Murder on the Orient Express (1974)

Too much of everything

That was an excellent one.

Good concept, poorly executed.

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

This review comes on the heels of having just viewed the 2017 abortion directed by and starring Kenneth Branaugh and is more a comparison of the two cinematic versions than a simple review of the 1974 Sidney Lumet version. First of all, Agatha Christie's novel takes place in the 1930s. Lumet acknowledges this is a "period piece" and treats it as such. Glamour was a big thing in films set before the end of the studio system in Hollywood, and Lumet gives us plenty of it here (Branagh gives us little). The dramatic score for Lumet's 1974 film was composed by Richard Rodney Bennett, who is also the pianist on the soundtrack, which is lushly orchestrated and fits this production quite nicely. The all-star cast here is composed of well-known, proven actors, beginning with Albert Finney as Christie's sleuth, Hercule Poirot. It's unnecessary to list the entire star-studded cast here, as it's on the main page for the film, but the whole cast gives exemplary performances. The cinematography is exquisite, with Geoffrey Unsworth's excellent use of Panavision cameras and lenses. In fact, there's nothing bad to be said about the film. This was followed by several other Brabourne-Goodwin productions of Agatha Christie novels ("Death on the Nile," and "Evil Under the Sun," both with all-star casts with Peter Ustinov as Poirot and "The Mirror Crack'd" with Angela Lansbury as Christie's female sleuth, Miss Jane Marple), but none of the successors were as well-done as this one. The Kenneth Branaugh remake tells us that Branaugh's portrayal of Poirot was more important to him than the development of any of the other characters. The viewer gets the impression that Branaugh focused more on Poirot's obsessive-compulsive side than any other characterization in his film. In one word each, here's a description of the two versions: Lumet, 1974: magnificent; Branaugh, 2017: pedestrian.

First being based on an Agatha Christie novel makes it interesting, but if one looks at all the Top Tier actors/actresses results in an exceptional movie.

(Flash Review)The crux of this movie is, as the title implies, a murder had taken place on a train in the first class car while stranded mid-journey waiting for the snow covered tracks to get plowed. This started off pretty good but then once detective Poirot got involved began an endless stretch of him telling us what he was figuring out for clues. Clues that the audience most likely would not be able to figure out for themselves (or like me lost interest by then) by how the story unfolded. So the entire film is the audience being spoon-fed intricate clues as Poirot interviews the entire train car with unique characters, bland cinematography and iffy lighting. The acting, costumes and dialog were professional with a who's who of actors of that era. With the repetitive nature of the story, I almost fell asleep a couple times and I'm someone who can happily re-watch Barry Lyndon. Ha. Overall this didn't seem to make good use of the storytelling medium of film.

This is the first time I ever saw any version of "Murder On The Orient Express" and I guess it's only fitting that I review the original. This is a good movie, but it's not one of my favorites. The best part is easily the final scene. Well, not quite the final scene. I remember hearing about the ending and was afraid they might change it, but they got it right. I guess even if you do know the ending it can still be enjoyable. That's obviously doesn't mean I'm going to mention it here. It's too good to ruin.This features the character Hercule Peirot who I have heard about but never got the chance to see in action. There's one point in the film where they suspect that the butler did it. Never in any Agatha Christie novel does the butler actually do it. Maybe this film is where they got the idea? I was confused by the newsreel at the beginning, but it all made sense later. It's worth checking out.