The challenge for anyone adapting a murder mystery originally written many decades ago is how to make it relevant to modern audiences. All too often there is a need to remove racist, sexist, or homophobic content. Famously Agatha Christie wrote a novel that she originally titled Ten Little N—- (after an old minstrel song that plays an important part in the plot). Even in 1940, Americans knew this title was unacceptable and it was redubbed And Then There Were None for its US release. For a while, it was renamed Ten Little Indians in most markets (and there are at least a couple of movie adaptations with that title), but these days everyone has changed it to And Then There Were None.

But beyond dealing with words and ideas that are no longer acceptable, adaptations must decide if they want to keep the original time period or update it to modern times. Are there language or plot points that now seem archaic? Etc. and so forth.

The Alphabet Murders, based on an Agatha Christie novel from 1936, chose to modernize the story in every conceivable way. The film is so very 1960s it hurts.

It begins with Tony Randall playing Tony Randall an actor who is about to star in the film we are about to watch. He winks at the camera and introduces the film. Then with a flash of editing, he’s changed into Hercule Poirot the famed Belgium detective. But he’s still winking at the camera and telling us to leave him alone. For he is in London and surely no crime will follow him there.

The rest of the film has that same winking, and cuteness to it, though no one else breaks the third wall. There is more than a little Inspector Clouseu to Randall’s portrayal of Poirot and it should be noted that the Pink Panther series was two films into its run by this point, and quite successful.

I’ve never read the book – got a few chapters in and then got distracted, nor seen any of the other adaptations of it (I’ve seen bits and pieces of a couple of them – maybe this story just doesn’t grab me like it should) but from what I do know this is a very loose adaptation of the novel. Here some serial killer is murdering people who have the same letter for both of their initials and is doing so in alphabetical order.

But the mystery takes a back seat to the comedic shenanigans and the comedy just never works. The setting and the look of the film are all swinging in ’60s London which is fun, but strange for a Poirot movie. Robert Morley is Hastings, a recurring character in Christie’s novels. He normally acts as a Dr. Watson-type character to Poirot’s Sherlock Holmes, but here he’s an English copper who does not know Poirot at all.

I suppose if you know nothing about Poirot and are looking for a silly 1960s crime story then this might work for you. But as someone who has seen many Poirot adaptations, this just fell flat for me.