Murder on the Orient Express
1974 film directed by Sidney Lumet
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Bianchi: You mean you saw the man? You can identify the murderer?
Mrs. Hubbard: I mean nothing of the kind. I mean there was a man in my compartment last night. It was pitch dark, of course, and my eyes were closed in terror...
Bianchi: Then how did you know it was a man?
Mrs. Hubbard: Because I've enjoyed very warm relationships with both my husbands.
Bianchi: With your eyes closed.
Mrs. Hubbard: That helped.
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Dr. Constantine: (referring to Pierre) He had the means to do it. The passkey to Ratchett's room.
Hercule Poirot: And a knife borrowed from the chef.
Bianchi: With whom he was in league.
Hercule Poirot: Which he plunged, repeatedly and without motive, into the body of his suitably astonished victim.
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Mrs. Hubbard: What's the matter with him? Train-sick or something?
Hercule Poirot: Some of us, in the words of the divine Greta Garbo, want to be alone.
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Hercule Poirot: (Bianchi has a visibly nauseated reaction upon seeing the body, and Poirot guides him to the door before things get messy) Ohhhh, if you must go woof-woof, kindly go woof-woof not to windward, but to leeward. Help him, Pierre.
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Hercule Poirot: Ladies and gentlemen, you are all aware that a repulsive murderer has himself been repulsively, and, perhaps deservedly, murdered.
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(the sound of a distant train whistle)
Bianchi: I fear that help is at hand. Even if it is only a working party with picks and shovels, we must make haste to complete this inquiry before we reach Brod. If it is an engine with a snowplow, our troubles will really begin.
Dr. Constantine: Who's next?
Hercule Poirot: Mrs. Hubbard.
(Bianchi reacts as if his troubles HAVE already begun)
Bianchi: Oh, my God.
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Hercule Poirot: America's foremost tragic actress, Harriet Belinda... Miss Linda Arden.
Mrs. Hubbard: I always heard she wanted to play comedy parts, but her husband wouldn't allow it.
Hercule Poirot: Which husband? Your second husband, Mr. Hubbard, or your first husband, Mr. Greenwood?
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Hercule Poirot: Tout de même, I must thank the pipe-smoking Colonel Arbuthnott for a remark which finally resolved all my confusions about this, uh, this extraordinary case. I prefer to set aside the fact that he denied ever having spoken to Colonel Armstrong in India, and yet he remembered in great detail the decorations which Colonel Armstrong had won years earlier in France. I prefer to remember his views on the British jury system:
Colonel Arbuthnott: (in a brief flashback) Trial by twelve good men and true... is a sound system. -
Hercule Poirot: Mr. Ratchett, I have made enough money to satisfy both my needs and my caprices. I take only such cases now as interest me, and to be frank, my interest in your case is, uh... dwindling.
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Dr. Constantine: The murderer is with us now!
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(first lines)
Ferry conductor: Your ticket, please.
Mary Debenham: Oh, yes.
Ferry conductor: Welcome aboard, Miss Debenham.
Mary Debenham: Thank you.
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Hercule Poirot: Cassetti was responsible for her murder. How does that strike you?
Beddoes: I have often felt, sir, that instead of our employers requiring references from us, we should require references from them.
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Colonel Arbuthnott: Miss Debenham is not a woman!
(long pause)
Colonel Arbuthnott: She is a lady.
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Mrs. Hubbard: (to Bianchi) Don't you agree the man must've entered my compartment to gain access to Mr. Ratchett?
Princess Dragomiroff: (dismissively) I can think of no other reason, madame!
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Colonel Arbuthnott: He was interested in the future of India. A bit impractical - he thought the British ought to move out!
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Hercule Poirot: Ah! "Godmother"! Now you have accidentally said something valuable.
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Bianchi: Forgive me, ladies and gentlemen.
Greta Ohlsson: Only God's forgiveness is important.
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Hercule Poirot: You never smile, madame la princesse?
Princess Dragomiroff: My doctor has advised against it.
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Hercule Poirot: The bottle is more distinguished than its wine.
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Colonel Arbuthnott: It's a USED peep cleaner!
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Beddoes: Oh, yes, sir, the Italian person.
Hercule Poirot: Eh, does he speak English?
Beddoes: A kind of English, sir. I think he learnt it in a place called Chicago.
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Hercule Poirot: Forgive me, Miss Debenham, I must be brief. You met Colonel Arbuthnott and fell in love with each other in Baghdad. Why must the English conceal even their most impeccable emotions?
Mary Debenham: To answer your observations in order: of course, yes, yes, and I don't know.
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Countess Andrenyi: As is my custom on night trains, I took trional.
(Poirot makes a noise and looks at the doctor)
Dr. Constantine: Diethylsulphone dimethyl methane. One dilutes the white crystals with water. It is a strong hypnotic.
Countess Andrenyi: Ha, ha! He makes it sound like a poison!
Dr. Constantine: As with most sleeping drugs, if taken in sufficient quantities it IS a poison.
Count Andrenyi: (jumping up) You are not-!
Hercule Poirot: Ah, you are not *accused*... you are *ex*-cused! Thank you both for your help and cooperation.
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Hercule Poirot: Only by interrogating the other passengers could I hope to see the light, but when I began to question them, the light, as Macbeth would have said, thickened.