In December 1935, American millionaire Samuel Ratchett (Widmark) is murdered in the first class car of the Orient Express. The train is stuck in snow and Signor Bianchi (Balsam), who works for the company that owns the train, wants the matter resolved before they reach the next stop. He turns to his dear friend Hercule Poirot (Finney), a world-famous detective who is also traveling in the first class train. Poirot believes the murder was committed by someone in the first class car as all of the train cars were locked at night and there are no tracks in the snow around the car. He confiscates all of their passports and asks Bianchi and Dr. Constantine (Coulouris), who did not sleep in the first class car, to assist with the investigation.
Poirot interviews each passenger about the events of the previous night. Ratchett was traveling with his secretary Hector McQueen (Perkins) and valet Edward Beddoes (Gielgud). McQueen and Beddoes are not upset by their employers death and have secrets. Harriet Hubbard (Bacall), who had the room beside Cassetti, is an American widow and claims a man was in her room that night and must be the murderer. Greta Ohlsson (Bergman) is a Swedish missionary who struggles with English. Count Andrenyi (York) is a Hungarian diplomat traveling with his wife Countess Andrenyi (Bisset). Colonel Arbuthnot (Connery) is a British Indian Army officer who smokes a pipe and is always watching English teacher Mary Debenham (Redgrave). Elderly Princess Dragomiroff (Hiller) is traveling with her maid Hildegarde Schmidt (Roberts). Antonio Foscarelli (Quilley) is an Italian car salesman who talks like a gangster and Cyrus Hardman (Blakely) is an American theatrical agent. French conductor Pierre (Cassel) is also a suspect, while aiding Poirot's investigation. Poirot uncovers a deep connection to the famed Daisy Armstrong murder of 1930. As the train breaks out of the snow, can Poirot discover the murderer and finally solve the missing piece of the Armstrong case?
This film is based on Agatha Christie's 1934 novel "Murder on the Orient Express." Her story was inspired by the Charles Lindbergh case in 1932. She chose the location based on the 1929 story of the Orient Express being stuck in the snow for 5 days near Istanbul. This is the 10th of 45 stories (8th novel) featuring Belgian detective Hercule Poirot.
Christie disliked most of the film versions of her novels, but she was persuaded by the producers to allow this adaptation. It was her favorite adaptation.
All of the main characters are played by well-known actors, delivering excellent performances. Albert Finney does well as the quirky detective. The majority of the film occurs on the train, but it never feels claustrophobic or boring. The film takes a leisurely pace to setup the characters and the plot, but you are invested the entire time. The film stays true to Christie's story, with only a few changes.
The film was nominated for 6 Academy Awards: Best Actor for Finney, Best Supporting Actress for Ingrid Bergman, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, and Best Original Score; but only Bergman won. Bergman's small role has a 5 minute speech that runs the gamut of emotion, and was filmed in a single take.
I thoroughly enjoyed this film, everything worked well and fit the world of the story. I want to see the 2017 version, with Kenneth Branagh as the director and star, but I think I will prefer this version.
Murder on the Orient Express (1974) 131 minutes
Director: Sidney Lumet
Starring: Albert Finney as Hercule Poirot
Lauren Bacall as Harriet Hubbard
Martin Balsam as Signor Bianchi
Ingrid Bergman as Greta Ohlsson
Jacqueline Bisset as Countess Andrenyi
Jean-Pierre Cassel as Pierre
Sean Connery as Colonel Arbuthnot
John Gielgud as Edward Beddoes
Wendy Hiller as Princess Dragomiroff
Anthony Perkins as Hector McQueen
Vanessa Redgrave as Mary Debenham
Rachel Roberts as Hildegarde Schmidt
Richard Widmark as Samuel Ratchett
Michael York as Count Andrenyi
Colin Blakely as Cyrus B. Hardman
George Coulouris as Dr. Constantine
Denis Quilley as Antonio Foscarelli
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