My Current Interest

The Albert Finney version of Murder on the Orient Express (1974) is the first film version I will compare to the book . It is the oldest film adaptation I know of and figured it would be the best one to start with. A film packed with stars of the time, I suspect it was the movie to be in. The question is, how close is it to the book? Murder on the Orient Express Daisy Armstrong is kidnapped Newspapers flash across the screen. Young Daisy Armstrong has been kidnapped and murdered. We see as Daisy is taken from her bed. Her stuffed toy falls to the floor on the way out of the house. Staff members are attacked. Daisy’s parents arrive home, ready to pay the ransom for their daughter. The ransom is paid, but Daisy is killed anyway. Five years later, Detective Hercule Poirot (Albert Finney) is traveling on the Orient Express. He was not supposed to be on the train, but an urgent matter forces him to change his travel plans. The berths are full, but with a little rearranging, Poiro...

Last year I did comparisons of three film adaptations of Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile in relation to the book. I have decided to do the same with Ms. Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express . This time, instead of one post, I will have separate posts for all four versions of Murder on the Orient Express . I will start with the book itself. Murder on the Orient Express Agatha Christie Hercule Poirot finds murder on the Orient Express Detective Hercule Poirot was not supposed to be on the train. An emergency forced his need to travel, which is how he ended up on the surprisingly full Orient Express. The train ride is already expected to be a long journey, but it becomes even longer when the train gets stuck in a snowstorm. The snowstorm, however, is a minor inconvenience compared to the murder Poirot must solve. The victim is a man named Ratchett. At least that is the name he has been going by. Cassetti is his true name. It is a well-known name as he is the man who got aw...

When I started watching the TV series Miss Marple , I found myself very confused. Joan Hickson was a much smaller and frailer Miss Marple than I had in mind. I eventually realized this belief was because of Margaret Rutherford. She was the first Miss Marple I recalled seeing and is taller and stockier than Joan Hickson. Because of this, the appearance of Margaret Rutherford is forever how Miss Marple should be in my mind. Ms. Rutherford played Miss Marple in four films. Five if you count the cameo in The Alphabet Murders . Her first Miss Marple was Murder, She Said . For years the only place I could watch any of these films was on Turner Classic Movies . I always looked forward to them being on, which wasn’t often. Now, thanks to a library sale, I have all four movies and can watch when I want. Let’s start with Murder, She Said . Murder, She Said A murder happens Miss Marple (Margaret Rutherford) is certain she witnessed a murder. She saw it through the window of her moving tr...

One of my friends is a substitute teacher. Recently she had a conversation with a group of students about classic movies. The movies the students mentioned as classics were from the early 2000s. This sounded very strange to me as I see classic movies as being from the 1960s and before. Okay, I’ll add in the 70s and 80s too. But the early 2000s? That sounds too recent to me. This conversation was what I had in mind while I watched Scream . First released in 1996, it would certainly be a horror classic in some people’s minds. Again, an odd thought to me because I would see House on Haunted Hill , the 1959 film starring Vincent Price, as classic, not a movie from the 90s, but anyway . . . I decided to watch Scream because of the release of the fifth movie in the series. My thought was that before I watched the new movie, I should start from the beginning and work my way up to it. At the time I was not sure if I had seen all the movies in the series. I may have, but possibly not all t...

Season 7: Episode 6 Do you remember the case from episode three about vagrants being murdered? It’s back. Development Kate Dorsey A solved case unsolved Another vagrant has been found killed in a doorway. With someone already in the asylum for the other three dead vagrant men, DI Geordie Keating (Robson Green) has to wonder if he has a copycat on his hands or if they have charged the wrong man with the crime. Some of the details of the first deaths were left out of the press, yet they are present with this most recent murder. Geordie believes they have punished the wrong man. The situation becomes worse when the man held responsible for the first three murders, Robin Fellows (Jeremy Ang Jones), kills himself. He does this after a visit from his horribly cold professor, Rowena King (Edith Larson), which makes Geordie wonder what happened in that meeting. Professor King barely bats an eye when Geordie and Reverend Will Davenport (Tom Brittney) tell her about Robin’s suicide....

Season 7: Episode 5 Sense has finally arrived! Follow the Trail Kate Dorsey Seniors on the run Life in a nursing home cannot be easy. It must be especially hard when you have a matron running around who belittles, embarrasses, and prevents anyone from having any fun. Reverend Will Davenport (Tom Brittney) doesn’t like seeing the residents of a local nursing home treated this way. But when he confronts Matron Fletcher (Caroline Faber), she makes it out that he is the one in the wrong for objecting to the poor treatment. Is it any wonder this woman ends up dead? Along with the death, two residents, Clem Preston (Bruce Alexander) and Ida Merryman (Anna Calder-Marshall), go missing. The body and moonshine are found in Clem’s bedroom. They are the residents who got in trouble during Will’s visit. With their disappearance, Clem and Ida become the prime suspects. Clem and Ida’s problems get worse when it is reported they have stolen a car and held someone up at gunpoint. Thanks to...

I started reading The Bodyguard  by Katherine Center at a very memorable moment. The power had just gone out for my street only. At that time of night, without any light, my two options were to go to bed early or read by flashlight. I opted to read by flashlight. One would think during this time I would go for a scary book. I chose a romance. While I worried about when the lights would come back on and if everything in the refrigerator and freezer was going to spoil, a light, fun romance was exactly what I needed. The Bodyguard Katherine Center Hannah Brooks needs a change of scenery Hannah Brooks’s life is not going well. Her mother has died. She has been taken off an assignment she was looking forward to. Plus, her boyfriend has broken up with her. With all this going on, Hannah needs to get out of town. Which is why she is not at all happy when her new assignment keeps her exactly where she lives. Guarding Jack Stapleton What are these assignments I am talking about?...