line between Wadi Halfa and Khartoum allowed the connection, using the Nile steamer, of the Sudanese and Egyptian railway networks. Wadi Halfa's strategic location saw it frequently become a point of conflict during several colonial wars in the late 19th century. In the 1960s, the old town was destroyed as a result of the construction of the Aswan High Dam further down the Nile, resulting in the need to resettle more than 50,000 people. This saw archaeologists undertake intense work during the 1970s in an effort to ensure the protection of the ancient monuments in the city.

In the film, the trip on the "Karnak" begins from the pier located at the bottom of the Old Cataract Hotel in Cairo, and takes in a stop at the Karnak Temple Complex before it is scheduled to arrive at Wadi Halfa. The murder on the boat sees Poirot anxious to reach their final destination as soon as possible should he and Race need assistance.

Answer: Abu Simbel temples

The Abu Simbel Temples are a pair of massive structures close to the village of Abu Simbel, near the border between Egypt and Sudan. The twin temples were carved out of a mountainside as a monument to Pharaoh Ramesses II and his wife Nefertari. The entrance to the Great Temple is flanked by four giant statues of Ramesses II, each 20m tall, with other smaller statues at the feet of each. The Small Temple is dedicated to Nefertari and the goddess Hathor, with its facade decorated with a number of statues of the Pharaoh and his wife, each of which are approximately 10m tall. The temples were eventually covered by the desert and forgotten until they were rediscovered in 1813. In 1964, owing to the construction of the Aswan High Dam, the Abu Simbel temples were dismantled and relocated 200m away from the river and 65m higher up. The temples were designated as part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979.

In the film, Linnet and Simon escape serious harm after a stone from the Temple of Amun almost falls on them. Despite the shock, Linnet insists on visiting the Great Temple at Abu Simbel, where she is told about the easternmost of the four statues, the 'vocal statue', which emits a note at sunset.

Answer: Eel

Eels are a number of species of elongated fish ranging from 5cm to 4m in length. Most eels are ocean fish, living among rocks and burrowing in sand or mud. Some live in shallow water on the continental shelf, while one family forms the freshwater eels, who live in freshwater but return to seawater to breed. True eels do not possess pelvic fins, while their dorsal, caudal and anal fins are fused together into a single ribbon like structure. In addition to true eels, a number of other fish species carry the name 'eel', including electric eels and spiny eels. Although these fish share characteristics with true eels, their eel like characteristics are the result of parallel evolution.

In the film, Poirot and Race are about to change for dinner, when Poirot notices Jackie and goes to speak with her. To avoid delaying Race, he asks the colonel to order for him, asking for les morilles, morchella mushrooms. However, Race speaks barely a word of French, and mistranslates what Poirot asks for as a 'moray', thinking he means a moray eel.

Answer: Franc

'Franc' is the name given to a number of currencies in largely French-speaking countries around the world. The first franc was originally a gold coin minted following the release of King John II, who had been held prisoner by the English for four years. The name is believed to derive either from the Latin phrase 'francorum rex' (King of the Franks), which was inscribed on French coins until the 18th century, or from the French word 'franc', meaning 'free'. In 2002, usage of the franc in three European countries, France, Belgium and Luxembourg, ended with the adoption of the euro, but the franc remains the currency of Switzerland, the Swiss franc being one of the major currencies traded on foreign exchange markets.

In the film, Poirot and Race discover the body of Louise Bourget, Linnet's maid, who has been murdered by having her throat cut. In her fingers, they find a small fragment of a 1000 franc note in her hand, deducing that she had been attempting blackmail, and was killed in order to silence her.

Answer: Gobi Desert

The Gobi Desert is a large brushland region in East Asia covering parts of north and northeast China and southern Mongolia. The Gobi is a 'rain shadow' desert, due to the fact that the Tibetan Plateau forms a barrier preventing precipitation from the Indian Ocean reaching the Gobi. As a cold desert, the Gobi can have massive swings in temperature, potentially of as much as 35 degrees celsius, even within a single 24 hour period.

In the film, Mrs van Schuyler bids farewell to Poirot and Race, expressing regret that Poirot has not been able to tell her the stories of some of his 'juicier' cases. Upon disembarking from the boat, she suggests to Miss Bowers that a nice cool holiday is what her companion needs to calm down from the events of the previous few days, and tells Bowers that she's been thinking of a trek through the Gobi Desert.