Making 'Murder on the Orient Express'

The 1974 classic film, "Murder on the Orient Express," has a large cast of prominent actors, and a very interesting history in how it was brought to the screen. For those reasons, this 2004 video on the making of the movie is a very good cut above the standard film documentary. Indeed, where most such projects are technical movie "shorts" (under 45 minutes), "Making 'Murder on the Orent Express'" runs 49 minutes which gives it the stature of a documentary feature.

Many people interviewed had high praise for one person for even getting the film made. Lord John Brabourne, a cousin of the queen, was able to convince Agatha Christie to allow the movie to be made in the first place. It is based on her 1934 mystery novel of the same title. But Christie was dissatisfied with some earlier films that were based on her books. Matthew Prichard, grandson of Agatha Christie, is interviewed, and explains the author's reticence to selling movie rights to her novels. Prichard says, "John Brabourne can claim the credit for somebody who convinced my grandmother that there were people in the movie industry of real integrity and enthusiasm for the subjects that they were supposed to be creating."

Film director Sidney Lumet and Richard Goodwin, co-producer with Brabourne, praised Brabourne's further efforts to put the project together. He got EMI Films to put up half the money and then got Austrian-born American industrialist Charlie Bluhdorn to underwrite the rest. Bluhdorn's parents had owned a number of railroad station cafeterias in Austria and Hungary, and he had worked in one. He had seen the Orient Express go through many times, and was excited about having a movie made about it. They obtained British writer Paul Dehn to do the screenplay. Goodwin says, "Paul Dehn did a perfect script."

As others came together for work behind the scenes and the cameras, their challenge was to get quality actors for the many roles. They went to see Sean Connery first. He was then the biggest star of the day. After Connery said yes, it helped get all the others. At first there was reluctance about Albert Finney as Hercule Poirot, because Finney was just in his 30s. But Finney was the ideal actor for the part, and makeup solved the age difference.

Lumet says, "Everybody was delighted with the part they had, except Ingrid (Bergman). I originally sent her the script to do the Princess Dragomiroff. I went up to see her and she could not have been more charmed. And she said, smiling, 'I want to do the crazy nanny.'" That she did, and it won her an Oscar as best supporting actress. Hers was the only win for the film out of six Academy Awards nominations.

Jacqueline Bisset, who plays Countess Andrenyi, says Sidney Lumet contacted her agent and so she met with him. She says he had a favorite phrase that he used to wile her, "There's no such thing as a small part. There are just small actors."

Michael York plays Count Andrenyi in the movie. Here, he talks about the routines and work of filming, including the difficult schedules at times. "So, it was very nice," he says, "to find yourself at some ungodly hour in the morning, down in the makeup room, sitting under a hairdryer, being glamorized, while next to you, Ingrid Bergman is being de-glamorized."

This documentary has more little gems and pearls of information. Those who enjoy "Murder on the Orient Express," should especially enjoy this documentary film as well.

Ever since the inception of DVD, Laurent Bouzereau has practically cornered the market in featurettes detailing the behind-the-scenes of classic films; this look into the making of the most commercially successful Agatha Christie adaptation is an exemplary effort, with the participation of several of the people involved (including director Sidney Lumet, producers John Brabourne and Richard Goodwin, production/costume designer Tony Walton and, of the surviving cast members, Jacqueline Bisset, Sean Connery and Michael York). As expected, the many backstage vicissitudes are discussed (though, frankly, there is little that cannot be easily gleaned from the film's trivia section on IMDb!) and, equally unsurprisingly, they all have fond memories of the reasonably arduous shooting (filming took place all over Europe in a cramped single setting replicating the train compartments and where the schedules of numerous international stars had to be accommodated) and nothing but praise for the end result. Which, perhaps, is where its main problem lies: a certain lack of objectivity. Also, it is decidedly disappointing not to find Finney among the interviewees or that no mention whatsoever is made of the subsequent Poirot films, especially since the same production team of MURDER itself were also behind the first few of those as well.