The Lauren Bacall Blogathon – Murder on the Orient Express (1974)

This is the final of 3 reviews that are part of the Lauren Bacall Blogathon being hosted by Crystal over at In The Good Old Days Of Classic Hollywood.

Thanks for letting me take part!
“Mr. Ratchett, I have made enough money to satisfy both my needs and my caprices. I take only such cases now as interest me, and to be frank, my interest in your case is, uh… dwindling.” – Hercule Poirot

Number of Times Seen – 2 (26 Mar 2001 and 10 Sep 2015)

Brief Synopsis – Following a mysterious murder aboard a stranded train traveling across Europe, a famed detective interrogates all the passengers in order to ferret out the culprit

My Take on it – Adapting mystery novels to the screen are never a simple feat because there is so much conveyed on paper that just can’t be done properly on screen.

This is a very cleverly written mystery plot that mostly consists of interviews and flashbacks.

The cast is amazing and they all play very eccentric characters that are nicely fleshed out during each individual interview.  Two standouts are Sean Connery as a former officer and Lauren Bacall as a divorcee.

Albert Finney was an interesting choice as the detective Poirot, since he seems a bit wrong for the part,  but they could have done a lot worse.

It’s important to follow all of the interviews carefully in order to understand the convoluted plot line, but it’s worth it in the end.

Bottom Line – Very cleverly written murder mystery that works well on screen, but feels that it would be even better on paper..  Amazing cast of actors playing some very eccentric characters.  Finney was a strange choice as the lead, but they could have done much worse.  Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – The film boasts 58 Oscar nominations and 14 wins (not including 2 Honorary wins) from its principal cast and crew. Martin Balsam (1), Ingrid Bergman (3; 7 nods), Sean Connery (1), John Gielgud (1; 2 nods), Wendy Hiller (1; 3 nods), Vanessa Redgrave (1; 6 nods), Paul Dehn (1; 2 nods), Geoffrey Unsworth (2; 4 nods), Anne V. Coates (1; 5 nods), Tony Walton (1; 5 nods) and Jack Stephens (1; 2 nods) are Oscar winners; Lauren Bacall and Sidney Lumet are Honorary Oscar winners. Albert Finney (5), Bacall (1), Anthony Perkins (1), Rachel Roberts (1), Richard Widmark (1), Lumet (5), Richard Rodney Bennett (3) and producers Richard B. Goodwin (1) and John Brabourne (2) are Oscar nominees. (From IMDB)

Rating – Globe Worthy

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