Like the series of Margaret Rutherford Miss Marple films, The Alphabet Murders (written by the folks behind the Marple movies) tries to remake Christie's cerebral whodunit into an action comedy. It's not Christie, and it's a mess, but it does have its moments.
After a pointless fourth-wall crash in the beginning, the movie follows Hercules Poirot, played by Tony Randall, as he investigates a series of London murders involving the alphabet, guarded by a British secret service agent played by Robert Morley and trying to run down the mysterious Anita Ekberg.
Randall is not as bad as I'd heard as Poirot, but he lacks the charisma of Rutherford's Miss Marple. The movie is sometimes funny and occasionally even mildly clever. The story moves at a decent clip. And as with the Rutherford movies, the elegant whodunit at the heart of the story has been completely messed up, resulting in a disappointing denouement that makes far less sense than it should.
I avoided this movie for years because I heard it was terrible, but it's not, really. It's not as good as the two best Rutherford movies (Murder She Said/Murder Most Foul) but it's probably as good or even better than the other two.
I wouldn't go out of my way to watch this, but it's not as bad as I'd heard, so points for that.
After a pointless fourth-wall crash in the beginning, the movie follows Hercules Poirot, played by Tony Randall, as he investigates a series of London murders involving the alphabet, guarded by a British secret service agent played by Robert Morley and trying to run down the mysterious Anita Ekberg.
Randall is not as bad as I'd heard as Poirot, but he lacks the charisma of Rutherford's Miss Marple. The movie is sometimes funny and occasionally even mildly clever. The story moves at a decent clip. And as with the Rutherford movies, the elegant whodunit at the heart of the story has been completely messed up, resulting in a disappointing denouement that makes far less sense than it should.
I avoided this movie for years because I heard it was terrible, but it's not, really. It's not as good as the two best Rutherford movies (Murder She Said/Murder Most Foul) but it's probably as good or even better than the other two.
I wouldn't go out of my way to watch this, but it's not as bad as I'd heard, so points for that.