There was no snow – we had to order 10-truckloads from the Alps’ … Jacqueline Bisset, third from right, and Albert Finney, centre, in the 1974 film. Photograph: Allstar/Cinetext/EMI

Interview

How we made the original Murder on the Orient Express

‘I don’t think the cast of the new film have the same horsepower we had’

Interviews by Cath Clarke

Monday 13 November 2017

Richard Goodwin, producer

It was difficult to persuade Agatha Christie to sign over the rights. She’d hated the film version of The ABC Murders. But she trusted us. Sidney Lumetwas directing, even though his agent didn’t want him to. She called it “the dumb train movie”. She wanted him to work in Los Angeles, but he didn’t like it there.

The cast were all such huge stars, yet somehow the film cost only $4.5m. Were there any divas? No, they were well behaved, although Lauren Bacallinsisted on having her shoes made in Paris, Albert Finney got paid more because his Hercule Poirot had most of the lines, and Sean Connery got a percentage because he was such a big star. The rest all got paid the same: $100,000 each.

Vanessa Redgrave would spend all her lunchtimes converting the workers, making speeches about politics in the canteen, while the rest of the actors would sit and listen to John Gielgud telling his amazing stories. Eventually, the guys in the canteen asked if we could get Vanessa to go and talk to someone else.

We had terrible trouble filming the scene where the train is blocked by a snowdrift. The problem was that it hadn’t snowed. Everywhere you looked, it was just brown. We were shooting in France, near the Swiss border, so I ordered 10 trucks to come down from the Alps with snow. Sidney was relaxed about it all. “Don’t worry,” he said. “It’s going to be all right.” And that night it snowed heavily and it all worked out beautifully. You need luck in movies. Perfectly good, well-meaning films get nowhere because they don’t have any luck. I don’t think it’s all about skill.


I only met Agatha Christie briefly. She was ancient by then and using a wheelchair. She was very much an observer, watching everything. We showed her the film and she liked it. I know it’s a terrible thing to say, but I don’t think the actors in the new film have the horsepower of the ones we had. Ingrid Bergman – you couldn’t believe she’d be doing that part, such a tiny role. It was extraordinary, really. They all did it for Sidney. They loved him.

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 ‘There’s no such thing as a small part – only small actors’ … Bacall and Albert Finney. Photograph: Sportsphoto/Allstar/EMI

Jacqueline Bisset, actor

I wasn’t a fan of Agatha Christie. And my role as Countess Helena was slight. All the roles were, but I was happy because it was Sidney Lumet. He was so flattering. “There is no such thing as a small part,” he said, “only small actors.” In other words, if you’d been chosen for Murder on the Orient Express, you were a good actor.

It was quite an adjustment for all of us – except for Albert Finney, who had a tremendous amount to say, reams of dialogue. I remember it all being slightly tedious – except for lunchtimes, which were fascinating. Lunch was wonderful.

 

I was shocked by that hairnet Albert Finney had to wear

I knew Albert already, but he was so disguised I completely forgot it was him. As far as I was concerned, he was just this odd guy with a French accent who was always talking, talking, talking. When I saw Anouk Aimée, Albert’s wife, at a party at the end of filming, I said: “Anouk, what are you doing here?” She looked at me like I was barmy and said: “Well, I am married to Albert.” But I’d never seen him out of makeup.

It can’t have been easy playing Poirot. It was all exposition, but I think Albert pulled it off. I wouldn’t have wanted that part. I remember being shocked by that hairnet he had to wear. It wasn’t very attractive.

THE GUARDIAN

Jacqueline Bisset / A Movie Icon from the 60s

Jacqueline Bisset: A Movie Icon from the 60s
Bisset is a popular actress who first appeared on screen in the 60s
She has managed to keep her career strong for over 40 years
Bisset is not slowing down with roles rumored

Women we love / Jacqueline Bisset

WOMEN WE LOVE

JACQUELINE BISSET

Jacqueline Bisset / Older women continue to want sex but men don't want to sleep with them

Jacqueline Bisset

'Older women continue to want sex but men don't want to sleep with them'

In Welcome to New York, she plays the long-suffering wife of an adulterous financier, based on Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Here she talks about sexual desire and what divides men and women

Catherine Shoard
@catherineshoard
Thursday 24 July 2014 17.17 BST

Jacqueline Bisset would be lost without her snozz. "I could never sleep with someone who didn't smell right," she says. "For me, smell is intoxicating. It's an animal thing and very, very dangerous." What's the ideal odour? "I can't possibly sum it up. Not like perfume, but clean, for sure – I'm not into smelly armpits." She smiles and sips her peach juice. We're sitting at a breakfast bar in a French hotel, fruit platter in front and sax Muzak in the background. "Probably when you're in love you have some sort of addiction. You can't see straight. Voice is another one that pulls a woman back. When you're trying to break up with someone and you hear them on the telephone – suddenly you're back in that place."

