Mary Debenham

Vanessa Redgrave as Debenham in the 1974 film

Mary Hermione Debenham is one of the main characters in Murder on the Orient Express.

Mary has been played by various actresses, including Vanessa Redgrave, Natasha Wightman, Jessica Chastain, and Daisy Ridley.

Biography

Mary was the personal secretary to Sonia Armstrong, the mother of Daisy Armstrong. She was also the professional governess to Sonia's younger sister Helena Goldenberg. She was holding this post at the time Daisy Armstrong was kidnapped.

The perpetrator of the crime, Cassetti was arrested and tried but got off on a technicality because of his wealth and influence. Linda Arden, the mother of Sonia Armstrong, gathered a group of interested parties for the purpose of avenging the crime and bringing the criminal to justice. Mary joined this group. Fellow group member Hector MacQueen succeeded in obtaining a position as secretary to Cassetti, then using the alias of Samuel Edward Ratchett, a dealer in antiquities who traveled frequently to the Middle-east. MacQueen, who was in control of his employer's schedule, was able to pick a suitable journey for them on the Orient Express. Other members of the group then travelled to Istanbul to join the same train.

At this time, Mary was a governess to two young children in Baghdad and about 26 years old. She travelled from Baghdad to Istanbul on the Taurus Express with Colonel Arbuthnot, a friend of the Armstrong with whom she had developed a romance. On the way to Istanbul, she and Arbuthnot alighted at Konya during a brief stopover. Hercule was also on the Taurus Express. At Konya, Poirot overhead Mary saying to Arbuthnot, "Not now. Not now. When it's all over. When it's behind us. Then..." This was to play a significant part in Poirot's deductions as to what happened in the death of Cassetti.

On board the Orient Express, Mary occupied berth No. 11, sharing a second-class compartment on the Calais coach with Greta Ohlsson who was in the lower berth, No. 10.

Portrayals

Murder on the Orient Express (1974)

In the 1974 film, Mary Debenham is played by Vanessa Redgrave. In this portrayal, she teaches shorthand in Baghdad, unlike in the novel, where she was a governess to two young children in Baghdad.

At the time of the kidnapping of Daisy Armstrong, Mary was secretary to Sonia Armstrong. She was seen arriving at the Armstrong house with Sonia and Colonel Armstrong and being surrounds by reporters. There is no mention in the adaptation that Mary was also the governess to Helena Goldenberg.

Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express computer game (2006)

Mary was born on January 9, 1909 in Sompting, West Sussex. Her father was a clergyman.

Murder on the Orient Express (2017)

She grew up with a love of geography and was a teacher of geography. Mary temporarily lived with her sister, at 61 Bevenden Street, London, England.

Physical Description

In the novel, Mary is tall, slim, and dark. Her skin has a delicate pallor. She has a burnished black head, cool, impersonal grey eyes, and wavy hair. She has a cool, calm, collected personality.

In her introductory scene, Mary wears a dark-colored travelling dress made of thin material.

For her scenes on the train, Mary wears a grey French shirt, and a neat black suit.

She wears a pale mauve dressing gown for sleeping.

• In the 2017 film, Mary has dark brown curly hair with red highlights, hazel eyes, and red lips.
  • Her main attire is a navy blue cardigan, an orange neck tie blouse, a knee-length plaid tweed skirt, and black t-strap Mary Jane shoes.
  • In other scenes, she wears a tweed plaid suit to match her skirt.

Trivia

• Mary is right-handed.
• Even though her character's costume in the 2017 film is is tweed, Daisy Ridley herself is allergic to wool.
• In the 2017 film, Mary lives with her sister until her next employment, at 61 Bevenden Street, London.
  • This is a real address: it is Finn House, an apartment complex in Hoxton, an East End district of London.