"Agatha Christie's Poirot" Murder on the Orient Express (2010)

Director:

Philip Martin

Writers:

Agatha Christie (novel)
Stewart Harcourt (screenplay)

TV Series:

"Agatha Christie's Poirot" (1989)

Original Air Date:

11 July 2010 (Season 12, Episode 4)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Crime | Thriller

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Orient Express | Snowdrift | Clue | Kidnapper | Stabbed To Death

Cast

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
Stanley Weber	...	Count Andrenyi
Elena Satine	...	Countess Andrenyi
Joseph Mawle	...	Antonio Foscarelli
Samuel West	...	Dr Constantine
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tiziana Azzopardi	...	Adulteress Wife (uncredited)
Ekaterina Botziou	...	Passenger (uncredited)
Manuel Cauchi	...	Turkish Husband (uncredited)
David Lyddon	...	Train Engineer (uncredited)
Darren Petrucci	...	Yugolslavian Police Captain (uncredited)
Umit Ulgen	...	Hawker (uncredited)

Directed by
Philip Martin

Writing credits
Agatha Christie		(novel)
Stewart Harcourt		(screenplay)

Produced by
Michele Buck	....	executive producer
Mary Durkan	....	executive producer: for Chorion
Rebecca Eaton	....	executive producer: for WGBH Boston
Matthew Hamilton	....	line producer
Mathew Prichard	....	executive producer: for Chorion
David Suchet	....	associate producer
Karen Thrussell	....	producer
Damien Timmer	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Christian Henson

Cinematography by
Alan Almond		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Kristina Hetherington

Casting by
Susie Parriss

Production Design by
Jeff Tessler

Art Direction by
Miranda Cull

Costume Design by
Sheena Napier

Makeup Department
Bee Archer	....	makeup artist
Pamela Haddock	....	hair and make-up designer
Tony Lilley	....	makeup artist
Eva Marieges Moore	....	Mr Suchet's make-up artist
Hannah Proverbs	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Colin Azzopardi	....	production supervisor: Malta
Ian Hopkins	....	production supervisor: Switzerland
Kate Stannard	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Sean Clayton	....	second assistant director
Lydia Currie	....	first assistant director
Tussy Facchin	....	third assistant director

Art Department
Tim Bonstow	....	production buyer
Dave Channon	....	construction manager
Ron Dawling	....	stand-by props (as Ron Dowling)
Fred Foster	....	stand-by construction
Paul Gilpin	....	supervising art director
Jim Grindley	....	property master
Andrew Lavin	....	stand-by art director
Richard MacMillan	....	stand-by props (as Richard Macmillian)
Robert Muskett	....	stand-by construction (as Bob Muskett)
Jay Pales	....	dressing props
Mike Rawlings	....	dressing props
Mike Syson	....	dressing props
Rachel Garlick	....	storyboard artist (uncredited)

Sound Department
John Downer	....	supervising sound editor
Sarah Morton	....	dialogue editor
Ashley Reynolds	....	sound maintenance
Andrew Sissons	....	sound recordist
Nigel Squibbs	....	re-recording mixer
Simon Epstein	....	foley mixer (uncredited)
Marc Hope	....	foley editor (uncredited)
Scott Jones	....	adr mixer (uncredited)
Ashley Reynolds	....	boom operator (uncredited)
Richard Williams	....	foley editor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Kenneth Cassar	....	special effects supervisor (uncredited)
Roderick Pulis	....	special effects technician (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Tanvir Hanif	....	visual effects supervisor

Stunts
Crispin Layfield	....	stunt coordinator
Wolfgang Raach	....	stunt coordinator (uncredited)
Curtis Rivers	....	stunt performer (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Ben Gibb	....	focus puller
Jimmy Harris	....	best boy
Dermot Hickey	....	focus puller
Dean Murray	....	clapper loader
Steve Murray	....	camera operator
Jim Philpott	....	camera grip
Gavin Walters	....	gaffer
Peter Davies	....	electrician (uncredited)
Greg Murray	....	grip assistant (uncredited)
John Preca Trapani	....	camera loader (uncredited)

Casting Department
Jina Jay	....	international casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Anne-Marie Bigby	....	Mr Suchet's dresser
Tracy McGregor	....	costume supervisor
Philip O'Connor	....	assistant costume designer (as Phil O'Connor)
Steve O'Sullivan	....	costume assistant
Sarah Ward	....	costume assistant
Carmen Agius	....	set costumer (uncredited)
Ernest Camilleri	....	wardrobe coordinator (uncredited)
Polly Smyth	....	set costumer (uncredited)

Editorial Department
John Claude	....	colourist
Simon Giblin	....	on-line editor
Vicky Tooms	....	assistant editor
Garry Maddison	....	assistant colorist (uncredited)

Music Department
Christopher Gunning	....	composer: Poirot theme
Samuel Karl Bohn	....	assistant to composer (uncredited)
Samuel Karl Bohn	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)
Goetz Botzenhardt	....	music mixer (uncredited)
Joe Henson	....	music programming (uncredited)
Dom Kelly	....	musician: oboe (uncredited)

Other crew
Pierre Agius	....	location manager
Meriel Baistow-Clare	....	script editor
Sam Baker	....	production coordinator
Natasha Bayford	....	press officer
Simon Blakey	....	production secretary
Julie Burnell	....	production executive
Sue Hills	....	script supervisor
Caroline Russell	....	production accountant
Joanna Sanders	....	assistant production accountant
Jennie Scanlon	....	script executive
Patrick Smith	....	picture publicist
Mark Walledge	....	assistant location manager
Chris White	....	location manager
Winston Azzopardi	....	production consultant: Malta (uncredited)
Julie Burnham	....	unit nurse (uncredited)
Rebecca Kemp	....	location assistant (uncredited)
Ray Leek	....	title designer (uncredited)
Donna Shakesheff	....	production runner (uncredited)

Sound Department
Lionel Strutt	....	adr mixer

Other crew
Mark Albela	....	location manager
Daren Thomas	....	location runner

Production Companies

• Government of Malta (produced with the support of the financial incentives provided by) (as the government of Malta)
• ITV Studios (A Co-Production of) (as itv STUDIOS)
• WGBH (A Co-Production of) (as WGBH BOSTON)
• Agatha Christie (in association with) (as Agatha Christie Ltd {a Chorion Company})

Distributors

• Independent Television (ITV) (2010) (USA) (TV)
• Acorn Media Group (2010) (USA) (DVD) (Included in "Agatha Christie's Poirot: The Movie Collection: Set 5")
• NHK (2012) (Japan) (TV)

Other Companies

• Media Services  stationery supplier (uncredited)
• Title Film and TV  title design
• Yacinsky Design  DVD package design (uncredited)

Runtime:

80 min (approx.) | 89 min (DVD release) | UK:89 min (9 episodes)

Country:

UK | USA | Malta

Language:

English | Hungarian | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

USA:Not Rated | Australia:M | UK:15 (video rating) (2011)

Filming Locations:

Malta

Company:

Government of Malta

Trivia:

As the end credits roll, seemingly random letters highlighted in red spell out the words "Venice Simplon".

Goofs:

Errors in geography: A few moments before the train hits the snowdrift it is seen moving across the screen from right to left surrounded by a landscape which, much as is it beautiful, doesn't at all correspond to the actual topography of that part of former Yugoslavia. The land there is predominantly fertile plains and there are most certainly no snowy mountains on the horizon to be seen.

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...

Movie Connections:

Featured in David Suchet on the Orient Express (2010) (TV)

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.