Murder on the Orient Express 1974

     The time of this film is the December 1935 departure of the Orient Express from Istanbul.  The train is full but Hercule Poirot needs to get back to London as soon as possible.  He is able to secure last minute passage in a compartment with the aide of his friend Signor Bianchi.  Signor is one of the directors of the train line and he will also be making the trip.  Several of the first class passengers are concerned about the presence of Poirot on the train.  One of the passengers asks Poirot to provide protection for him due to several recent death threats.  Later, this man is found murdered in his stateroom and he has received 12 stab wounds.  The train is unexpectedly stopped and delayed due to snow in a remote area of Yugoslavia.  The murderer may have wanted to leave the train but this won’t be possible until the track is cleared.  Poirot is on the case right away and the other passengers are cautioned not to disturb important clues left behind by the murderer.

     In 1929, a westbound Orient Express train was stuck in heavy snow for 5 days at Tcherkesskeuy and this is about 130km from Istanbul.  This incident inspired the setting of the book and this film.  Each actor who has played Hercule Poirot has brought different touches and a different look to his character.  My favorite is David Suchet, his voice is used in the Orient Express Video Game and he starred in 70 TV series episodes from 1989 to 2013.  The 2017 film with the same title has an Imdb rating of 6.5.   Both the 1974 and 2017 films have exactly the same story with different actors.  It’s difficult to say which film is the best??  All the characters seem to be unrelated in any way except by marriage or employment but is that really true?  It is living in high style to be traveling on the Orient Express at any time period!!  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

128 min, Crime directed by Sidney Lumet with Albert Finney, Lauren Bacall, Ingrid Bergman, Jacqueline Bisset, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Sean Connery, John Gielgud, Wendy Hillere, Anthony Perkins, Vanessa Redgrave.

Note:  Imdb 7.3 out of 10, 91% critic 79% audience, Roger Ebert 3*,  Amazon 3.9* out of 5* with 1592 reviews, Metacritic 63 out of 100 with 6 critics. 

Special Note:  Filmed in Doubs and Paris France; Hertfordshire England, UK; Istanbul, Turkey.  Agatha Christie attended the premiere of this film in November 1974 at the age of 84 years old.  It was the only film adaptation in her lifetime and that she was completely satisfied with.  She felt Albert Finney’s performance came closest to her idea of Poirot.  But, she was not impressed with the style of his mustache.  In this film, Poirot's hair is lavishly oiled, he wears a hairnet and a mustache guard when he sleeps?  Make-up required many hours before shooting each day.  Finney was also performing in a stage play at the same time as filming.  An ambulance picked him up still asleep at his house.  He was carefully transported in his pajamas so he wouldn’t wake up.  During the 30-minute commute to the studio, the make-up artist would begin the rough work on his face.  The fine detail work was completed at the studio while he was still sleeping.  The luxury food being inspected and carried aboard the train was stolen from the set just before shooting.  All the required food had to be repurchased in the middle of the night on location in Paris.