Rating: 
Summary: Appalling Bloodshed and Cedric, the Caiman.
Review: "The little grey cells, I fear, they grow the rust," Hercule Poirot regretfully tells his friend Captain Hastings upon welcoming him back from a South American vacation. No case has kept him busy, nothing interesting has happened at all. Now that Hastings is back, however, things will be different again: "But it must be no common affair, Hastings. It must be something recherche. Delicate. Fine."
And just such a case is about to begin; in fact, it will turn out be one of Poirot's most difficult ever. Because at this point, he has already received the first of what will be an entire series of letters from an apparent serial killer, brazenly announcing his crimes and taunting Poirot to catch him. In fact, this is the very day the first murder is supposed to take place, in the town of Andover, about 50 miles west of London - and in short order, a woman whose initials are A.A. is indeed found murdered there. Then, also as advised by the killer, a murder occurs in the East Sussex seaside resort of Bexhill ... and the victim's initials are B.B. The third murder's location is Churston in far-away Devon in the south-west of England - and that victim's initials are C.C. And to catch him before the fourth murder, the killer tells Poirot, he will have to travel to the Yorkshire town of Doncaster, on the day of the famous St. Leger race, no less.
By this time, the victims' surviving relatives and friends have formed a "legion of interested parties" that works with Poirot to find the killer. Their task is not an easy one, for the only link between the murders seems to be an A.B.C. Railway guide left with the body of each victim, and the strictly alphabetic order of the victims' names and the crime scenes. But eventually the detectives find themselves on the trace of a traveling salesman whose initials happen to be A.B.C.: a timid, extremely high-strung, desperately driven man who ever since his return from World War I has been suffering from epileptic seizures, repeated blackouts and (probably) what is today known as post-traumatic stress disorder, and whose presence at the locations of each of the crimes on the days when the respective crimes took place is quickly established. So is he the killer - or if he is not, what, if anything, *does* he have to do with the murders?
Written in 1935, "The A.B.C. Murders" is one of Agatha Christie's most intriguing mysteries; and this adaptation, in turn, one of the highlights of the long-running series featuring David Suchet as Hercule Poirot. Like the screen versions of other Poirot stories, the present movie takes a number of liberties with Christie's novel; but as in the case of the equally brilliant and darn near unfilmable "Murder of Roger Ackroyd," the changes work well to the advantage of the adaptation. - Given Hercule Poirot's stature in the annals of mystery writing, it seems strange that except for his portrayal by Albert Finney in the star-studded movie version of "Murder on the Orient Express," for a long time there didn't seem to be any actor who could convincingly bring to life the clever, dignified little Belgian with his unmistakable egg-shaped head, always perched a little on one side, his stiff, military, slightly upward-twisted moustache, and his excessively neat attire, which had reached the point that "a speck of dust would have caused him more pain than a bullet," as Agatha Christie introduced him through Captain Hastings's voice in their and her own very first adventure, "The Mysterious Affair at Styles" (1920). But the perfect Poirot was finally found in Suchet, who after having had the dubious honor of playing a rather dumbly arrogant version of Scotland Yard Chief Inspector Japp in some of the 1980s' movies starring Peter Ustinov as Poirot, now finally moved center stage. And the match is spot-on, not only physically but also in terms of personality, for Suchet shares Poirot's inclination towards pedantry: "I like things to be symmetrical ... If I put two things on the mantelpiece, they have to be exactly evenly spaced," he once said in an interview, adding however that unlike his on-screen alter ego, "I don't need the same sized eggs for breakfast!"
My one quibble with this series is that Captain Hastings (Hugh Fraser) tends to come across as somewhat more vacuous and naive than in the novels narrated from his point of view, and this movie is no exception in that regard. However, I frankly admit that I, too, have to chuckle at the subplot involving Hastings's travel souvenir for Poirot (a stuffed, ill-smelling caiman named Cedric (!), shot by Hastings himself in the waters of the Orinoco and causing the pedantically neat Poirot repeated spells of queasiness); and Hastings's eagerness to tell anyone who will listen how exactly he came into the caiman's possession. And of course, Philip Jackson never disappoints in his role as a wonderfully down-to-earth, sturdy Inspector Japp; the supporting cast (including, inter alia, Donald Sumpter, Donald Douglas, Nicholas Farrell, Pippa Guard and Vivienne Burgess) is uniformly excellent, and so are the movie's production values, from cinematography to art direction and costume design. Poirot even gets to have a Holmsean moment in the vein of "the curious incident of the dog in the night-time" ("The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes" - "Silver Blaze," 1894), when he points out to Hastings after the first murder that the A.B.C. Railway Guide found next to the victim cannot have been left there randomly: "The fingerprints tell us that." "But ... there weren't any fingerprints," Hastings responds. "Exactement," Poirot explains. "Our murderer, he is in the dark, and seeks to remain in the dark. But in the very nature of things, he cannot help to throw the light upon himself." And as always, Poirot turns out to be right in the end ...