When she shares such theories with male friends, she says, they tend to tell her smell doesn't share the same potency for them. "'What?' I say. 'You're nuts! I find that really hard to believe.' 'Jacqueline, you're wrong – men don't care about that.'" Her eyes pop in shock at the memory.

Bisset's new film, Welcome to New York, makes much of the notion of universal primal weakness, that women and men are equally enslaved by their hormones. Bisset plays Simone, long-suffering wife of Gérard Depardieu's vastly adulterous financier Georges Devereaux (the film is inspired by the downfall of Dominique Strauss-Kahn). Director Abel Ferrara gave both actors free rein to improvise; in one scene, following Georges' release from custody on an attempted rape charge, Simone bemoans the fact that one whiff of him is all it takes for her to be back in his thrall. You can see why Ferrara was keen to keep in the final cut the idea that irrational action is a biological function.

Jacqueline Bisset back for first UK drama role in nearly 40 years

Jacqueline Bisset back for first UK drama role in nearly 40 years

American-based actress explains why she followed her heart and returned to Britain for a new BBC2 drama

Dalya Alberge
Sunday 30 December 2012 00.06 GMT

Jacqueline Bisset, who has worked with some of the greatest directors on both sides of the Atlantic over five decades, is returning to Britain to star in a major television drama series by the acclaimed writer-director Stephen Poliakoff.

Dancing on the Edge, to be screened on BBC2 from next month, is set in the early 1930s and follows a group of black jazz musicians who entertain London's upper-class society, encountering racism, class prejudice and nationalism.

Bisset, 68, who was once described by Newsweek as "the most beautiful actress of all time", said the series tells a story that has contemporary parallels, and explained that she had wanted to make more British drama and increase her range of roles.

In an interview with the Observer, the bilingual star of British and French descent said she believed American directors failed to bring out the best in actresses as they were less sensitive to female characters than their European counterparts.

"A lot of [American] directors aren't looking for the detail in those incredible emotions that women can bring, the skin tone or their femininity."

The US-based star added: "I feel that they often don't look. You've got to look at an actor, see what the light does to their face, and whether you can bring out what they have to give. That's what Ingmar Bergman did so brilliantly. Wonderful actresses like Harriet Anderson [star of Bergman classics] – their faces became a human map."

Bisset said she feels that some of the finest European actresses are misused in Hollywood after first making their name at home: "It's shocking to see the difference between their work in Europe and their work in America."

Citing the example of Marion Cotillard – who became a world star with her sensitive depiction of Edith Piaf – she said: "I saw her recently in something American – Batman [The Dark Knight Rises]. They didn't use her well."

Bisset, whose last British film wasMurder on the Orient Express in 1974, caused a sensation in the 1977 film The Deep, swimming underwater in little more than a T-shirt; and in light entertainment movies such as the 1967 James Bond spoof Casino Royale, but she proved herself a serious actor in films such as Two for the Road with Albert Finney and Audrey Hepburn,The Detective with Frank Sinatra andBullitt with Steve McQueen.

She has worked with acclaimed directors such as John Huston, George Cukor, François Truffaut and Claude Chabrol.

Born and raised in England, Bisset has spent much of her life in America, despite never intending to stay there. "I had no aspirations to be part of American cinema … I was really a Europe-based person and those were the films I was inspired by. I came [to America] and fell in love with somebody [actor Michael Sarrazin]. Our careers started to take off and that was it."

She added: "I have emotional strings that tie me to Europe."

Some of the new roles Bisset wants are those depicting working-class characters rather than "silver spoon" women, possibly the reason why she is drawn to French and Swedish films, often "about simple people, village life and just human stuff, personal, psychological films", like Jean de Florette, the French classic.

