Do NOT forget that the latest version of Murder on the Orient Express will be airing tonight, July 11, 2010. Yes, it’s true! The (British) actor David Suchet will deliver yet another perfect portrayal of the Belgian private investigator. (What Jeremy Brett is to Sherlock Holmes, David Suchet is to Hercule Poirot!)
I recently re-watched the 1974 movie version of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express (directed by Sidney Lumet) just so that I could compare that particular version to tonight’s Masterpiece Mystery! 90-minute version. (Having already read the Agatha Christie mystery, and seen both the 1974 version of the movie, and a 1930/1940 movie, I knew I wouldn’t be spoiling the actual plot.)
The 1974 movie stars Albert Finney as Hercule Poirot, and has a dream cast of actors from the 1970s. (Watching the 1974 Albert Finney Murder on the Orient Express reminded me of watching Murder, She Wrote… and having all of the “A-list” guest stars in one 2-hour movie…)
If you have a yearning for seeing: Albert Finney and (by alphabetical order) Lauren Bacall, Martin Balsam, Ingrid Bergman, Jacqueline Bisset, Sean Connery, John Gielgud, Wendy Hiller, Anthony Perkins, Vanessa Redgrave, Richard Widmark,and Michael York… all in the confines of a very luxurious, absolutely splendorous train setting, with gorgeous chandeliers that shimmer and shine, mother-of-pearl inlays in the (¿mahogany?) wood paneling of the walls, private sleeping cars that are without doubt unequal today, shared sleeping berths that would make you wish you could travel in the second-class section >>>Well then, this 1974 Murder on the Orient Express is for you!
BUT >>> If you have a desire for watching Hercule Poirot as only David Suchet can portray him, then make sure you are either sitting in front of your television tonight (on your local PBS station) OR you don’t forget to set your mode of recording!
I only wish that Hugh Frasier (Capt. Hastings) and Pauline Moran (Miss Lemon) could have come aboard!
Ann says
I’d forgotten this was on tonight. Thanks for the reminder.
Ann
Cozy In Texas
Lisa says
After seeing the special with David Suchet on the magnificent train I was quite excited about last night’s broadcast. I must say I was dissappointed. Very little character development for any of the suspects, Poirot didn’t seem his regular self either. As a Catholic, I was confused by this infusion into Poirot’s character. Suchet is and was marvelous, the production brilliant, but the screen play-script! Why make adjustments to Agatha’s Christie’s magnificent story? I recommend buying the dvd of Suchet’s actual trip on the historic and romantic train. I hope the others in this series are better written.
Kim says
I also was disappointed in the version on PBS, and I was so hopeful because I love David Suchet as Poirot. But I guess when you leave out a character, you have to make someone else one of the killers. Really?? And the 2 scenes showing us Poirot’s thoughts on justice…really not necessary. I have noticed tho, that the newer episodes don’t adhere to the books, and that is what I am watching for. I love the books and want to see those dramatized.