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Murder on the Orient Express (2001 film)

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Murder on the Orient Express
Based onMurder on the Orient Express
by Agatha Christie
Screenplay byStephen Harrigan
Directed byCarl Schenkel
StarringAlfred Molina
Meredith Baxter
Leslie Caron
Peter Strauss
ComposerChristopher Franke
Country of originUnited States
United Kingdom
Germany[1]
Original languageEnglish
Production
ProducerMarion Rosenberg
CinematographyRex Maidment
EditorHenk Van Eeghen
Running time100 minutes
Production companiesAgatha Christie Ltd.
CBS
Original release
NetworkCBS
Sky Movies
ITV[1]
ReleaseApril 22, 2001 (2001-04-22)

Murder on the Orient Express is a 2001 made-for-television mystery film directed by Carl Schenkel based on the 1934 novel Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie, featuring Hercule Poirot. This version is set in the present day and has a smaller cast than the novel. The screenplay was written by Stephen Harrigan and the original music score was composed by Christopher Franke.[1]

Plot

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Hercule Poirot is travelling on the Orient Express. While on the journey, Poirot meets a very close friend Bouc, who works for the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits. The train is stopped when a landslide blocks the line on the second night out from Istanbul, and American millionaire Samuel Edward Ratchett is found stabbed to death the next morning.

Since no footprints are visible around the train and the doors to the other cars were locked, it seems that the murderer must still be among the passengers in Ratchett's car. Poirot and Bouc work together to solve the case. They are aided by Pierre Michel, the middle-aged French conductor of the car.

A key to the solution is Ratchett's revealed involvement in the Armstrong tragedy in the United States several years earlier, in which a baby was kidnapped and then murdered. (The fictitious Armstrong case, inspired by the real-life kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh's baby boy.)

Cast

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Background

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Burt Reynolds, Judi Dench, Lauren Bacall, Claire Bloom, Charlotte Rampling, and Sophia Loren were all originally believed to have been cast in the film.[2][3][4][5] At least a dozen members of Keighley Playhouse in Keighley were extras on the film, and provided their own costumes.[6]

Filming and production

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Filming started on 6 February 2001 in Leeds.[2][3] A replica of an Orient Express buffet car was built at Horsforth's newly opened Transformer Studios, where the majority of the filming took place.[2] Filming also took place in Kingston upon Hull, Bury, and Istanbul.[3][5]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express". BFI Collections. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  2. ^ a b c "World Stars May Film in Horsforth". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. 25 January 2001. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  3. ^ a b c "Stars steam in - but not from Hollywood". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. 1 February 2001. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  4. ^ "Daybreak start is murder... but fun!". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. 13 February 2001. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  5. ^ a b "The early mornings are murder...but great fun". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. 15 February 2001. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  6. ^ "Always dressed to kill... that's Mavis". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. 27 February 2001. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
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