Continuity mistake: Mrs. Ottenbourne is in the background while her daughter and the mysterious marxist are getting acquainted. She begins at one point shouting, putting an end to the conversation as Rosalie rushes to her. The rambling shout happens across two shots, and Ferguson's hand is in a different spot on the book. (00:44:00)
Continuity mistake: Take a look at the Karnak temple scene when the massive stone block is pushed off the column to kill Linnet. Seconds before the stone falls, the column and parts of the floor beneath are brightly lit by the sun. Also notice that the stone is positioned maybe 2 yards off to the right of the column's centre. When the stone is coming down in the next shot, most of the column (and the ground) is suddenly in the shade. And when the stone hits the ground it is no longer positioned to the right of the column but in front of it. (00:47:40)
Continuity mistake: When the doctor feels the need to make a precise assessment of the stone's age, the maid is suddenly close to the big rock between shots. (00:49:00)
Continuity mistake: When the doctor creepily shuts the door behind him to have a tete-a-tete with Linnet, in the side view his hands are in front of his belly, in a stance entirely different from the front view where his arms are down his sides. (00:53:25)
Continuity mistake: In the scene where Bette Davis has lost her shawl there is a shot of her and Maggie Smith from far away. They talk about the time and in the background Angela Lansbury is drinking. She puts down her glass and leans her head on her hand. Then the shot changes to a close-up of Bette Davis and Maggie Smith and you can see Angela Lansbury in the background, with the glass in her hand, just about to take a drink. (00:55:05)
Continuity mistake: At the beginning of the scene when Jackie gets drunk in record time, David Niven's shadow on the curtain changes sharply when the angle switches the first time; in the closer view he casts a deep shadow right behind his head, while in the wide angle of the room there's barely any shadow. In the same transition, Linnet is touching the cards with both hands first, simply holding her cigarette in the second shot. (00:57:55)
Continuity mistake: When Ferguson helps Simon Doyle on the couch, his tie slides off Simon's non-injured leg once, then in the next shot it is on it again and re-slips. (01:00:55)
Continuity mistake: When the doctor starts cleaning Simon's wound, there's barely any blood on the side, but in the next shot, from the side, there's still a lot of it. (01:04:30)
Continuity mistake: In the longshot where the maid approaches Mrs. Doyle's cabin, the shadows of the deck above reach just the highest part of the starboard cabin doors. When she shouts and runs to get help, the shadows cover the whole louvered top half of the doors. (01:06:50)
Continuity mistake: When the doctor leaves Linnet's room saying he's outraged by Poirot's allegations, the cabinet to the left is closed, but in the reaction shot on Poirot and Race (and in the rest of the scene) the cabinet is open. (01:11:35)
Continuity mistake: Jacqueline moves towards Poirot at the end of the interview with Bowers; her vest is open in the first shot, but in the second, consecutive shot she has her hand in her pocket and her other arm across to keep it closed. (01:17:40)
Continuity mistake: When Poirot and Race enter the doctor's room to check on Simon Doyle, they find him unconscious on the bed. There's a shelf behind the bed with a few books and amongst them the cable of the bedside lamp switch, all tangled up. They revive Doyle, and the cord with its switch dangles off the shelf, on the pillow. Throughout the whole scene now, the cable and switch keep getting on/off the shelf. (01:19:50)
Continuity mistake: When Race and Poirot lift Simon Doyle from the bed, he helps himself up using Peter Ustinov's arm in the first shot, David Niven's in the second. (01:20:05)
Continuity mistake: When Jane Birkin is talking to Poirot in French, David Niven is leaning against the back of her chair with his hand. Cut, and he's watching her with his arms crossed. (01:22:05)
Continuity mistake: During Louise's interview, look behind her as she mentions that naturally, if she "were not able to sleep..." The corner of the room (with the armchair where Poirot sits when he steals Simon's lunch) is entirely in the shade, but it's brightly lit in the rest of the scene. (01:22:40)
Continuity mistake: Poirot enters his bathroom to freshen up. There's a brush on the left side of the sink, placed on top of a box. When the cobra sticks its head up, the brush rests directly on the sink. (01:25:40 - 01:26:05)
Continuity mistake: Race hears Poirot's morse code and grabs his mighty swordstick; look at his tie. When he's inside Poirot's room, his Royal Green Jackets tie is styled different; in his own room the small end reach approximately the second-to-last red diagonal stripe of the wide part, while in Poirot's room the small end reaches barely the third-to-last stripe. (01:26:40 - 01:27:15)
Continuity mistake: When Colonel Race comes to Poirot's rescue, Poirot's arm is outstretched and stays that way even after a reaction close-up on Peter Ustinov with his arm lowered, as you can tell by the part of his arm in frame. (01:26:55)
Continuity mistake: When Mrs. Van Schuyler mentions a "popping sound", David Niven's position is different in the two takes; first his hands touch, then he suddenly has one hand on the armrest. Similarly, when she mentions "an indifferent champagne" her hand is on her embroidery, but she was gesticulating away from it before the cut. It's then Peter Ustinov's turn to be inconsistent; Niven asks "Could it have been a small pistol" etc. and Ustinov is fingering his moustache, but in the next shot he isn't. (01:29:00)
Continuity mistake: When Race unfurls the packaging the crew dragged up from the riverbed, the part to his left (right of the frame) immediately comes undone and lines on the table, but in the close-up it opens differently. (01:30:00)
