This Day in Film History (‘Murder on the Orient Express’ Serves Up Prime Agatha Christie)

Nov. 24, 1974— Dame Agatha Christie couldn’t have been more pleased at the all-star screen adaptation of one of the most beloved of her 66 detective novels, Murder on the Orient Express, released in the United States on this date.

It’s remarkable how much the judgements of youth can stand the test of time. That, at least, was the case for me with how I felt about the production that director Sidney Lumet molded.

I should tell you that, though I’m a fan of Margaret Rutherford’s four Sixties films as Miss Jane Marple, Dame Christie didn’t appreciate how far these movies departed from her original plots. 

She had no such complaint with this latest adaptation, though: the screenplay by Paul Dehn (with an uncredited contribution by Sleuth playwright Anthony Shaffer) stuck closely to what she wrote, while adding touches of light humor that never descended into campiness.

Other Christie adaptations have come and gone, with some even being remade. But when I saw Murder on the Orient Express (hereinafter abbreviated as MOTOE) early in high school, I put it in the upper tier of Christie films with And Then There Were None (1945), another all-star vehicle.

Starting with the sumptuous soundtrack by Richard Rodney Bennett and the production and costume design by Tony Walton, this was a sumptuous, old-fashioned production—and that was before any of the actors said a word!

When I viewed MOTOE again several weeks ago on Turner Classic Movies a half century later, I was taken once again with the incredible gallery of actors assembled for Dame Christie’s “Grand Hotel” on the rails, including Martin Balsam, Richard Widmark, John Gielgud, Wendy Hiller, Michael York, Lauren Bacall, Jacqueline Bisset, Anthony Perkins, Vanessa Redgrave, and Rachel Roberts.

It was a conscious strategy on Lumet’s part, as he figured that the audience would find it easier to keep the multiple characters straight by casting well-known actors in the roles—and it worked.

Three actors stand out, for me, in this galaxy of stars:

* Sean Connery, as the first major one cast—whose luster, after a decade as James Bond, made him the most bankable;

* Albert Finney (pictured, with that amazing mustache); many in the cast, Bacall remembered, came to the project at least in part for the chance to work with this superb actor chosen to play Belgian detective Hercule Poirot;

* Ingrid Bergman, who rejected Lumet’s initial suggestion that she play the role of Princess Dragomiroff  for that of the Swedish maid because the Scandinavian actress felt a greater affinity for the character—an instinct that was rewarded with a Best Supporting Actress Oscar.