A Classic Whodunit: Murder on the Orient Express

Prolific writer Agatha Christie is best remembered for her crime and detective novels. A few of those books were made into movies, including her 1934 novel Murder on the Orient Express, which was released as a film in 1974. The movie features a cast of well-known actors and seeks to capture on screen the mystery and suspense that make Christie's books so enjoyable.

Early in the film newspaper headlines about the kidnapping of Daisy Armstrong, daughter of a wealthy family, are splashed across the screen. It's revealed that the Armstrong family attempted to pay a ransom for her safe return, but the young child is found dead. The scene then switches to Istanbul, Turkey several years later, where a variety of people are boarding a train.

Most of the film is set in the First Class compartment of the passenger train The Orient Express, which will journey from Turkey through the heart of Europe. Passengers on board are an odd-lot of travelers returning from the Middle East, including a Belgian-born detective named Hercule Poirot (Albert Finney). Soon after the train departs, wealthy and arrogant passenger Mr. Ratchett (Richard Widmark) mentions to Poirot he has received death threats, and asks if he will be his bodyguard. Poirot declines the invitation.

That evening the train becomes stranded in Yugoslavia during a heavy snowfall, and they must wait for authorities to clear the tracks before progressing. As morning dawns, it's discovered that Mr. Ratchett has been murdered in his sleeping car during the night. Since the train is stuck in snow and no one has gotten on or off, the murderer must be one of the other passengers on the First Class car.

Hercule Poirot now leads an investigation into the murder of Mr. Ratchett by pointedly interviewing each passenger. He soon discovers that many of the passengers have a connection to the Daisy Armstrong kidnapping and murder case. Also, baffling clues and evidence found throughout the train seem to implicate every passenger in Mr. Ratchett's death.

I've seen a couple of the films based on Agatha Christie novels and they never quite capture the depth of mystery that the books have. Perhaps that is because it is more fun to use your own imagination while envisioning the clues? In any case Murder on the Orient Express follows the same path as other Christie-based films, although the movie is still enjoyable to watch.

Murder on the Orient Express is best remembered for the cast, which includes such well-know film stars are Sean Connery, Lauren Bacall, Ingrid Bergman, Anthony Perkins, Richard Widmark, Jacqueline Bisset, and Albert Finney. In general each character gets a small part in the film and does not stand-out too much. However, Bacall was quite memorable as a loud and brash American and Finney had by far the most screen time of all the members.

One interesting performance is Wendy Hiller as aging Princess Dragominiroff. She spoke with a heavy accent, wore heavy makeup, and traveled with a collection of ornate knives, one of which became a clue in the victim's death. And Ingrid Bergman was awarded an Oscar for her character as the guilt-ridden Swedish missionary in this film.

Overall I liked the film's setting on board the opulent train and the wide variety of passengers who were drawn together into the murder investigation. Finney's depiction of Poirot is also well-done. But Murder on the Orient Express often lumbers along at a slow pace. Also some actors, like Sean Connery, had too small of a role in the film or their parts were simply not very interesting. While I enjoyed and still recommend the movie, I only rate it as 3 stars.

© trailhound. 2008.