1974, Film: Murder on the Orient Express

The British thriller "Murder on the Orient Express" premiered on 21 November 1974. Directed by Sidney Lumet and written by Paul Dehn, the film is based on Agatha Christie's 1934 novel of the same name. The music was composed by Richard Rodney Bennett.

The film features an all-star cast, with Albert Finney as the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot; Martin Balsam as the railway director, Bianchi; Richard Widmark as the American business tycoon Ratchett; Lauren Bacall as Mrs. Harriet Belinda Hubbard; Ingrid Bergman as Greta Ohlsson; Sean Connery as Lt. Colonel John Arbuthnott; John Gielgud as Edward Beddoes; Jean-Pierre Cassel as Pierre Paul Michel; Vanessa Redgrave as Mary Debenham; Michael York as Count Rudolf Andrenyi; Rachel Roberts as Hildegarde Schmidt; Jacqueline Bisset as Countess Helena Andrenyi; Anthony Perkins as Hector McQueen; Denis Quilley as Gino Foscarelli; Colin Blakely as Cyrus B. Hardman; and Wendy Hiller as Princess Natalia Dragomiroff.  

Albert Finney as Hercule Poirot

Anthony Perkins as Hector McQueen and Albert Finney as Hercule Poirot

Lauren Bacall as Mrs. Harriet Belinda Hubbard

Ingrid Bergman as Greta Ohlsson

Jacqueline Bisset as Countess Helena Andrenyi

Synopsis
Unexpectedly returning to England from Istanbul, the famed Belgian detective Hercule Poirot (Albert Finney) finds himself traveling aboard the Orient Express. One of the passengers (Richard Widmark) approaches him, claiming to have received anonymous threats and asking Poirot to act as his bodyguard. Poirot declines the request. However, when the man is found stabbed to death the next morning, it becomes clear that the threats were real. As Poirot begins to question the passengers on the train, he discovers that several of them share a mysterious connection—and gradually, he begins to unravel the truth behind a remarkably complex crime…

Colin Blakely as Cyrus B. Hardman

Jean-Pierre Cassel as Pierre Paul Michel

John Gielgud as Edward Beddoes

Sean Connery as Lt. Colonel John Arbuthnott and Vanessa Redgrave as Mary Debenham

Denis Quilley as Gino Foscarelli

Main cast

• Albert Finney as Hercule Poirot
• Lauren Bacall as Mrs. Harriet Belinda Hubbard
• Martin Balsam as Bianchi
• Ingrid Bergman as Greta Ohlsson
• Jacqueline Bisset as Countess Helena Andrenyi
• Jean-Pierre Cassel as Pierre Paul Michel
• Sean Connery as Lt. Colonel John Arbuthnott
• John Gielgud as Edward Beddoes
• Wendy Hiller as Princess Natalia Dragomiroff
• Anthony Perkins as Hector McQueen
• Vanessa Redgrave as Mary Debenham
• Rachel Roberts as Hildegarde Schmidt
• Richard Widmark as Ratchett
• Michael York as Count Rudolf Andrenyi
• Colin Blakely as Cyrus B. Hardman
• George Coulouris as Dr. Stavros Constantine
• Denis Quilley as Gino Foscarelli
• Vernon Dobtcheff as Concierge
• Jeremy Lloyd as A.D.C.
• John Moffatt as Chief Attendant

Vanessa Redgrave as Mary Debenham

Richard Widmark as Ratchett

Wendy Hiller as Princess Natalia Dragomiroff

Michael York as Count Rudolf Andrenyi

Trivia

• 84-year-old Dame Agatha Christie attended the premiere of the film. It was the only adaptation made during her lifetime with which she was completely satisfied. The premiere marked her final public appearance. She died fourteen months later, on 12 January 1976.
• Ingrid Bergman was initially offered the role of Princess Dragomiroff, but instead requested to play the smaller role of Greta Ohlsson.

Sean Connery as Lt. Colonel John Arbuthnott

Rachel Roberts as Hildegarde Schmidt

Albert Finney as Hercule Poirot and Jeremy Lloyd as A.D.C.

