Murder on the Orient Express (11 Jul. 2010)
"Agatha Christie's Poirot" Murder on the Orient Express (original title)

Poirot investigates the murder of a shady American businessman stabbed in his compartment on the Orient Express when it is blocked by a blizzard in Croatia.

Director:

Philip Martin

Writers:

Agatha Christie (novel), Stewart Harcourt (screenplay)

Stars:

David Suchet, Tristan Shepherd, Sam Crane

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
David Suchet	...	Hercule Poirot
Tristan Shepherd	...	Lieutenant Morris
Sam Crane	...	Lieutenant Blanchflower
Toby Jones	...	Samuel Ratchett
Brian J. Smith	...	Hector MacQueen (as Brian J Smith)
David Morrissey	...	John Arbuthnot
Jessica Chastain	...	Mary Debenham
Stewart Scudamore	...	Concierge
Serge Hazanavicius	...	Xavier Bouc
Eileen Atkins	...	Princess Dragomiroff
Susanne Lothar	...	Hildegarde Schmidt
Denis Ménochet	...	Pierre Michel (as Denis Menochet)
Barbara Hershey	...	Caroline Hubbard
Hugh Bonneville	...	Edward Masterman
Marie-Josée Croze	...	Greta Ohlsson

Storyline

Railway director and fellow Belgian Monsieur Bouc secures Poirot a last minute berth on the Orient Express, returning to England from Istanbul. Ratchett, an abrasive American businessman, traveling with his valet and male secretary, tries to secure Poirot's services as he fears that his life is in danger. Poirot turns him down, but the next morning, whilst the train is stuck in a snowdrift in Serbia, Ratchett is found stabbed to death. There is vague talk of a man seen fleeing the train, but many of the passengers in Poirot's compartment do not appear to know either Ratchett or each other, so what could the motive be? Poirot, assisted by Bouc and Dr. Constantine, attempts to find out.

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Plot Keywords:

orient express | snowdrift | clue | kidnapper | stabbed to death | 

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Crime | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

UK USA Malta

Language:

English Hungarian French

Release Date:

11 July 2010 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Malta

Company Credits

Production Co:

Government of Malta, ITV Studios, WGBH

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min 80 min 89 min (DVD release) 89 min (9 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The original 1934 title was "Murder on the Calais Coach" because it was feared that readers would confuse it with "Stamboul Train" by Graham Greene, published in 1932.

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Goofs

Mr. Bouc compares one of the characters to the "Bismark" battleship. The Bismark was laid down in 1936 only, launched in 1939 and commissioned in 1940.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Hercule Poirot: No! Lieutenant, you lie to Poirot. You say that you were in the barracks by midnight, but Poirot has proved this to be false. At a quarter to one in the morning you were seen over two miles away in the company of the woman who died. General, this is not a murder, as is suggested by the Palestinian police, but I do believe the lieutenant lied about his whereabouts, first out of panic and then, by sticking to this *lie*, but reinforcing it with *lie* after *lie* for weeks and weeks ...

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Connections

Featured in David Suchet on the Orient Express (2010)

User Reviews

Great cast, Brilliant story, Horrible direction = mediocre movie

As an avid Agatha Christie reader, and a long time fan of David Suchet I was awaiting the release of this episode of Poirot for over a year.

I was amazed at how perfectly the actors were casted, so they perfectly fitted Christie's description of them in the book. However, we're talking about a long book that requires time for digestion of details, development, and also to avoid monotonousness in the rhythm of the movie.

Aside from the fact that numerous details of the case were omitted presumably because of time limitations, Poirot's character was perverted with the added religious characteristics (catholic, praying type, etc.) which is not part of the book and the description of character in any of the Christie books. I believe her original ending is much more fitting and in accordance with Poirot's character description.

To this day, I always thought what would have happened if David Suchet had starred in the original 1974 Murder on the Orient Express, instead of Albert Finney, and I can now say for certain that I will never find out! The original enjoyed a great director, an amazing all star cast and enough time for the development of the plot, none of which was present in the 2010 version. I only wish that the great David Suchet was there present in the original.