PRE-OSCAR LOOK AT MOVIES THAT HAD AN IMPACT ON ME, PART 4 OF 12: MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (1974)

I have read Agatha Christie's novel twice, and seen three different film adaptations of this movie. I could make an argument for including David Suchet's rendition as well. But one could argue that I may not have watched the other versions or even read any Agatha Christie (who is at the top of authors I read the most novels by at 23, not counting movies I've seen based on other stories) if I hadn't seen this one first. 

This was my favorite of the three versions (though Suchet's my favorite Poirot). I re-watched this recently, shortly after watching the 2017 remake. Windmark's performance as the victim was one that didn't scream "evil" as the novel and the other versions hinted (though in Suchet's version, you had a split frame of the soon-to-be-deceased and Poirot praying that made me think of the Pharisee and Publican, and you can guess which is which).

My introduction to Sean Connery was this star-studded movie; I didn't realize at that time he played James Bond, and I forgot that he was in this movie as I became familiar with 007. In fact, I didn't know any of the actors prior to this film (with the possible exception of seeing Albert Finney's Christmas Carol musical prior to this; I'm not sure which I saw first). By the way, if you're wondering if Bond will be showing up in this list... nope. But if you're wondering what my favorite Bond movies are, those would be "Diamonds Are Forever" and "Man With A Golden Gun."