Murder on the Orient Express

Murder on the Orient Express

The Orient Express legend has featured in many books, movies, TV & radio shows, and plays.

But Murder on the Orient Express is by far the best known.

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie - Book

The novel, Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie, featured the now legendary Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. It was first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club on 1 January 1934.

The elegant train of the 1930s, the Orient Express, is stopped by heavy snowfall. A murder is discovered, and Poirot's trip home to London from the Middle East is interrupted to solve the case. The opening chapters of the novel take place in Istanbul. The rest of the novel takes place in Yugoslavia, with the train trapped between Vinkovci and Brod.

Murder on the Orient Express - Film (1974)

Agatha Christie's book became a 1974 film directed by Sidney Lumet - a critical and popular success.

The movie starred Albert Finney as Poirot, Martin Balsam as Signor Bianchi, George Coulouris as Dr Constantine, and Richard Widmark as Ratchett/Cassetti, with the remaining cast of suspects including Sean Connery (Arbuthnot), Lauren Bacall (Mrs Hubbard), Anthony Perkins (McQueen), John Gielgud (Beddoes), Michael York (Count Andrenyi), Jean-Pierre Cassel (Pierre Michel), Jacqueline Bisset (Countess Andrenyi), Wendy Hiller (Princess Dragomiroff), Vanessa Redgrave (Mary Debenham), Rachel Roberts (Hildegarde Schmidt), Colin Blakely (Hardman), Denis Quilley (Foscarelli), and Ingrid Bergman, who won the 1974 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Greta Ohlsson.

Murder on the Orient Express - Film (2017)

Kenneth Branagh directed & starred as Poirot in Murder on the Orient Express (2017)

The cast included Johnny Depp as Ratchett, Michelle Pfeiffer as Mrs Hubbard, Penélope Cruz as Pilar Estravados (a Spanish version of Greta Ohlsson, the name coming from a character in Hercule Poirot's Christmas), Judi Dench as Princess Dragomiroff, Derek Jacobi as Masterman, Leslie Odom Jr. as Dr Arbuthnot, Daisy Ridley as Mary Debenham, Lucy Boynton as Countess Andrenyi, Tom Bateman as Monsieur Bouc, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo as Biniamino Marquez (a Cuban version of Antonio Foscarelli), Josh Gad as Hector MacQueen, Marwan Kenzari as Pierre Michel, Sergei Polunin as Count Andrenyi, Willem Dafoe as Gerhard Hardman, and Olivia Colman as Hildegarde Schmidt.

A couple have spent two years restoring a Lake District railway station which became covered in vegetation after it was mothballed in the 1960s. Diana and Simon Parums were inspired to buy Bassenthwaite Lake station in Cumbria because of memories of childhood holidays spent in the area. They are opening it to visitors along with a replica steam train used in the 2017 Murder On The Orient Express. Guests will be seated in a carriage which will serve as a dining room.

Die Galerie der großen Detektive - TV (1955)

The Murder on the Orient Express novel was first adapted as a 1955 episode of the West German television series Die Galerie der großen Detektive. Heini Göbel played the role of Poirot.

Murder on the Orient Express - TV (2001)

A thoroughly modernized made-for-TV version of the Murder on the Orient Express starring Alfred Molina as Poirot was presented by CBS in 2001.

This version co-starred Meredith Baxter as Mrs Hubbard and Leslie Caron as the Princess Dragomiroff (renamed Señora Alvarado and portrayed as the widow of a South American dictator). Poirot is portrayed as significantly younger and less eccentric than Christie's detective, and is given a subplot involving a romantic relationship with Vera Rosakoff, who is loosely based on an infrequently recurring character of the same name. The story is updated to a contemporary setting, and four of the suspects (Hildegarde Schmidt, Cyrus Hardman, Edward Masterman and Greta Ohlssohn) are deleted, as is Dr Constantine.

Murder on the Orient Express - TV (2010)

David Suchet reprised the role of Hercule Poirot in "Murder on the Orient Express" (2010), a 90-minute movie-length episode of the television series Agatha Christie's Poirot co-produced by ITV Studios and WGBH-TV, adapted for the screen by Stewart Harcourt.

The cast includes Dame Eileen Atkins as Princess Dragomiroff, Hugh Bonneville as Masterman, Jessica Chastain as Mary Debenham, Barbara Hershey as Mrs Hubbard, Toby Jones as Ratchett, and David Morrissey as Colonel Arbuthnot. The character Cyrus Hardman (the former American police officer turned private detective) has been largely amalgamated with the chauffeur Foscarelli (in as much as regards being the lover of the dead maid) and Dr Constantine (who in the novel is unrelated to the murders) becomes a co-conspirator.

The main difference from the novel is the additional element of Poirot's Catholicism being brought to the forefront, and his personal and religious struggle with whether to expose the murderers or let them off the hook, as well as a much darker atmosphere of the film, in comparison with the novel.

Orient Kyuukou Satsujin Jiken -Japanese TV (2015)

A Japanese adaptation was broadcast over two nights in January 2015 on Fuji Television, titled Orient Kyuukou Satsujin Jiken [ja], and it featured several famous actors, including Ninomiya Kazunari, Matsushima Nanako, Tamaki Hiroshi, Kichise Michiko, Nishida Toshiyuki, and Sawamura Ikki. The main character, Suguro Takeru, modeled on Hercule Poirot, was played by actor Nomura Mansai.

The first night featured a storyline true to the original text, but set in Japan in 1933. In this version, the train Orient Kyuukou ran from the western city of Shimonoseki to Tokyo, with the train stopped by a small avalanche near Sekigahara, Gifu.

The second night was an original story.

Agatha Christie, Author, Murder on the Orient Express

Here is the official home page of The Home of Agatha Christie.

Visit Agatha Christie's Devon home, Greenway.