Review 546: Murder on the Orient Express

Based on the detective novel Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie, In December 1935, Hercule Poirot (Albert Finney) is one of many passengers traveling onboard the Orient Express.
But when unpopular American billionaire Samuel Ratchett (Richard Widmark) is murdered en route, Poirot takes up the case and everyone on board this famous train is a suspect. Using an avalanche blocking the tracks to his advantage, Poirot gradually realises that many of the passenger have revenge as a motive and begins to home in on the culprit.

Throughout the film, as he tries to solve the murder, he's surrounded by a group of colourful characters played by some very well chosen A-List actors. These include Lauren Bacall as American widow Harriet Hubbard, Wendy Hiller as elderly Russian Princess Natalia Dragomiroff and her faithful German maid Hildegarde Schmidt (Rachel Roberts); Jacqueline Bisset and Michael York as Hungarian diplomats Countess Helena Andrenyi and her husband Count Rudolf; Sean Connery as English office Col. Arbuthnot returning from India.