Murder on the Orient Express

December 1935. Poirot boards the Orient Express in Istanbul, headed for London. The next night the train is stuck in a snowdrift, and American businessman Ratchett is found drugged and stabbed twelve times. Poirot learns he was really Cassetti, the man who kidnapped and killed little Daisy Armstrong in 1930, and that nearly every passenger is tied to her family. In the end he lays out two solutions: an outside Mafia hitman dressed as a conductor, or the passengers executing Cassetti together. Bianchi, the railway director, picks the first. The doctor and Poirot agree, and the train moves on.

1. Behind the scenesMountbatten won Christie over

   Christie didn't want to sell more rights after the 1960s adaptations, which she disliked. Lord Mountbatten helped the producers get her yes, and she ended up giving the film some grudging praise.

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2. Behind the scenesThe Oscar Bergman picked

   Ingrid Bergman was offered Princess Dragomiroff but asked to play the shy Greta Ohlsson instead. The part won her the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

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3. Behind the scenesThe moustache didn't sell the author

   Christie wrote that Poirot had the finest moustache in England. After the film, she complained that Albert Finney's didn't measure up.

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