She added: "There is an eternal humanity that crosses through all people and it's more interesting often when it's about struggle – not people with champagne glasses."

Bisset spoke too of the "great fear" among good-looking male actors of being dismissed as "glamour boys", forcing them to take on "rough-looking" or other inappropriate roles that mask their qualities: "Johnny Depp does all these strange fantasy projects … I felt the same way about Brad Pitt … People are frightened of being typecast."

She is particularly concerned by television's depiction of women and, "the obsession with showing large amounts of flesh. There's something so desperate about it, almost sad," she said. "Television is portraying women as monstrously lascivious, oversexed dolls and it's scary… It spreads into the [wider] culture."

Bisset also believes actors should beware of appearing in too many films, adverts and magazines because overexposure harms career longevity . She said: "A lot of actors work too much. There comes a point where it's hard to mask your basic personality. It's a bit like a relationship. If you're always there, they can't desire you."

THE GUARDIAN

Jacqueline Bisset / What's in your basket?

Jacqueline Bisset

Food & drink

What's in your basket?

The British actress Jacqueline Bisset is a leaf-eater at home in health-obsessed Hollywood, but can't resist scones, cream and jam back in the old country. Nutritionist Patrick Halford checks her basket

The Guardian
Sunday 12 August 2001 16.32 BST

'I could go on forever about my eating habits. When I was about 40 I went through a bad period in my life and decided I'd write down what I eat - it really helped. I try to stick to my healthy diet whenever possible and I feel much better for it. When I go for dinner I don't make a big fuss; I try not to go to many dinners though. I simply can't eat the amount my friends cook and when I eat big meals I fall asleep. I'll have little bits of meals throughout the day and I'll grab a few endive leaves from the fridge for a snack.

These aren't the only 10 items I buy every week but they are my basics. I'm sorry it's so healthy - even I found such a healthy diet dull at first but I actually grew to like it. You can make an unbelievable variety of delicious food with these healthy ingredients. For instance, coarsely grated carrot salad with a garlic dressing tastes like paradise after it's been left overnight, the flavour turns sweet.

I don't eat junk food. My one weakness is mayonnaise; I put it over wholewheat bread as a midnight snack. I try to resist but when I go to the shop I can't stop myself. I don't eat much fruit and I don't really eat a lot of carbohydrates but I get my nutrients from dark green vegetables like broccoli, beans and spinach and I cook them very al dente, not mushy. I used to do raw food a bit but I'm doing more steamed at the moment.

Each week I steam lots of vegetables, pour yummy vinaigrette over them, made with a good quality olive oil and lemon and I graze on it all week. Occasionally I'll buy skinned chicken breasts, boil them and break them up into sandwiches and salads, but I can't bear large pieces of it. I also make big vegetables soups because they are perfect for disguising ingredients like kale which is very nutritious but I can't stand it. I like to blend the soup very well so it tastes creamy. I don't allow myself cream in the US - only in Britain when I have to feast on it with scones and jam.' 

Interview by Chloe Diski

Spinach 
All green foods contain chlorophyll, but none as rich as spinach. Chlorophyll helps plants capture oxygen, and, by eating them, we too get the benefit of this most important of nutrients. Spinach is the second richest vegetable for anti-ageing antioxidants, the richest being kale, and is also exceptionally rich in iron. So Popeye got it right. But it's not all good news. Spinach contains oxalates which are an anti-nutrient that binds to minerals like iron and stops them being absorbed. But, in the case of iron, it's five steps forward and one step back.

Mayo 
Mayonnaise is hardly a weakness when applied to this superhealthy selection of favourite foods. Made from eggs and oil, the quality of mayonnaise depends on the kind of eggs and the kind of oil. There are good fats and bad fats and what's in an egg depends on what you feed the chickens. If you feed them seeds you get essential fats in the eggs. The same is true for the olive. My favourite mayonnaise is organic, made with olive oil.

Endive 
As with all foliage, endive is very rich in folic acid, as well as other B vitamins. Green, leafy veg also provides the mineral magnesium, which has a calming effect.

