Gradually degenerating into ignorance and complacency.

Sunday, November 12, 2006

rewatched Express

Murder on the Orient Express is a bit long-winded and a desperate attempt to match the introduction and writing style of Agatha Christie. While the star-studded cast was nice, acting okay, I forgot how much I didn't care for Albert Finny as Hercule Poirot, but that's okay. What was remarkable was that my father mentioned that he saw the movie, but it wasn't this version. Looking on IMDb, I saw nothing that he described as a murder in London with some other little bits. If there is someone who knows this "other" version, please let me know.

Sir John Guilgood played a butler. He had a larger role in Arthur, still a manservent. In 1974 Sean Connery was certainly no James Bond with very gray hair. Yikes, going back in for Never Say Die was a mistake.

My favorite line from the movie was when there was an interrogation of the passengers about a murder and a woman remarked that she knew a man was in the room, but didn't see him. When asked how she knew he was a man, she said (dismissing her 50's age) that she had known the wamrth of a few men.

"With your eyes closed (questioning)", was Poirot's quick response. So, Hercule has a sense of humor.

---- Spoiler! If you haven't read the book or seen the movie, read no further, thanks! ----
Returning to the 1974 movie, it was interesting the degree to which each character did the stabbing. Three of the characters did a spinning motion while the knife was in, widening the hole. Also, Anthony Perkins having a character with a strange attachment or detatchment to his mother was an allusion to Psycho, for which he was more famous.

No comments: