The Alphabet Murders
- 1965
- 1h 30m
IMDb RATING
5.3/10
1.9K
YOUR RATING
Hercule Poirot investigates a series of murders in London in which the victims are killed according to their initials.Hercule Poirot investigates a series of murders in London in which the victims are killed according to their initials.Hercule Poirot investigates a series of murders in London in which the victims are killed according to their initials.
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe official screenwriters of this movie, David Pursall and Jack Seddon, were greatly annoyed by the extensive re-writing of their script by Director Frank Tashlin and Robert Morley. Tashlin also encouraged Morley and Tony Randall to ad-lib lines and business.
- GoofsFor the swimming pool murder, when the dart is fired, the view is from behind the murderer and one can plainly see the gun is aimed below and to the right of the victim. Then in the close-up of the victim, the dart is positioned on the left side of his neck as if it had been fired from his left, not mainly from his front. In any case, it is a very unlikely shot with a dart pistol from such a long range.
- Quotes
Hastings: Where have you been? What have you been doing?
Hercule Poirot: Arranging a little extra insurance my friend.
Hastings: Oh really? Personally I always feel perfectly safe with British railways. Mind you its very different in France, isn't it?
Hercule Poirot: I wouldn't know. I am not French, I am Belgian.
Hastings: Well it's the same thing, you both eat horsemeat.
- Crazy creditsTony Randall emerges from Borehamwood Studios' Stage 4 to introduce the film and acknowledge his own starring credit, first as himself and then in full Poirot make-up and character.
- ConnectionsReferenced in What's My Line?: Jill St. John (1965)
Featured review
My least favorite of all the Agatha Christie films...
In order to get even the slightest bit of enjoyment out of THE ALPHABET MURDERS you have to forget that it's based on Agatha Christie's THE ABC MURDERS and disregard the fact that it bears only a slight resemblance to that tale.
If you can't forget, you can't forgive what they've done to a perfectly intriguing Hercule Poirot tale, first of all by casting TONY RANDALL, of all people, as Poirot. That gives you an idea of the broad comedy style the film has. I have great respect for Randall as a more than competent supporting actor in a number of very watchable films, but he's just an odd choice to play Poirot. He doesn't even get the accent right.
But that's not the only fault. Miss Christie's story is a rather far-fetched one to begin with. Here it is even more so because it's played more for farce than it is for murder and intrigue with the usual number of red herrings and suspects thrown into the mix.
Of no help at all is the fact that the supporting cast does include ROBERT MORLEY, ANITA EKBERG, and brief appearances by STRINGER DAVIS and MARGARET RUTHERFORD who describes the whole affair as, "As simple as ABC." She's wrong.
Summing up: Oddly disturbing no matter how you look at it.
If you can't forget, you can't forgive what they've done to a perfectly intriguing Hercule Poirot tale, first of all by casting TONY RANDALL, of all people, as Poirot. That gives you an idea of the broad comedy style the film has. I have great respect for Randall as a more than competent supporting actor in a number of very watchable films, but he's just an odd choice to play Poirot. He doesn't even get the accent right.
But that's not the only fault. Miss Christie's story is a rather far-fetched one to begin with. Here it is even more so because it's played more for farce than it is for murder and intrigue with the usual number of red herrings and suspects thrown into the mix.
Of no help at all is the fact that the supporting cast does include ROBERT MORLEY, ANITA EKBERG, and brief appearances by STRINGER DAVIS and MARGARET RUTHERFORD who describes the whole affair as, "As simple as ABC." She's wrong.
Summing up: Oddly disturbing no matter how you look at it.
helpful•105
- Doylenf
- Sep 30, 2006
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Amanda
- Filming locations
- 14 Savile Row, Mayfair, Westminster, Greater London, England, UK(Poirot enters tailor's shop at beginning of film)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 30 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.78 : 1
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