The mysterious case of the misunderstood Dickens reference

In the Dickensblog Facebook group today, Herb Moskowitz and I were chatting about Poirot reading A Tale of Two Cities in the recent Murder on the Orient Express film. I pointed out something interesting that I caught when I watched it:

In the film, Poirot, as in the book, says "M. Harris will not arrive. I read my Dickens." The implication is that Harris is like Mrs. Harris in "Martin Chuzzlewit," a made-up character, and Poirot has intuited this because he is a reader of Dickens. But I think the screenwriter misinterpreted the line as "M. Harris will not arrive, so I'll just sit here and read my Dickens," and thus provided him with a Dickens novel to read!

Comments

[Adria Devereaux]

No, this is just how Christie wrote the line.

[Gina]

Yes, it is Christie's line. My argument is that the filmmakers misinterpreted the line.

[Sarah]

I thought Poirot's Dickens reading was funny and clever. I did not interpret the film to mean that the screenwriter was confused by the line and thought that Poirot, in Christie's original work, read his Dickens during the train ride. We know from the M. Harris line that Poirot is a Dickens fan; thus, Poirot enjoys reading Dickens on the train (before and after making the M. Harris remark). (Train rides are ideal for novel reading.) I wonder which of the other passengers also enjoys Dickens. MacQuean?