saw this movie for the first time last night and i must say that this is one funny movie! some of the funny scenes are captured in the 'memorable quotes' page.
my favorite scenes: 1. [Poirot sneezes while waiting in the upper deck of the ferry] Mary Debenham: What a funny little man! Colonel Arbuthnott: Obviously a frog.
2. the whole "pipe" dialogue
3. The ticket inspector trying to pronounce Arbuthnott ("Abu... Abu... Abu.."
Hey, how can you discuss funniest moments without mentioning Gielgud's reply to the guy in his bunk when he asks about the romance novel he is reading:
(Pierre tells Poirot that his wife died of grief after their only daughter died form scarlet fever) Poirot: "I am so sorry. Let us talk of less distressing matters. Now, the murder is believed to have occured at 1:30..."
Wow... This has to be one of the oldest posts that I ever reply upon. 10 years is a long time. Will it be able to communicate with this user? I'm not so sure if he will ever read my comment.
But you are absolutely spot-on, old timer. That was indeed the funniest piece of dialogue in this film. Gave me a great chuckle.
Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down and a Wagging Finger of Shame
I think the movie has many funny moments. But I laughed hardest everytime the aging princess had something to say to Bacall's character. I think one of the lines went like:
<Mrs. Hubbard is speaking about the mysterious man in her room and the connection with the murder> "What other reason would a strange man be in my room?" <Princess retorts smugly> "I can think of no other."
The Bacall scene when she's explaining what happened in her room has two of the best lines, the one mentioned above (which is additionally funny because the Princess is really trying to help everyone out by agreeing that the man must have entered Bacall's compartment to murder Ratchett but it is also a biting insult) and when Bacall says she enjoyed warm relations with her two husbands...I think the line is in the quotes. This, and Witness for the Prosecution, are so well-written. It's exactly what a Christie drama needs (the wit) because esentially the book are not well written, not great human dramas and mere puzzles.
Astute comment; I also think that "Witness for the Prosecution" is one of the best-written films. AND it's got the greatest actors to deliver the lines--Charles Laughton and Marlene Dietrich. also Elsa Lanchester (the real-life Mrs. Laughton).
I totally agree with the post before mine. That's the longest gap I've ever heard someone use in that kind of sentence.
Actually I found it funny when the Colonel gave Pierre a huge wake-up call with his fist :] Not to mentioned he picked the man up so easily. Plus, Ratchett trying to say poirot's name. It was funny in the movie, of course, but if someone did that with my name I'd just have to say it's pure ignorance...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What is "there"? Isn't it just "here" without the "t"?
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.
"How could I have known that murder can sometimes smell like honeysuckle?"
To me, the funniest moment was when Poirot and Bianchi first bump into each other in the hotel dining room in Istanbul, and Poirot goes into a long rant about how badly he's dined ("You have saved me from apoplexy!"). I'm never able to keep from laughing when Poirot proceeds to tear the menu in half. :)
There were so many funny moments in this film, many of them already mentioned, but I enjoyed Anthony Perkins revisiting his character of Norman Bates in 'Psycho' - his yelling out of 'Mother! Mother!' in his bunk while asleep, and then his remark about being emotionally stunted, and this was the reason why he never married. The whole scene when he is being interviewed by Poirot alludes to his Norman Bates character several times with a couple of references to 'Mother' - he even displays a rather excited relish at the thought of stabbing somebody - a la Norman Bates! Delicious humour!
As I understand Sidney Lumet let Anthony Perkins just do his thing .. no real direction.. let him play his character with all Anthony's little quirks... and he was right ..it works.
I love everyone's reactions to Mrs. Hubbard, especially when Bianci leaves with the line "you must excuse me, Mrs. Hubbard is upon us." Everyone treats her like some kind of disease, and Bacall is perfectly obnoxious in her portrayal (until we learn that Hubbard is actually somber and intelligent).
Poirot gathers everyone together and gives a 2 minute speech about how someone boarded the train dressed as a conductor and committed the murder, to which the Doctor (as a surrogate for us watching the film) exclaims: "Is that all?"
I thought Ingrid Bergman was a hoot playing the discombobulated Swede who talked about her dream of seeing "Yesus" (Jesus) in the sky and her describing herself as "backward," then mentioning her friend who taught "forward" children in Baghdad.