Murder on the Orient Express

I would consider myself a fan of a good murder mystery, or a whodunnit, but looking at a list of the classics, I start to question whether I really am when there are so many I've yet to see. Thankfully, the festive period proves to reliably broadcast a plethora of some of the very best and I recently sat down to watch Murder on the Orient Express from 1974.  Adapted from the Agatha Christie novel of the same name and one that she would live to see two years prior to her death, this has become cited as one of the best adaptations but would I be able to look past knowing the murderer thanks to Kenneth Branagh's generally solid adaptation in 2017? 

Directed by Sidney Lumet and set in 1935, the Belgium detective, Hercule Poirot, boards the Orient Express in Istanbul as he plans to travel back into the heartland of Europe but the train comes under heavy weather causing it stop where one of the passengers is then murdered overnight. The victim was a tough, American businessman and it's up to the famed detective to deduce who the killer is. 

Murder on the Orient Express features an all-star cast of great names new and old, and is headlined by a young Albert Finney as Poirot who comes complete with the large moustache and oily slicked back hair but he adopts a much more eccentric approach than I expected. This all compliments his appearance and helps to distinguish from the straight-laced passengers who are all hoping to keep to themselves in what really is an excellent thriller. 

The supporting cast, as mentioned, are dominated by stars including Lauren Bacall, Sean Connery, Ingrid Bergman, Martin Balsam, John Gielgud, Anthony Perkins and Vanessa Redgrave who are all fantastic in a film that still looks great to this day. Branagh's version felt too polished and over relied on CGI backdrops whereas here you feel the claustrophobic environment of the lavish train as Lumet builds the tension. 

So the classic remains a classic? Absolutely, recent adaptations have not diminished this one bit and it remains a great film from an excellent director with a stellar cast. The young Finney would only star as Poirot once and it is a shame we would never get to see him don the moustached detective again but it paved the way for other actors to step in. Fans of murder mysteries or not, this remains a great film that will easily lure audiences in and entertain for two hours at ease.