Agatha Christie was alive to see this all star version of Murder on the Orient Express. She apparently did not like Albert Finney's moustache.
Finney was Oscar nominated for his Hercule Poirot. It is a shame he did not play the role again.
The film starts with the kidnapping of the infant Daisy Armstrong in Long Island in 1930. Although the family pay the ransom, she is found dead. The event had devastating consequences for the Armstrong family which contributed to the deaths of several more people.
Five years later, various people board the Orient Express in Istanbul. Among them is Hercule Poirot who meets the director of the train service, Signor Bianchi (Martin Balsam) and old friend. As the journey begins a nervous American businessman called Samuel Ratchett (Richard Widmark) tells Poirot that he thinks his life is in danger. He offers a large sum of money for Poirot to protect him. Poirot declines and later that night, Ratchett is killed. There are 12 stab wounds.
All evidence leads to a mafia gangster who got on the train with a fake uniform and he killed Ratchett before fleeing from the train. Poirot thinks there is a more complex solution to the murder.
There are several Oscar winners in this film. Butler Beddoes (John Gielgud), Russian Princess Natalia Dragomiroff (Wendy Hiller), Army officer Colonel John Arbuthnott (Sean Connery), English teacher Mary Debenham (Vanessa Redgrave), Missionary Greta Ohlsson (Ingrid Bergman).
There is an energetic performance from Finney who wisely does not overdo the humour and keeps some of the character's fussiness. The film itself is pacy, charming and has some nice music. Sidney Lumet made an old fashioned film with a modern sheen.
Finney was Oscar nominated for his Hercule Poirot. It is a shame he did not play the role again.
The film starts with the kidnapping of the infant Daisy Armstrong in Long Island in 1930. Although the family pay the ransom, she is found dead. The event had devastating consequences for the Armstrong family which contributed to the deaths of several more people.
Five years later, various people board the Orient Express in Istanbul. Among them is Hercule Poirot who meets the director of the train service, Signor Bianchi (Martin Balsam) and old friend. As the journey begins a nervous American businessman called Samuel Ratchett (Richard Widmark) tells Poirot that he thinks his life is in danger. He offers a large sum of money for Poirot to protect him. Poirot declines and later that night, Ratchett is killed. There are 12 stab wounds.
All evidence leads to a mafia gangster who got on the train with a fake uniform and he killed Ratchett before fleeing from the train. Poirot thinks there is a more complex solution to the murder.
There are several Oscar winners in this film. Butler Beddoes (John Gielgud), Russian Princess Natalia Dragomiroff (Wendy Hiller), Army officer Colonel John Arbuthnott (Sean Connery), English teacher Mary Debenham (Vanessa Redgrave), Missionary Greta Ohlsson (Ingrid Bergman).
There is an energetic performance from Finney who wisely does not overdo the humour and keeps some of the character's fussiness. The film itself is pacy, charming and has some nice music. Sidney Lumet made an old fashioned film with a modern sheen.