Factual error: In the Bosphorus scenes, as the ferry crosses from the Asian to the European side of Istanbul, in the distance large trucks can be seen speeding along the coastal road opposite. Well before their time.
Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
Ending / spoiler
Directed by: Sidney Lumet
Starring: Sean Connery, Vanessa Redgrave, Martin Balsam, Albert Finney, Lauren Bacall, Ingrid Bergman, John Gielgud
They all did it. All twelve people had a special relationship with the murdered child and acted as they felt the jury in the man's trial should have, finding him guilty of the murder of the little girl. They arranged the murder so that they all stabbed the body of the criminal at different times in the night so nobody would know who was technically the guilty one. Poirot then decides to present a false scenario to the officials, and the people on the train are allowed to leave.
Mrs. Hubbard: Don't you agree the man must have entered my compartment to gain access to Mr. Ratchett?
Princess Dragomiroff: I can think of no other reason, madame.
Trivia: Ingrid Bergman won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Greta, even though she's only in the film for 14 minutes.
Question: Who was the person Poirot saw wearing the white dressing gown? And why did this person place it in his compartment? To plant "red herrings" like these do not draw attention away from the people on the train, but tells Poirot plain and simple that the murderer did NOT leave the train, but it still on board. So why bother doing it at all, as it only goes against their carefully planned cover story?
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Chosen answer: They planted this red herring not to divert Poirot's attention away from them - they were the only passengers on the train - they wanted to divert him from the fact that they were ALL involved in the murder, because they all had a common bond with the child whom the victim murdered. Each one made out like they didn't really know anyone else on the train, but they were all in on it.
Kimberly Klaus