Murder on the Orient Express (1974)

Note des utilisateurs:

7.3/10   

Réalisateur:

Sidney Lumet

Scénariste:

Paul Dehn (screenplay)

Release Date:

24 novembre 1974 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Mystery | Drame | Thriller

Accroche:

The greatest cast of suspicious characters ever involved in murder.

Plot:

In 1935, when his train is stopped by deep snow, detective Hercule Poirot is called on to solve a murder that occurred in his car the night before.

Plot Keywords:

Hercule Poirot | Train | Detective | Snow | Orient Express

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 7 wins & 16 nominations

Avis des utilisateurs:

A well executed murder in every sense of the word.

Ensemble

Albert Finney	...	Hercule Poirot
Lauren Bacall	...	Mrs. Harriet Belinda Hubbard
Martin Balsam	...	Signor Bianchi
Ingrid Bergman	...	Greta Ohlsson
Jacqueline Bisset	...	Countess Andrenyi
Jean-Pierre Cassel	...	Pierre Paul Michel (as Jean Pierre Cassel)
Sean Connery	...	Colonel Arbuthnot
John Gielgud	...	Mr. Beddoes
Wendy Hiller	...	Princess Dragomiroff
Anthony Perkins	...	Hector Willard MacQueen
Vanessa Redgrave	...	Mary Debenham
Rachel Roberts	...	Hildegarde Schmidt
Richard Widmark	...	Mr. Ratchett
Michael York	...	Count Andrenyi
Colin Blakely	...	Mr. Cyrus Hardman

Autre(s) titre(s):

Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express (UK) (complete title)
Le crime de l'Orient-Express (France) [fr]
Meurtre de l'Orient Express (Canada: French title) (TV title) [fr]

Durée:

128 min

Pays:

UK

Langue:

Anglais | Turc | Français | Allemand | Italien | Suédois

Couleur:

Couleur (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Son:

Mono

Classification:

Australia:M (TV rating) | Iceland:12 | Ireland:PG | West Germany:12 (f) | USA:PG (certificate #24034) | Brazil:14 | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:16 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:11 | UK:PG

Emplacements De Pelliculage:

EMI Elstree Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company:

G.W. Films

Anecdotes:

As shooting went on, five of the actors were involved in West End stage plays at the same time. John Gielgud and Denis Quilley in "The Tempest". Vanessa Redgrave, Albert Finney and Ingrid Bergman were also performing in other productions.

Goofs:

Factual errors: At the train station, the oriental women wearing kimonos are clearly made up as Japanese, but can be heard speaking Cantonese.

Guillemet:

[first lines]
Ferry conductor: Your ticket, please.
Mary Debenham: Oh, yes.
Ferry conductor: Welcome aboard, Miss Debenham.
Mary Debenham: Thank you.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "Get Smart: Aboard the Orient Express (#1.13)" (1965)

Soundtrack:

On the Good Ship Lollipop

A well executed murder in every sense of the word.

Murder on the Orient Express started a nice trend in filming some of the most stylish of Agatha Christie novels by producer John Brabourne. Although Albert Finney who does a fine job as the Belgian Sleuth Hercule Poirot declined to do further films with Poirot, Peter Ustinov more than amply took up the slack in later productions.

Richard Widmark is an American expatriate traveling on the famous Orient Express train and he's been receiving mysterious death threats. As it happens Poirot is on the train also and refuses Widmark's offer to be a bodyguard.

Widmark is later stabbed to death in his compartment and while the train is stranded somewhere in Yugoslavia due to snow drifts, Poirot investigates the murder in the best Agatha Christie tradition. Of course in that same tradition the plotters would have gotten away with it more than likely had Poirot and his little gray cells not been present.

Widmark as it also turns out was a gangster who had to flee America because he was named as the mastermind of a horrific crime that shocked the nation. There are a whole lot of people who had reason to want him dead.

Poirot conducts his inquiry of the other passengers and they are quite a crew consisting of among others, Lauren Bacall, Michael York, Sean Connery, Ingrid Bergman, Wendy Hiller, Rachel Roberts, Vanessa Redgrave, Jacqueline Bissett, etc.

Of course I won't tell you the solution, but here's a hint. Note what Sean Connery says while he's being grilled.

It's a great ensemble cast of course with a bunch of seasoned players doing their thing. Ingrid Bergman got a Best Supporting Actress award for her portrayal of a simple soul who is a missionary. I'm betting the critics noted that her part was offbeat casting for her which she pulled off. In any event she was surprised as all get out when her name was read at the Oscars in 1975. In accepting the award she got up and said quite matter-of-factly that fellow nominee Valentina Cortese deserved it. Of course she didn't turn it down.

As I said, this was one elaborately planned murder and I think you will enjoy seeing Poirot unravel it and what happens later.