Olive oil, extra virgin cold pressed 
Olive oil contains mainly mono-unsaturated fats. These are not as good for you as essential fats in seed oils such as flax or sesame, but not as bad for you as saturated fat. While olive oil contains only small amounts of the essential fats (8% omega-6 oils), you can get it 'cold-pressed' and unrefined. This makes it better for you than refined vegetable oils like the sunflower oil you can generally buy in the supermarket. Also, while there is a strong association between a high intake of saturated fats, (mainly from meat and dairy products) and cardiovascular disease, the reverse is true for olive oil. People in Mediterranean countries whose diet includes olive oil have a lower risk of cardiovascular disease. However, this may be partly due to a number of other positive factors in their diet, including a high intake of fruit and vegetables and relatively more fish than meat.

Lemons 
These saved the lives of thousands of sailors due to their rich supply of vitamin C. The different colour adds a different type of antioxidant. However, its major plus is vitamin C. Lemons are also rich in citric acid, which adds a tangy flavour to cooking. Lemon juice is reputed to be a great detoxifier, so if you want to spring-clean your body, drink the juice of one lemon with water.

Wholegrain bread 
Why eat any other when the wholegrain tastes better and is better for you? Best of all is 'heavy' bread because this means there's less gluten. Old-style wheat strains that were stoneground had less gluten. Hard, high gluten wheat can only be crushed by steel roller mills and became popular post-Industrial Revolution. Gluten is an intestinal irritant, but helps make bread light and fluffy. Good for croissants but not good for you. Best of all is rye bread. Wholewheat bread is a great source of B vitamins and fibre.

Carrots 
Carrots do help you see in the dark because they're loaded with beta-carotene, the vegetable source of vitamin A (retinol) which is needed by the retina of the eye for black and white vision. So, eat carrots until, when you press your palm the underlying colour has a very slight yellow/orange hue. If it's white/grey you need a carrot a day.

Green beans 
Here's another protein rich vegetable. Why? Because green beans are a seed food and contain their own seed which is naturally rich in protein, zinc and other essential nutrients for aspiring seeds that want to be vegetables. Eaten raw, or lightly cooked or steamed, they provide a wide range of nutrients, including phytoestrogens that help keep your hormones balanced.

Red and green pepper 
Jacqueline really knows her vegetables. Peppers are another five-star food. They are exceptionally high in vitamin C and rich in antioxidants. Red are slightly better than green in this respect. Different colours in nature represent different types of antioxidants so, by eating a multi-coloured diet you get the best all-round protection.

Broccoli 
This is the king of foods as far as health is concerned. A serving of broccoli has more vitamin C than an orange and is one of the most protein-rich vegetables. Of the calories in broccoli, almost half come from protein. The magic is in the flowers. That's what you're eating with broccoli - nutrient- rich flowers containing lots of B vitamins and antioxidants. Broccoli could even cure a hangover. That's because it contains glucosinolates that dramatically increase the liver's ability to detoxify.

Tomatoes 
Tomatoes are the richest source of another rejuvenating antioxidant called lycopene. This accounts for the red colour and makes tomatoes another superfood. There have been reports that you get more lycopene from cooked tomatoes because the cooking, or blending helps break down plant cell walls, but other nutrients, such as vitamin C, are destroyed by cooking. But tomatoes are great raw - just chew them well.

THE GUARDIAN

Jacqueline Bisset by Justina Hart

Jacqueline Bisset

Interview by Justina Hart

Friday 14 May 1999 18.50 BST

The first film you saw?

The Mounting of Everest about Sir Edmund Hillary. The second was Snow White. I wasn't impressed by either of them; ballet was my thing.

Your favourite film?

Brief Encounter. I find it incredibly romantic, terribly sad, and in some strange moral way, it's a magnificent tribute to her behaviour to her husband: leaving this incredible attraction she has for this man and going back to her kind husband.

When did you last walk out?

I went to see Oliver Stone's Heaven & Earth, which I thought was a wonderful movie, but I walked out because I was so moved. It was too painful to watch.

Most erotic moment in film?

I think it was in Ingmar Bergman's The Silence. There was a scene in a cinema where two people are making love. I was about 16 and it made a very strong impression on me.

Most irritating habit in a cinema?

When I'm in LA. The Los Angeles Times make trailers for their newspaper which end, "Get the story. Get the Times". They construct little stories trying to demystify the film industry, but they find obnoxious people and so misrepresent it. We boo them.

Can you remember the last time you snogged in a cinema?

I certainly can but it's none of your business.

What is your favourite snatch of dialogue?

