This is last of the three made for TV movies with Hercules Poirot. The movie follows the plot of the novel quite faithfully. The novel is really good. Unfortunately , this movie isn't.The setting has been transferred to Acapulco and the character of Mr Satterthwaite was replaced by Poirot regular Hastings. The characters have been Americanized. I think it hurt the production. It doesn't feel like Agatha Cristie movie at all. The original story is set in England and on the Riviera. It doesn't feel right to put Poirot in Acapulco at all.The story is good , however the completely bland direction destroys it. It was rather easy to spot the murderer (not like in the book !) The suspects in "Murder In Three Acts" seem bland and undifferentiated .There are no really interesting characters. None of the supporting cast have characters worth remembering or caring about and that is the fatal flaw of this version The characters are very poorly defined. Poirot is reduced here to an old man, without any real elegance left. Charles Cartwright here is just an aging playboy instead of intelligent and noble actor.When it comes to acting only Ustinov deserves some praise, even if is hamming it up in certain scenes. The rest is mediocre with two exceptions : Jonathan Cecil as Hastings and Tony Curtis as Charles Cartwright. Cecil is annoying and unlikable. The bigger problem is with Curtis. His role is so important for the movie and Curtis is simply terrible. His character was so complex and likable in the book. Here ? It's a tragedy. REALLY , REALLY bad acting from Curtis.I can't find anything good in this movie. Better watch Poirot TV series or "Death on the Nile" or "Evil under the sun" with Ustinov if you want a good Agatha Christie movie. I give it 1/10.

........it could have passed as an episode of "Murder She Wrote" in the 80's. They could have made the movie with her in the lead and it would have played just Murder She wrote. Jessica solved mysteries sort of like Poirot does here and this movie was populated with B-movie TV stars like most of the Jessica Fletcher eps. Marian Mercer-Frances Lee McCain-Diana Muldaur and Dana Elcar.What was the point of trying to update Poirot to the 80's? Were Agatha Christie's stories not elegant and well written enough that a movie could have been made of the original story instead of set in the 80's.Tony Curtis? What a bad acting job--although I'm not sure he was really ever any better than this--sort of hamming it up as he did in most of his roles. Sorry, Tony. I'm sure you're a nice guy.The only saving grace was watching Peter Ustinov do his thing--but sadly, doesn't make the worth watching. Good thing I got it from my local library and it didn't cost me any money.

This features a top row performance contributed by Tony Curtis, and was the second Poirot movie I found to feature the inner-inner circle of Hollywood big-wigs, and their sycophantic hangers-on. This time in Acapulco, we are given "movie stars, martinis, and murder." I found this highly entertaining, though it was mildly difficult to solve.Breathtaking vistas, another all-star cast, and fine direction by Gary Nelson (Get Smart, Get Smart Again, and Alan Quartermain and the Lost City of Gold, to name but a few), make worthy contributions to this wonderful adaptation of a great Agatha Christie mystery.All in all? This was not rated, but made for television in 1986, so I think I can safely say it is suitable for all audiences. Great Sunday afternoon/rainy day fare.It rates a 6.7/10 from...the Fiend :.

Having read all of the Agatha Christie books, I have to say that David Suchet was the ultimate Hercule Poirot as written by Agatha Christie. But my favorite Poirot, having nothing whatsoever to do with either Poirot or what Ms. Christie wrote, is Peter Ustinov. It always reminds me of what someone once said about Zero Mostel in "Fiddler on the Roof" - "He's fabulous...but what he does has nothing to do with Fiddler." Ustinov is a sheer delight in every way - he's funny, he's charming, he's warm, he's relaxed - all things that, frankly, Agatha's Hercule just wasn't."Murder in Three Acts" is a slapped together TV movie without the usual star power except for Tony Curtis and several TV actors - the gorgeous Emma Samms, who was a big TV star in the '80s, Diana Muldaur, Concetta Tomei, Dana Elcar, Nicholas Pryor, and several others. The characters have been Americanized, and though set in Acapulco, aside from a few exterior shots, you don't get much atmosphere.Though the story is very interesting (it is, after all, based on an Agatha Christie novel), the production has a certain blandness to it. You know there's a problem when Diana Muldaur announces that she and the Tony Curtis character did "Private Lives" together. Now, I happen to be very fond of Tony Curtis - I did research for his autobiography, he's on the cover of a book I wrote, I found him a very charming man - but come on, PRIVATE LIVES? With that New York accent? I don't think so. He does, however, look really fabulous, and if you watch the scenes in his house carefully, you'll catch some fantastic photos of him on the wall.It's an okay way to pass the time, and the plot is intriguing, Tony's Tony, Emma's beautiful and sexy, Nicholas Pryor is funny, and Ustinov is - well, he's Poirot even if he's not what Dame Agatha had in mind.