Rating:
Summary: Poirot knows his ABC's in this classic adaptation
Review: "The sanity of a town full of men against the insanity of one man," says Hercule Poirot while the police are keeping a sharp lookout for a killer who has already murdered one person and threatens to kill another. The trouble is, what does a madman look like? Especially a madman who writes the following letter to Poirot:You fancy yourself don't you, at solving mysteries that are too difficult for our thick-
headed British police? Let us see, Mr. Clever Poirot, just how clever you can be. Perhaps you'll find this nut too hard to crack. Look out for Andover, on the 21st of this month. Yours sincerely A.B.C. The first of what could have been twenty-six letters addressed to Poirot results in one of the Belgian detective's most renowned cases. After a six month dearth of cases, the letter serves to remove the rust from Poirot's neglected "little grey cells," and the return of his friend Captain Hastings from the wilds of Venezuela teams them up once again. Sure enough, there is a murder in Andover, the only clue being an ABC Railway Guide, which is a detailed booklet listing trains going to and from one city to another, indexed by city. And within the scope of ten days, there is a total of three murders. Poirot thinks there is some connection to the murders, despite the murderer's penchant with the alphabet. Is he right? Poirot has assistance from the relatives of the murder victims, all determined to catch A.B.C. Chief Inspector Japp isn't too impressed, though, as he believes Scotland Yard is good enough. The viewer is also introduced to a tall lonely man with glasses, shabby coat, and a stooped back named Mr. Cust. He has been mentally affected by his service in World War I, and has been reduced to selling stockings, a sad reminder of how veterans were unable to get decent jobs during the interwar economic slump. In fact he laughs crazily when someone tells him the difference between diseases and wars is that the latter can be prevented. Some padding in the original novel is left out, all very well, but that is replaced by a comedic subplot of Hastings trying to tell anyone who'd listen about a caiman he shot while in Venezuela and had stuffed. It's all the more funnier when we learn that Hastings brought this as a gift for Poirot, and its large grotesque presence clashes with Poirot's sense of aesthetics. Also, the ABC Guide is for the year 1936. In the original novel, the first letter Poirot gets is dated 21 June 1935. Clearly, the movie's a year off. And Chief Inspector Japp has a more substantial role here than in the novel, that being given to Inspector Crome. Most of the characters bear great similarities to the novel. Of the guest cast, Donald Sumpter does best as the good but weak-minded Cust. Apart from the regulars, Nicholas Farrell (Don Fraser) is the only other well-known actor, appearing in Chariots Of Fire, and Branagh's Hamlet as Horatio. His hair's not red per the novel, but he exudes the jealous boyfriend character well, even if he's older than the novel's Fraser. However, the novel's Franklin Clarke is described as a "big fair-haired man with a sunburnt face," a far cry from the character shown here, clearly in his 60's. Other than that, this is one of the best Poirot feature-length adaptations, as key parts of Agatha Christie's dialogue from the novel is reproduced. Indeed, the question remains-what does a madman look like? A tall sinister person with a beard, furtive eyes, wearing a black hat, or someone like you and me?
Rating:
Summary: Possibly the best of Poirot cases
Review: <The ABC Murders> in my opinion is one of the better Poirot mystery novels and it transfers very well to the screen. First of all do not confuse it with the horrible film "The Alphabet Murders" with Tony Randall. This is a fairly faithful adaptation of the Christie novel that has Poirot and Chief Inspector Japp chasing after a serial killer who matches the initials of his victims with the name of the town in which they are killed. And although the murderer turns out to be not exactly the least likely suspect, there are enough red herrings--one gigantic, the rest minor--to keep you guessing until the inevitable scene in which all concerned are gathered in one place to hear how the Master has solved it all. There is a bit of nonsense with Hastings' stuffed souvenir of the South American jungles and the last murder is shown but its purpose is not explained as it is in the original. Suchet is as always absolutely "into" the role (so much so that his self-satisfaction does grate on us a little) and almost every character is utterly believable, down to the silent extras like the cutie pie in the sailor hat and slacks running down the boardwalk in one scene. Even the corpses look realistic. The 30's décor is fabulous, as it is in most of these episodes. Where DO they find those art deco settings? It seems that Acorn Media will be putting the two-hour Poirots onto DVD and the one hour ones onto VHS in boxed sets. Either way, these are utterly enjoyable productions and "The ABC Murders" should be rated among the very best of them. Look also for the DVD edition of "Death in the Clouds" that was issued at the same time as this offering. And how good to see it without the frequent piggyback commercials!
Rating: 
Summary: The Super Sleuth Learns his ABCs
Review: +++++
I watched this movie without reading the 1936 Dame Agatha Christie novel that it was based on. I'm glad I did this! Why? Because it forced me to really watch the movie in order to try and deduce who the murderer was.
