10 Thrilling Agatha Christie Adaptations That Hit the Mark

One of the best and most famous entries in Christie’s Hercule Poirot series, Murder on the Orient Express is also, in our humble opinion, the best movie adaptation of a Christie novel to date. There are a lot of moving parts to this mystery, quite literally, as Poirot must solve the murder of a fellow passenger while traveling aboard the Orient Express. Director Sydney Lumet led his star-studded cast in a brilliant ensemble performance, headed by a wonderful Albert Finney as Hercule Poirot. Murder received six Academy Award nominations, winning one: Best Supporting Actress, for Ingrid Bergman. 

There have been dozens of adaptations in many different languages of what remains the biggest-selling mystery book of all time. This movie from 1945, directed by Frenchman Rene Clair, is arguably the best of them. Starring Irishman Barry Fitzgerald, Canadian Walter Huston, and South African Louis Hayward—with a script by Academy Award Winner Dudley Nichols—this film is suspenseful, sharp, and perfectly paced with a nice touch of the macabre.

We’d be remiss not to also mention the 2015 mini-series adaptation, which was released to rave reviews across the board. In this chilling tale, 10 strangers are invited to an isolated island by a mysterious host, only to find that they are being killed off, one by one. 

Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich, Charles Laughton, and Elsa Lanchester star in this Academy Award-nominated, noir-esque courtroom drama. Set in Britain, a barrister takes on a murder case, defending an American war veteran convicted of killing his wealthy acquaintance. Christie originally penned Witness as a short story. The author then adapted her own story for the stage. The resulting play was the inspiration for the film.

The huge success of Murder on the Orient Express guaranteed more lushly produced big-screen outings for Monsieur Poirot. Albert Finney wasn’t interested in doing it again, however, and so the role was given to the estimable Peter Ustinov. The film makes wonderful use of location—filmed in Egypt—and the cast is predictably starry (Bette Davis, David Niven, Maggie Smith).

Ustinov would go on to appear in two further Poirot films. He is arguably the best of all screen versions of the detective, not least because he makes a great effort to have his character sound genuinely Belgian rather than simply generically French.

The first of the Miss Marple adaptations to make this list, Murder, She Said, was based on the Christie novel 4:50 from Paddington. Though Christie, herself, disliked this adaptation, it currently holds an 83% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and was generally well received by critics, who found it highly entertaining, if a bit silly. In this Miss Marple adventure, the amateur sleuth, traveling by train, witnesses a woman being strangled between cars. When the authorities find no evidence to support Miss Marple’s story, she takes it upon herself to solve the crime.

Another Poirot adaptation with another A-list ensemble cast, Evil Under the Sun features Peter Ustinov as Poirot for the second time. This time around, Poirot is investigating a murder and a missing diamond at an exclusive island resort. Ustinov would go on to portray the Belgian detective another four times, in both made-for-TV-movies and feature films.

The sequel to Murder, She Said, Murder at the Gallop is based on Christie’s novel After the Funeral, which actually featured Hercule Poirot, not Miss Marple, as is the case in the film. Significantly lighter and more comedic than the suspenseful Poirot films, Murder at the Gallop sees Miss Marple investigating a supposedly natural death that she finds highly suspicious.

The first screen appearances of Hercule Poirot saw him played by Irish actor Austin Trevor in Alibi (based on The Murder of Roger Ackroyd) and Black Coffee (both released in 1931). This film was Trevor’s third and final outing in the role. Based on Christie’s 1933 novel of the same name, it also features Richard Cooper as Captain Hastings. Alibi and Black Coffee are both considered lost films, leaving Lord Edgware Dies as the only remaining pre-WW2 Poirot movie.

The financial success of the Poirot films persuaded British producers to re-activate the movie career of Miss Marple with an adaptation of Christie’s 1962 novel. This time the silver-haired sleuth was played by Angela Lansbury (warming up for her role as Jessica Fletcher in Murder, She Wrote). 

The ensemble cast features Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, Tony Curtis, Kim Novak, and a pre-Bond Pierce Brosnan. Lansbury gave a fine performance that was much truer to Christie’s character, but it proved less popular with audiences than Rutherford’s clowning. Two more movies with Lansbury as Marple had been slated, but the poor box office saw the idea abandoned. Miss Marple would stay on television.

In the hullaballoo that surrounded Sir Kenneth Branagh’s Murder on the Orient Express, this stylish adaptation of one of Christie’s best standalone mysteries got rather overlooked. It’s a pity, because it is very good. Scripted by Julian Fellowes of Downton Abbey fame, it stars Glenn Close, Gillian Anderson, Terence Stamp, and Christina Hendricks in a classic tale of dysfunctional families. Witty and beautiful to look at, it moves at a stately pace, but ratchets up the tension when necessary to finish with a brilliantly executed finale.

Featured still from "Murder on the Orient Express" via Paramount Pictures

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