I have no memory for dialogue. The only thing I can think of is Lauren Becall to Bogart when she says, "Call me - you know how to whistle, don't you?" She's the queen of cool.

Which actor would you most like to be?

Marlon Brando or Anthony Hopkins. I think Hopkins carries so much depth, compassion and intelligence. I find him riveting, and he's got those beautiful blue eyes. Brando's a fascinating man.

Which actress?

I'm quite happy being myself. I'm a big fan of Jessica Lange and Jeanne Moreau but I don't want to be anyone else.

When was the last time you cried?

Stepmom with Susan Sarandon and Julia Roberts.

The last time you hid under your seat?

In about 1971 I was making a film but had been told that we weren't allowed to go and see the rushes. I was very curious and I and a friend snuck into the rushes room. Suddenly the producer came in and we jumped off our seats and literally had to hide underneath them for a full 20 minutes.

Would you have chosen to be a courtesan rather than a wife in the 16th century?

Marriage wouldn't have been a lot of fun at that time. I think I would have been attracted to the educational aspects of being a courtesan.

Have you adapted well to playing mothers and not daughters?

I seem to be doing fine.

 Jacqueline Bisset is in The Honest Courtesan, now on general release.

THE GUARDIAN

Golden Globes / Britain's disappointing night as long list of stars misses out

Jacqueline Bisset

Golden Globes: 

Britain's disappointing night as long list of stars misses out

Jacqueline Bisset is the sole British female winner, with Steve McQueen's 12 Years A Slave another solitary success

• 
  
• Press Association
• The Guardian, Monday 13 January 2014

Jacqueline Bisset with the award for her role in Dancing on the Edge. Photograph: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images

The Golden Globe award to 12 Years A Slave for best movie drama provided a much-needed boost for Britain, after a number of leading actors and actresses missed out on wins despite nominations.

Steve McQueen's hit film starring Chiwetel Ejiofor will be widely tipped for Oscar success after its triumph at the glitzy ceremony in Beverley Hills.

It saw off competition from Captain Phillips, Gravity, Philomena and Rush to become a rare success story for Britain.

Idris Elba and Chiwetel Ejiofor had been tipped for the most success, going head-to-head with each other for two gongs before both losing out.

Elba was nominated for best actor in a motion picture for his performance as Nelson Mandela in Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom and best actor in a mini-series or TV movie category for his role as the troubled detective in the BBC's Luther.

Ejiofor was nominated in the same category for another BBC drama – Dancing On The Edge – while his role in McQueen's epic 12 Years A Slave got him a nod for best actor in a motion picture. That award went instead to Matthew McConaughey for Dallas Buyers Club.

McQueen lost out on the battle for best director to Alfonso Cuaron and his space adventure Gravity.
Jacqueline Bisset was Britain's only woman to triumph, winning best supporting actress in a series, mini-series or movie for Dancing On The Edge, beating fellow Brit and White Queen star Janet McTeer.

The nominees for best actress in a motion picture drama read like a roll call of UK acting talent, with nods for Emma Thompson in Saving Mr Banks, Kate Winslet in Labor Day and Dame Judi Dench for Philomena.
But they were all left behind as Cate Blanchett took home the gong for her role in Blue Jasmine.

Helena Bonham-Carter also missed out after being nominated for best actress in a mini-series for her starring role in the BBC Four TV film Burton And Taylor.

Writers Jeff Pope and Steve Coogan watched on as their hit film Philomena lost out to futuristic romance Her, written by Spike Jonze, in the best screenplay category.

Nominee Christian Bale was left empty handed after Leonardo DiCaprio took home the Golden Globe for best actor in a comedy or musical for The Wolf Of Wall Street.

Bale was shortlisted for his starring role as conman Irving Rosenfeld in American Hustle.

Blue Jasmine star Sally Hawkins lost out in the best supporting actress category to Jennifer Lawrence, who collected the award for her role in American Hustle.

U2 and Danger Mouse won the award for best original song for Ordinary Love, in Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom – the band's first recording since 2010.

That meant Coldplay missed out with their chart hit Atlas for the US blockbuster Hunger Games: Catching Fire.

Despite its latest series breaking audience records on the other side of the pond, ITV's Downton Abbey failed to win best TV series drama after coming up against Breaking Bad.

THE GUARDIAN