Murder on the Orient Express (film)

Murder on the Orient Express is a 1974 British film directed by Sidney Lumet. Starring Albert Finney in the title role, along with a cast of leading actors and actresses from the United States and Europe.

Based on Agatha Christie's novel of the same name starring Hercule Poirot and published in 1934.

Plot

The Murder

It's the winter of 1935. Belgian detective Hercule Poirot (Albert Finney) has solved a case in Mesopotamia and is returning home on the Orient Express. On the journey, Poirot meets his friend Bianchi de él (Martin Balsam), who works for the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits. En route between Belgrade and Slavonski Brod, the train goes through a snowstorm in the Balkans and is finally stopped overnight. The next morning the body of American millionaire Samuel Edward Ratchett (Richard Widmark) is discovered, who has been stabbed to death.

Poirot, Bianchi, and Dr. Constantine (George Coulouris), work together to solve the case with the help of Frenchman Pierre Michel (Jean-Pierre Cassel) the driver of the car.

The Clues

• Ratchett was stabbed 12 times. Some wounds were mild, but at least three might have been fatal.
• Some wounds were made with the right hand and others with the left.
• Since the train has been surrounded by snow since before the alleged time of the murder and the doors of the other cars were closed, the killer should be among the passengers of Ratchett's car.
• It is discovered that several years ago Ratchett was involved in the tragedy of the Armstrong family when a baby, Daisy Armstrong, was kidnapped and then murdered. (The Armstrong case of fiction seems to have been inspired by the actual abduction of Charles Lindbergh's son).

The Suspects

• Hector McQueen (Anthony Perkins), young American, secretary and translator of the victim.
• Edward Beddoes (Sir John Gielgud), help of the victim's British camera.
• Mary Mustham (Vanessa Redgrave), a young British man returning to England after working as an institute in Baghdad.
• Colonel Arbuthnot (Sean Connery), an officer of the British army stationed in India who travels to England on vacation.
• Princess Natalia Dragomiroff (Wendy Hiller), Russian royal lady returning to her home in Paris.
• Hildegarde Schmidt (Rachel Roberts (actress)), middle-aged German woman, princess maiden.
• Count Rudolf Andrenyi (Michael York), a noble and Hungarian diplomat of English customs that travels to France.
• Countess Elena Gründwald Andrenyi (Jacqueline Bisset), the young and delicate wife of Count Andrenyi.
• Greta Ohlsson (Ingrid Bergman), a Swedish mid-aged single missionary who returns to Europe to collect funds for her mission in India.
• Ms. Harriet Belinda Arden Hubbard (Lauren Bacall), ex Gründwald, a senior and very enthusiastic American woman returning to her country.
• Antonio Foscarelli (Denis Quilley), Italian car salesman who travels to Rome to expand his business.
• Cyrus "Dick" Hardman (Colin Blakely), American detective of the Pinkerton Agency disguised as a talent seeker.
• Pierre Michel (Jean-Pierre Cassel), French man, car manager and driver.

The reason

• All the suspects were involved in the Armstrong Case.
• McQueen was the son of the prosecutor who took the case.
• Miss. Mustham was a secretary to Mrs. Armstrong.
• Beddoes was assistant to Colonel Armstrong.
• Colonel Arbuthnot was a friend of Colonel Armstrong.
• Princess Dragomiroff was Mrs. Armstrong.
• Miss. Schmidt was the Armstrong cook.
• Count Andrenyi and his wife were Daisy Armstrong's uncles.
• Miss. Ohlsson was an Armstrong nurse.
• Mrs. Hubbard was a grandmother of Daisy Armstrong.
• Foscarelli was a driver of the Armstrongs.
• Hardman is an ex-cop who was in love with the Armstrong maid, who committed suicide.
• Pierre Michel was the father of the Armstrong maid.

Differences between the novel and the film

• In the novel, Poirot knows two of the suspects on a train to Istanbul. In the film, Poirot sees Mustham and Arbuthnot on the ferry crossing the Bosphorus; in addition, the ferry trip is the beginning of the story.
• There are several differences in relation to Ratchett's valet. In the novel, he is a thin man named Masterman, identified as a 39-year-old Englishman who was never in the United States. In the film, the character is called Beddoes (possibly to avoid confusion with Hardman's name) and, despite being English, he was hired through an agency in New York City. John Gielgud was 70 when he played the character and was a tall person.
• The character of the railway employee, in the book, is a Belgian named Bouc; he and Poirot chat in French and share some affinity due to their nationality. In the film, the character is an Italian name Bianchi.
• Ingrid Bergman was also older as to the age his character had in the novel.
• Many characters differ from their description in the novel. Princess Dragomiroff is described as fat and Miss. Mustham supposedly has dark hair. Wendy Hiller, who played the princess, was thin, and Vanessa Redgrave exhibits her redheaded scalpel while representing Mary Mustham.
• The argument gradually develops towards the solution of the murder. The novel introduces the motive of revenge against Ratchett during a dialogue in the course of the investigation. The film prepares the ground with a small and effective prologue. The book shows Poirot discovering step by step the connection of each suspect with the Armstrong family and revealing his discovery to the person involved. In the film, the mystery solution occurs during a dramatic group scene.
• In the book, the Countess does not participate in the physical form of the planned conspiracy that is revealed at the end of the work, but if it is shown together with her husband in the film.
• The novel points out that the Orient Express met with an avalanche, so the killer could not have left the train without being buried in the snow; in addition, it is explained that it will take several days for men to settle the train. In the film the Orient Express stops before hitting the avalanche and, while Poirot expresses the relationship of the passengers with the murder, we can see a train with a snow sweeper clearing the way. The film ends with the Orient Express following the rescue train to the next station while the credits run.
• Towards the end of the novel, Poirot teaches Rachett's gun to the suspects and states that it was not only loaded but that Rachett was prepared to protect himself; in the film, Poirot has the gun on a table along with the rest of the evidence but does not explain its meaning.
• In the novel, Rachett's first death theory is that he was killed by a stranger with unknown motives; in the film, the first theory is that he was the victim of a member disguised as a mafia by a vendetta.

Comments

The film's tagline was: "The largest cast of shady characters ever to be involved in murder."

In 2001 a telefilm was made, Murder on the Orient Express (2001).

In 2017, a new film version was released, Murder on the Orient Express (2017), directed by Kenneth Branagh.

Nominations and Awards

Oscar

• Oscar to the best cast actress: Ingrid Bergman
• Oscar nomination by best actor: Albert Finney
• Oscar nomination for best photography: Geoffrey Unsworth
• Oscar nomination for best costume design: Tony Walton
• Oscar nomination for best soundtrack: Richard Rodney Bennett
• Nomination to the Oscar for best script adapted: Paul Dehn

BAFTA Awards

• BAFTA to the best cast actor: John Gielgud
• BAFTA to the best cast actress: Ingrid Bergman
• BAFTA Nomination to Best Film
• BAFTA Nomination to Best Director: Sidney Lumet
• BAFTA nomination for the best actor: Albert Finney
• BAFTA nomination for the best artistic direction: Tony Walton
• BAFTA nomination for the best edition: Anne V. Coates
• BAFTA Nomination to Best Photography: Geoffrey Unsworth
• BAFTA nomination for the best production design: Tony Walton