Review of Murder on the Orient Express (1974) by Jordan B — 24 Jun 2014

Following the ancient Hollywood tradition of studding popular works of literature to the hilt with top-names, this film dared to take a crack at one of Agatha Christie's most involved and constricted crime-thrillers, "Murder on the Orient Express.

" tough Bergman takes home the Oscar for her commendable supporting role, it really isn't practical to leave out the rest of the equally-superb cast, in particular Albert Finney, Lauren Bacall and Vanessa Redgrave among others (Sadly, we don't see anything interesting from the more-than-capable Anthony Perkins, who is shamefully typecast a la Norman Bates).

Masterfully crafted and painstakingly written, this movie excels in most facets of film-making, but it still stands for me that murder-mysteries make the most exciting books and the most ponderous movies.

This film, however, comes damn close to making me rethink my opinion, even with its two-hour run-time. It may be a bit slow for some, but this movie is anything but intolerable, and miraculously holds tension like a taut rope throughout.

And it is an egregious understatement to say that its lush musical score by Richard Rodney Bennett is absolutely charming.