The Orient Express was an early long-distance passenger train service that was created in 1883 by the International Sleeping-Car Company – better known by its French name of “The Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits”. The original endpoints of the service were Paris and Constantinople (known as Istanbul today).
Whilst the route and rolling stock used on the line changed many times during the services tenure, one important feature did not – the Orient Express name was synonymous with intrigue and luxury rail travel. At a time when travelling was renowned for being rough and dangerous, the Orient Express was seen as a futuristic showcase of what could be achieved – it was comfortable and luxurious but remained prohibitively expensive for much of the time it was in operation.
Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express
In 1934, English writer Agatha Christie wrote an extremely popular work of fiction that was set on the Orient Express. Titled “Murder on the Orient Express” in the United Kingdom, and “Murder in the Calais Coach” in the United States, sales figures for the book are difficult to find because it has been reprinted and republished so many times.
Without doubt though, this book must surely be one of Agatha’s most popular titles – it is certainly amongst the most well-known, having seen three separate film adaptations in 1974, 2001 and 2017. There were significant differences between the original book and all three of these movies, however – unsurprising, given the intricate and extremely detailed plot of the source material.
Slot Machine Adaptation
A video slot was created to coincide with the 2017 film adaptation of Christie’s work by respected developer of Online Slot Machines, Yggdrasil. The game is a 20-line slot featuring a traditional 5×3 layout with a theoretical RTP of 96.1%, with bonus rounds centered around the most famous cities on the legendary train journeys route – Paris, Venice, Belgrade, and Istanbul. The slot was a big success at the time, though player numbers have fallen each year as the movie quietly progresses into obscurity.
The Biggest Differences Between the Book and Films
In the book, the famous detective Poirot is portrayed as being more pensive and thoughtful, spending much of his time speaking in a ‘soliloquy’ narrative style. The directors in Hollywood changed Poirot’s character extensively in all three film adaptations, though the 2017 adaptation in particular is notable for turning the detective into essentially an action star. Whilst this does add excitement and momentum to the film, it is a huge departure form the source material and prevents viewers from truly understanding the character of Poirot as Agatha had originally intended.
Cuts for Timing Purposes
Of course, much of the intricate detail of the plot had to be cut from the movie, including huge sections of dialogue which some viewers felt introduced many questions as to why certain characters acted in the ways that they did. Converting a 256 page novel into a film script is never going to be an easy task, and despite a run length of close to 2.5 hours, the 2017 film adaptation misses out on many critical plot elements that fans of the novel were disappointed to find missing from what was supposed to be the most accurate adaptation of Christie’s book to date.
Confusing Timelines
Just as there has been three different film adaptations of Murder on the Orient Express, the novel itself has been adapted and re-adapted many times over the decades since its original release as well. Sometimes the changes were small, made simply to reflect cultural differences that have occurred during the years since. On other occasions, whole sections of the book were seemingly rewritten with the aim of finding a new target audience.
The description of Poirot’s moustache is one example that changes significantly between different adaptations of both book and film, for instance.
Character Differences
The character M Bouc in the novel is a Belgian, just like Poirot, and resultingly had little trouble convincing the detective to take on the case. The character is portrayed entirely differently in the movies – a British man with a love of several vices including drinking and gambling. Whilst the character portrayed onscreen is very believable, he differs substantially from the M Bouc of the novel.
The twelve characters portrayed in the book are changed to reflect a much more diverse cast in the 2017 film adaptation – a common theme in Hollywood movies today. Poirot was also the one to find the body in the most recent movie adaptation, which was possibly done to speed up the plot substantially.
In Closing
As a final note, the snowdrift/avalanche is one of the most iconic scenes in the movie, yet only received a brief mention after it happened in the book. This was no doubt done for dramatic effect – just another touch of Hollywood magic as they say. The question is, did Agatha’s book really need any such magic? The original book is just as good a read today as it was in 1934, and is a timeless piece of literature – will anybody say the same of the 2017 film adaptation a century from now?