Martin Balsam as Bianchi, Albert Finney as Hercule Poirot and
George Coulouris as Dr. Stavros Constantine

 

Awards

• 1975, Academy Awards (USA), Best Supporting Actress: Ingrid Bergman
• 1975, BAFTA Awards (UK), Best Supporting Actor: John Gielgud
• 1975, BAFTA Awards (UK), Best Supporting Actress: Ingrid Bergman
• 1975, BAFTA Awards (UK), Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music: Richard Rodney Bennett
• 1975, Evening Standard British Film Awards (UK), Best Film: Sidney Lumet
• 1975, Evening Standard British Film Awards (UK), Best Actor: Albert Finney
• 1975, Evening Standard British Film Awards (UK), Best Actress: Wendy Hiller
• 1975, Writers' Guild of Great Britain Awards (UK): Best British Screenplay: Paul Dehn

Trailer

1977, Film and Television Awards: British Academy Awards (BAFTAs)

Best Film
Winner: "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"
(Milos Forman, Lawrence Hauben, Bo Goldman, Ken Kesey, Dale Wasserman, USA, 1975)

Nominees:

• "All the President's Men" (Alan J. Pakula, Carl Bernstein, Bob Woodward, William Goldman, USA, 1976)
• "Bugsy Malone" (Alan Parker, UK, 1976)
• "Taxi Driver" (Martin Scorsese, Paul Schrader, USA, 1976)

Best Actor
Winner: Jack Nicholson as Randle McMurphy in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"
(Milos Forman, Lawrence Hauben, Bo Goldman, Ken Kesey, Dale Wasserman, USA, 1975)

Nominees:

• Robert De Niro as Travis Bickle in "Taxi Driver" (Martin Scorsese, Paul Schrader, USA, 1976)
• Dustin Hoffman as Carl Bernstein "All the President's Men" (Alan J. Pakula, Carl Bernstein, Bob Woodward, William Goldman, USA, 1976) and Thomas Babington Levy in "Marathon Man" (John Schlesinger, William Goldman, USA, 1976)
• Walter Matthau as Morris Buttermaker in "The Bad News Bears" (Michael Ritchie, Bill Lancaster, USA, 1976) and as Willy Clark in "The Sunshine Boys" (Herbert Ross, Neil Simon, USA, 1975)

Best Actress
Winner: Louise Fletcher as Nurse Ratched in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"
(Milos Forman, Lawrence Hauben, Bo Goldman, Ken Kesey, Dale Wasserman, USA, 1975)

Nominees:

• Lauren Bacall as Bond Rogers in "The Shootist" (Don Siegel, Glendon Swarthout, Miles Hood Swarthout, Scott Hale, USA, 1976)
• Liv Ullmann as Jenny Isaksson in "Ansikte mot ansikte" (Ingmar Bergman, Sweden, 1976)
• Rita Moreno as Googie Gomez in "The Ritz" (Richard Lester, Terrence McNally, UK, 1976

Best Supporting Actor
Winner: Brad Dourif as Billy Bibbit in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"
(Milos Forman, Lawrence Hauben, Bo Goldman, Ken Kesey, Dale Wasserman, USA, 1975)

Nominees:

• Jason Robards as Ben Bradlee in "All the President's Men" (Alan J. Pakula, Carl Bernstein, Bob Woodward, William Goldman, USA, 1976)
• Martin Balsam as Howard Simons in "All the President's Men" (Alan J. Pakula, Carl Bernstein, Bob Woodward, William Goldman, USA, 1976)
• Michael Hordern as King in "The Slipper and the Rose" (Bryan Forbes, Robert B. Sherman, Richard M. Sherman, UK, 1976)

Best Supporting Actress
Winner: Jodie Foster as Tallulah in "Bugsy Malone"
(Alan Parker, UK, 1976) and as Iris in "Taxi Driver" (Martin Scorsese, Paul Schrader, USA, 1976)

Nominees:

