A movie mystery with accoutrements of the finest quality (an all-star cast, photography by Geoffrey Unsworth, production design by Tony Walton, title and montage sequences by Richard Williams) but with the soul of a Charlie Chan-ish, B-grade, grindhouse product. It comes from an Agatha Christie story, and she knows only one way of playing the detection-and-deduction game -- i.e., she cheats incorrigibly. There are a fair number of small diversions along the way, with Sean Connery, Anthony Perkins, and Ingrid Bergman giving generously to the cause. It's unfortunate, though, that the brunt of the talkative screenplay falls on Albert Finney, as Hercule Poirot, whose constipated voice and cumbrously padded body make things seem all the more difficult and painful to get through. Directed by Sidney Lumet. (1974) — Duncan Shepherd