Evengyny Thanks for the memories!

Marketic It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

MoPoshy Absolutely brilliant

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

MikeMagi The idea behind this film seems to have been "how bad can we mess up an Agatha Christie mystery?" If that was the goal, it's been a runaway success. Otherwise, it's closer to Clouseau than anything Dame Agatha wrote. Tony Randall, usually an amusing second banana, can't seem to come up with an accent for Hercule Poirot, let alone a characterization. Robert Morley as Hastings is a buffoon. Worst of all, Ms.Christie's ingenious plot is totally lost in all of the comic conniptions. Through most of the film, Poirot comes off as a muddle-headed incompetent.It's no wonder that Dame Agatha was literally aghast when she saw "The Alphabet Murders" and gave up letting her work be filmed for a while. Okay, it wasn't dull. But if you enjoy Agatha Christie -- and quite a few of us do -- that's the best you can say for it.

mama-sylvia 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.

karyn_springston I agree that this movie is NOT to be taken seriously! But it is well worth the time if you like over the top characters. I enjoyed the movie BECAUSE you weren't supposed to take it seriously. Tony Randall does a wonderful job being so fussy. I enjoy Dame Agatha and I feel that she MADE the detective an over the top character. He had SO many faults! He was vain, fussy, a slave to his stomach, and generally very much more than he is ever portrayed in the movies. I love David Suchet in the role, but I do feel that Tony Randall tried to do something with the role that no one else has and that is to try to give him the eccentricities that Dame Agatha gave him. I know that this bothers many, but it is truer to the actual character that he was created with in the books. But I feel that the books themselves are meant to be taken lightheartedly.

Jugu Abraham I have enjoyed David Suchet and Peter Ustinov playing Poirot among other interpretations of the detective, but Randall's turn is equally enjoyable. Randall is not a great actor but a fine comedian. Director Frank Tashlin should know a good comedian when he casts them--he had worked with Danny Kaye and Jerry Lewis to name just two.The film begins with Randall introducing himself as Poirot with a twinkle in his eye. The director is clear from the first scene--comedy first, mystery next.Robert Morley is fun, but Randall is even better--the bowling alley, the restaurant gags, the telephone calls--all scenes filled with visual, good humor rather than slapstick. Morley depends on the typical British attitudes, e.g., snapping fingers down the pecking order, jumping queues and not knowing one's shoe size all depicting arrogance of society and wealth. Director Tashlin dishes out a comedy with considerable social comment--Brits who cannot differentiate the French from the Belgian French and are in the police force!The most intriguing bit was to introduce Margaret Rutherford as Miss Marple and Stringer Davis as Mr Stringer of the Miss Marple films bump into Randall's Poirot briefly. Surely this was a gem of an idea from Tashlin.The film cannot be easily trashed--it offers comedy and entertainment, nearly 40 years after it was made. It is definitely not the definitive Poirot but an interesting interpretation of Poirot. It is probably one of the best Randall films ranking alongside "The Seven Faces of Dr Lao."