The Alphabet Murders
The Alphabet Murders | |
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![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Frank Tashlin |
Written by | David Pursall (screenplay) Jack Seddon (screenplay) Agatha Christie (novel) |
Produced by | Lawrence P. Bachmann |
Starring | Tony Randall Anita Ekberg Robert Morley |
Cinematography | Desmond Dickinson |
Music by | Ron Goodwin |
Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release dates |
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Running time | 90 min |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
The Alphabet Murders (also known as ABC Murders) is a 1965 British detective film directed by Frank Tashlin and starring Tony Randall, Anita Ekberg and Robert Morley.[1] It is based on the 1936 novel The A.B.C. Murders by Agatha Christie.
Plot
[edit]Albert Aachen, a clown with a unique diving act, is found dead, the murder weapon happens to be a poison dart. When a woman named Betty Barnard becomes the next victim, detective Hercule Poirot suspects that Sir Carmichael Clarke could be in grave danger.
As Poirot and Captain Hastings look into the crimes, a beautiful woman with an interesting monogram named Amanda Beatrice Cross becomes the focus of their investigation, at least until she leaps into the Thames.
Cast
[edit]- Tony Randall as Hercule Poirot
- Anita Ekberg as Amanda
- Robert Morley as Captain Hastings
- Maurice Denham as Inspector Japp
- Guy Rolfe as Duncan Doncaster
- Sheila Allen as Lady Diane
- James Villiers as Franklin
- Julian Glover as Don Fortune
- Grazina Frame as Betty Barnard
- Clive Morton as 'X'
- Cyril Luckham as Sir Carmichael Clarke
- Richard Wattis as Wolf
- David Lodge as Sergeant
- Patrick Newell as Cracknell
- Austin Trevor as Judson
- Windsor Davies as Dragbot
- Drewe Henley as Bowling Alley Attendant
- Sheila Reid as Mrs. Fortune
- Margaret Rutherford as Miss Marple
- Stringer Davis as Mr. Stringer.
Production
[edit]The part of Poirot had originally been intended for Zero Mostel but the film was delayed because Agatha Christie objected to the script; amongst the things objected to was the intention to put in a bedroom scene with Hercule Poirot.[2] The film varies significantly from the novel and emphasises comedy, the specialty of director Frank Tashlin. Poirot is given buffoonish characteristics, while still remaining a brilliant detective.
The film features uncredited cameos by Margaret Rutherford as Miss Marple and Stringer Davis as her friend Mr Stringer. The pair had previously appeared in a series of four films as the characters produced by MGM between 1961 and 1964.[3]
Austin Trevor, who plays the butler Judson, had played Poirot in three British films in the early 1930s: Alibi (1931), Black Coffee (1931) and Lord Edgware Dies (1934).
Reception
[edit]The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Depressingly unfunny comedy-thriller: though directed by Tashlin, virtually none of the misadventures encountered by Poirot during the course of his case raise even the slightest smile. Even the tangled mystery, solved by a typical Agatha Christie 'surprise', is unusually dreary."[4]
Leonard Maltin gives the film 2 1/2 out of 4 stars, calling it an "odd adaptation" of Christie's book. Maltin goes on to say, "the strange casting of Randall ... and a little too much slapstick make this more a curiosity than anything else."[5]
TCM calls Randall's Poirot "an Inspector Clouseau-style bumbler", noting that the second installment of the Pink Panther series had been well-received the previous year.[6]
A. H. Weiler of The New York Times dismissed the film as "a routine run through of clichés and clues."[7]
See also
[edit]- Agatha Christie's Great Detectives Poirot and Marple, another case of Marple and Poirot coexisting in the same story
References
[edit]- ^ "The Alphabet Murders". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
- ^ Osborne, Charles (1990). The Life and Crimes of Agatha Christie. Contemporary Books. pp. 116–7. ISBN 9780809241071.
- ^ Weiler, A.H. (12 July 1966). "The Screen: 'Alphabet Murders' Opens". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
- ^ "The Alphabet Murders". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 33 (384): 106. 1 January 1966 – via ProQuest.
- ^ Leonard Maltin (3 September 2013). Leonard Maltin's 2014 Movie Guide. Penguin Publishing Group. p. n/a. ISBN 978-1-101-60955-2.
- ^ TCM, The Alphabet Murders
- ^ https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1966/07/12/82486741.html?pageNumber=36 The New York Times, July 12, 1966, page 36
External links
[edit]- The Alphabet Murders at IMDb
- The Alphabet Murders then-and-now location photographs at ReelStreets
- 1965 films
- 1960s mystery films
- British detective films
- Films based on works by Agatha Christie
- Films based on Hercule Poirot books
- Films directed by Frank Tashlin
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films
- Films scored by Ron Goodwin
- Films shot at MGM-British Studios
- 1960s English-language films
- 1960s British films
- English-language mystery films