The most admirable thing about this funny little movie - which I saw today, 50 years after it was made - is the great "mise-en-caméra" by maestro Frank Tashlin, which, combined with his ability to stage physical humor inherited from the cartoon, Ron Goodwin's music and an enthusiastic cast, resulted in a dramatic comedy full of suspense and giggles that has been sorely affected since its release by the adverse comments of some purists with little sense of humor. Produced by the same entrepreneur who financed in the 1960s three films starring Margaret Rutherford as Agatha Christie's Miss Jane Maple, "The Alphabet Murders" introduces us to another Christie investigator, Hercule Poirot (Tony Randall), who while visiting his tailor in London, witnesses a series of crimes, which he cannot ignore. When he is already up to his neck in the chain of events, his life is in danger. Tashlin's visual planning (with cinematographer Desmond Dickinson) is so thoughtful, careful and elegant, that the viewing of the film is a delight. That said, I must add, as for the dispute of the adaptation of this novel to film, that I do not remember ever watching a film version of the novel "Dracula" in which the protagonist resembled the nauseating description that Bram Stoker made of the vampire in his work. But I liked Max Schreck, Christopher Lee, Klaus Kinski and Béla Lugosi. So I was not worried if this film was true to Christie's novel "The A.B.C. Murders", or if Randall played a Hercule Poirot below/above other actors' characterizations. This unfortunate approach to film versions of literary works has disparaged many motion pictures by the defense of the book over the audiovisual medium. In addition to being two different media (one with more advantage than the other, it is true, as the book allows us to imagine a thousand and one versions of the same word or phrase), the film creator has all the freedom to do what he wants with a book. And when we talk about Frank Tashlin we are referring to a creator: movies like "Rock-a-Bye Baby", "Bachelor Flat", "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?", "Hollywood or Bust", "The Girl Can't Help It" and cartoons such as "Hare Remover" or "Porky Pig's Feat ", place him as a meritorious exponent of popular culture, just as good as Agatha Christie.

OK, at first it's difficult for the viewer to adjust to the (mis)casting of Tony Randall as Hercule Poirot; not only does he not resemble the character physically, but his portrayal seems closer to Peter Sellers' Inspector Clouseau than to a brilliant detective. Furthermore, the movie gets the Poirot-Hastings relationship completely wrong for at least two thirds of the way (they're supposed to be friends, not antagonists!), and some of the comedy in the early scenes is painful, so it wouldn't be surprising if many viewers wished that Margaret Rutherford's Miss Marple, who has a highly amusing cameo giving a priceless look of disbelief to Randall's Poirot, actually took over the whole case herself! Luckily, the comedy gets somewhat toned down in the second half, as Agatha Christie's classic mystery plot takes over; for all the changes and additions of the adaptation, the central idea - a brilliant one - remains, and overall, the film has a great story that survives its sometimes heavy-handed treatment. Ron Goodwin's music score may not be as immediately catchy as his work for the Marple films, but it improves the more you listen to it - just as the film improves the more you watch it. **1/2 out of 4.

I think this is one of the worst versions of an Agatha Christies novel, bad actors, and a really stupid plot and presentation. The comic performances dosn't fit at all in the book I have read - there is no more to say, I'm very disappointed. Bad movie. Tony Randall make a terrible portrait of the superb detective Hercule Poirot - I have seen his version by David Suchet in the 90s - that a very good performance. And the Swedish Anita Ekberg, I almost put away my beer when I saw her presence. Okay, great body, blond and Scandinavian - but she can't act. What pleasure me most was the cameo of Margaret Rutherford, when I've seen her earlier as Miss Jane Marple, she is really great, so I gave one point for her too - nothing more to say...Leonard.

I don't know why the producers purchased the book rights; other than a few character names, there is NO resemblance to Agatha Christie's taut suspense story. Hercule Poirot, famous for exercising only his little grey cells, leaps about and crawls under barriers. His faithful sidekick Hastings has become an inept security agent, from whom Poirot continually escapes. Poirot actually meets the intended victims except for the first one. Tony Randall does a rather good job playing this miserable excuse for Poirot, which isn't necessarily a compliment. The story and resolution are completely changed, and not for the better. If you're an Agatha Christie fan, pass this one by.