Last night was the 3rd official meeting of The Book Was Better Club at my library. The book this month was Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie. We only had 3 attendees but that is better than none. The main goal of this book discussion group was to get working people involved in events at the library. That's the main reason why the group meets at night after working hours. Next month we are reading Matilda by Roald Dahl, my favorite book of all time! These are some of the main differences between the movie & the book from last night & the final outcome from the group.
The movie starts off at the Waiting Wall in Jerusalem the year is 1934 & Poirot is there on holiday or maybe working on a case. As the scene progresses there is a robbery from a temple & he helps resolve that it was the guard who stole.
Next they travel to Istanbul by boat, the Dr. & the Governess are on the boat as well.
Bouc is in Istanbul with a prostitute when he runs into Poirot.
In the book Poirot gets a telegram that he must return to London right away for a case. But in the movie a man from the consulate hand delivers the message.
In the movie the compartment that is always reserved is the No 11 but in the book it's the back most one No 16. Just as in the book that one is not available & someone has not shown up so Poirot gets that compartment.
Once on the train as is well until Ratchett approaches the detective for help. In the movie Ratchett (played by Johnny Depp) is much worse of a character. While trying to convince Poirot to take his case Ratchett pulls a gun on him, but just as in the book Poirot refuses.
The movie overall was much more dramatic than the book. So that night the train is hit by an avalanche & is derailed over a long bridge over looking a lake before it reaches the Bouc station.
Later that night is when the murder occurs. But there is no scream in the night as in the book.
The next morning the valet brings breakfast to Ratchett's cabin & he doesn't answer, the door is opened by Poirot & the body is found.
In the compartment with Ratchett's body they find drugs in his night time coffee-barbitol. They also find the watch, the handkerchief, & the pipe cleaner just as in the book.
It is then that Poirot meets with everyone in the dining car to announce that Ratchett has been killed & begins interviewing everyone.
By this time a message has been sent to the station & a crew is coming out to bail them out of the snow & get them back on the tracks.
Also in the cabin the group finds a note similar to that in the book it reads, as a strong blood is on your hand you will die.
The Armstrong kidnapping & murder case is the main drive behind the murder in both the book & the movie.
Once the interviews start taking place they find the red kimono in Poirot's suitcase but in the book they never find it. The conductor's uniform is also found in the suitcase of the Princess's maid.
Building up the drama, in the middle of the interviews MacQueen tries to run down the bridge after burning Ratchett's business ledger because he has been stealing from him. Poirot & Bouc run after in then interview him a second time.
One of the biggest changes is that there is no Italian man in the movie but he has been replaced by a Latin man named Marquez. Also the Dr. is Arbuthnot & there is no Colonel. The Dr. is the only one on the train who smokes a pipe. In addition Hardman is pretending to be a professor not a salesman.
Once the interviews are complete the passengers are still waiting to get righted & back on their route when "someone" tries to dispose of the murder weapon, a big knife, & they stab Mrs. Hubbard with it "on accident" while getting rid of it. But the Dr. is the one that stabs her because he is part of the plan.
Poirot is meeting with the governess Mary when she confesses to the murder but the Dr. is there & he doesn't want her to take the blame so he also confesses after he shoots Poirot & they get in to a fight over hanging the bridge out the side of the train car. Bouc stops them.
In the end the 2 different outcomes are presented as in the book. A mystery person that left the train is the first & is also presented to the police. But the 2nd is where all the passengers were connected to the Armstrong family so they enact revenge on Ratchett, whose real name is Cassetti. We get to see how the murder went down, Linda Arden was the organizer & she is pretending to be Mrs. Hubbard. When they all confess their story Poirot insists that they kill him because he will not lie to the police. So Mrs. Hubbard/Linda Arden takes then gun & instead tries to shoot herself from guilt but it is empty.
They get back on the tracks & make it to the station where a man is waiting for Poirot & he must go to Egypt right away on another case.
Overall the movie followed the same basic story of the book & it was a good movie, very well done. But they made it much more dramatic than the book so the big screen.
At the end the group decided that the book was better!
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