The Alphabet Murders (1965)

In London, the renowned Belgian detective Hercule Poirot (Tony Randall) is on the trail of a beautiful blonde (Anita Ekberg) who appears to be randomly murdering people by their initials. The first victim's initials are AA, the second BB and so forth. Based on THE ABC MURDERS by Agatha Christie and directed by Frank Tashlin (THE GIRL CAN'T HELP IT). MGM's British studios had a great success with Christie's Miss Marple mysteries starring Margaret Rutherford (who has a cameo here) so I suppose it made sense to attempt and turn Christie's Hercule Poirot into a franchise too. Alas, it's a disaster right down the line. Ironically, Tony Randall might actually have made a suitable Poirot in a legitimate adaptation but Tashlin's film is not only a travesty of the source material but it displays none of Tashlin's comedic touch. Why they thought it necessary to rewrite Christie's book into a comedy I don't know unless they assumed the comedic elements in the Rutherford Marples films was the key to their success. For Christie fans, this borders on blasphemy though I suppose those not familiar with Christie's books might tolerate it. With Robert Morley, Julian Glover, Maurice Denham, Guy Rolfe and Sheila Allen.