| This Hercule Poirot mystery takes place on the elegant and plush Orient Express. The train is unusually crowded, traveling from Istanbul to Paris. Ratchett, a pushy, imperious millionaire, confronts Inspector Hercule Poirot and demands that the little Belgian take a case: protection. "I have an enemy," Ratchett says, and offers Poirot $20,000 if he will help him stay alive. Poirot declines because he can afford to, and because "I do not like your face, Monsieur." Later that night, as the train sits halted and snowbound, Ratchett is murderedà killed in a room locked from the inside. Poirot takes the case this time. It turns out that Ratchett, a gangster, a killer, kidnapper and child abuser, died of multiple stab wounds.Clearly, this clever, ruthless killer is still on board. Thirteen people on board knew the dead man. Each has a secret. Each had a reason to kill Ratchett, and each is a suspect in this murder. Can Poirot solve this baffling crime, find the person responsible, by the time the train reaches Paris? On April 22, the CBS Sunday Movie aired the mystery as a two-hour tv movie starring Alfred Molina as Hercule Poirot.The Academy Award-winning movie from 1974 starred Albert Finney as Hercule Poirot, as well as Lauren Bacall, Ingrid Bergman, Sean Connery, John Geilgud and Vanessa Redgrave. Ingrid Bergman earned the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. |
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