• Annette Crosbie as Fairy Godmother in "The Slipper and the Rose" (Bryan Forbes, Robert B. Sherman, Richard M. Sherman, UK, 1976)
• Billie Whitelaw as Baylock in "The Omen" (Richard Donner, David Seltzer, UK/USA, 1976)
• Vivien Merchant as Ruth in "The Homecoming" (Peter Hall, Harold Pinter, UK/USA, 1973)

Best Direction
Winner: Miloš Forman with "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"
(Milos Forman, Lawrence Hauben, Bo Goldman, Ken Kesey, Dale Wasserman, USA, 1975)

Nominees:

• Alan J. Pakula with "All the President's Men" (Alan J. Pakula, Carl Bernstein, Bob Woodward, William Goldman, USA, 1976)
• Alan Parker with "Bugsy Malone" (Alan Parker, UK, 1976)
• Martin Scorsese with "Taxi Driver" (Martin Scorsese, Paul Schrader, USA, 1976)

Best Screenplay
Winner: Alan Parker for "Bugsy Malone"
(Alan Parker, UK, 1976)

Nominees:

• William Goldman for "All the President's Men" (Alan J. Pakula, Carl Bernstein, Bob Woodward, William Goldman, USA, 1976)
• Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman for "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (Milos Forman, Lawrence Hauben, Bo Goldman, Ken Kesey, Dale Wasserman, USA, 1975)
• Neil Simon for "The Sunshine Boys" (Herbert Ross, Neil Simon, USA, 1975)

Best Cinematography
Winner: Russell Boyd "Picnic at Hanging Rock"
(Peter Weir, Joan Lindsay, Cliff Green, Australia, 1975)

Nominees:

• Gerry Fisher and Peter Allwork for "Aces High" (Jack Gold, Howard Barker, R.C. Sherriff, Cecil Lewis, UK/France, 1976)
• Gordon Willis for "All the President's Men" (Alan J. Pakula, Carl Bernstein, Bob Woodward, William Goldman, USA, 1976)
• Haskell Wexler, Bill Butler and William A. Fraker for "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (Milos Forman, Lawrence Hauben, Bo Goldman, Ken Kesey, Dale Wasserman, USA, 1975)

Best Costume Design
Winner: Moidele Bickel for "Die Marquise von O..."
(Éric Rohmer, Heinrich von Kleist , West Germany / France, 1976)

Nominees:

• Monica Howe for "Bugsy Malone" (Alan Parker, UK, 1976)
• Judy Dorsman for "Picnic at Hanging Rock" (Peter Weir, Joan Lindsay, Cliff Green, Australia, 1975)
• Julie Harris for "The Slipper and the Rose" (Bryan Forbes, Robert B. Sherman, Richard M. Sherman, UK, 1976)

Best Film Editing
Winner: Richard Chew, Lynzee Klingman and Sheldon Kahn for "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"
(Milos Forman, Lawrence Hauben, Bo Goldman, Ken Kesey, Dale Wasserman, USA, 1975)

Nominees:

• Robert L. Wolfe for "All the President's Men" (Alan J. Pakula, Carl Bernstein, Bob Woodward, William Goldman, USA, 1976)
• Jim Clark for "Marathon Man" (John Schlesinger, William Goldman, USA, 1976)
• Marcia Lucas, Tom Rolf and Melvin Shapiro for "Taxi Driver" (Martin Scorsese, Paul Schrader, USA, 1976)

Best Sound Track
Winner: Les Wiggins, Clive Winter, Ken Barker for "Bugsy Malone"
(Alan Parker, UK, 1976)

Nominees:

• Milton Burrow, Jim Webb, Les Fresholtz, Arthur Piantadosi and Dick Alexander for "All the President's Men" (Alan J. Pakula, Carl Bernstein, Bob Woodward, William Goldman, USA, 1976)
• Mary McGlone, Robert Rutledge, Veronica Selver, Larry Jost and Mark Berger for "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (Milos Forman, Lawrence Hauben, Bo Goldman, Ken Kesey, Dale Wasserman, USA, 1975)
• Greg Bell and Dan Connelly for "Picnic at Hanging Rock" (Peter Weir, Joan Lindsay, Cliff Green, Australia, 1975)