As a brief synopsis, this mystery involves a murderer who announces the place and day where each seemingly random murder is to be committed through a series of letters each addressed to Poirot (David Suchet). The places mentioned are in alphabetical order. So, the first letter sent to Poirot states that a murder is to be committed in a place that begins with the letter "A." As well, it turns out that the murder victim's surname also begins with an "A." After this murder, a second letter is sent to Poirot but this time the place of the murder begins with a "B" which means the second victim's surname will also begin with a "B." This process has the potential to continue through the alphabet but Poirot solves the mystery after the "D" murder.
Each typed letter sent to Poirot by the murderer is signed "A.B.C." Poirot later deduces that these letters "were written by a sane [person] pretending to be mad."
The murderer leaves his calling card at each murder scene: "The ABC Alphabetical Railway Guide."
To aid the investigation, Poirot has the help of Captain Hastings (Hugh Fraser) and Chief Inspector Japp (Philip Jackson).
The suspects turn out to be a relative or someone close to each victim. As well, another suspect is an epileptic with amnesia.
The suspects are as follows:
1. Franz Ascher, husband of the "A" victim (Michael Mellinger)
2. Mary Drower, "A" victim's niece (Cathy Bradshaw)
3. Donald Fraser, boyfriend of the "B" victim (Nick Farrell)
4. Megan Barnard, "B" victim's sister (Pippa Guard)
5. Franklin Clarke, brother to the "C" victim (Don Douglass)
6. Thora Grey, "C" victim's secretary (Nina Marc)
7. A. B. Cust, door-to-door stocking salesman (Don Sumpter)
Of all the actors mentioned, Suchet's performance stands out (as usual). He gives a stellar performance as Poirot. Also, look for Sumpter's excellent performance.
In this movie, there is good interaction between Poirot, Hastings, and Japp. There are humorous situations created by their interaction.
The cinematography of this movie is visually stunning. All costumes are authentic looking. As well, the background music adds to each scene.
The DVD (which has the movie in full screen format) has the usual text extras. Newcomers to the series may find these interesting.
Finally, there is one major problem with this movie. We are not told anything about the "D" victim (not even the person's name). In the final deduction scene, none of this victim's relatives or those that were close to this victim are present. I felt this was a major oversight.
In conclusion, other than the above oversight, this is a fun movie, even if you have read the novel it's based on!!
(1992; 100 min; 12 scenes; made for TV; British drama; color)
+++++
Rating: 
Summary: It is a good Movie
Review: But.... very slow at times. I`m such a fan, i love Poirot!!!! And i just got the collection. The movie was good, but not my favorite.
Rating:
Summary: It is good
Review: Hi, I such a fan!!!! a Love Poirot-Suchet-Poirot The movie was good, but very slow at times.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant!!!
Review: I cannot possibly praise The ABC Murders highly enough. Not only is it my favorite Poirot (which says a lot), I count it as one of my all-time favorite movies. Any movie can be either lost or salvaged by its script, and this is screenwriting at its absolute best. Every line of dialogue is perfectly scripted, and even better, perfectly executed by each brilliant actor. The Poirot series is famed for its excellent acting, but wow, does this take the cake! What can I say about David Suchet? He is such a phenomenal actor that you entirely forget that he's acting. Hugh Frasier is charmingly clueless as always, and Philip Jackson absolutely shines as the upstaged and frustrated (but, ultimately, conscientious and good-hearted) Chief Inspector Japp. However, the real stars of The ABC Murders are the extras, and, not to say too much, there is at least one performance that is Oscar-worthy. There is also a great deal of suspense that is not generally present in other Poirot episodes that stems from its very un-typical plot, and which is perfectly paced throughout the movie to keep you on the edge of your seat. Add to this perfection a liberal dose of subtle British humor (enough to satisfy even the hungriest anglophile), and the art-deco ambiance which is immaculate to the tiniest detail. My only complaint is that the DVD video quality is not pristine - it is somewhat grainy, especially during the dark scenes. (Acorn has corrected this problem in the newest Poirot release, Hickory Dickory Dock, which is crystal-clear.) But that is a very small complaint, and overall this is outstanding entertainment.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant!!!
Review: I cannot possibly praise The ABC Murders highly enough. Not only is it my favorite Poirot (which says a lot), I count it as one of my all-time favorite movies. Any movie can be either lost or salvaged by its script, and this is screenwriting at its absolute best. Every line of dialogue is perfectly scripted, and even better, perfectly executed by each brilliant actor. The Poirot series is famed for its excellent acting, but wow, does this take the cake! What can I say about David Suchet? He is such a phenomenal actor that you entirely forget that he's acting. Hugh Frasier is charmingly clueless as always, and Philip Jackson absolutely shines as the upstaged and frustrated (but, ultimately, conscientious and good-hearted) Chief Inspector Japp. However, the real stars of The ABC Murders are the extras, and, not to say too much, there is at least one performance that is Oscar-worthy. There is also a great deal of suspense that is not generally present in other Poirot episodes that stems from its very un-typical plot, and which is perfectly paced throughout the movie to keep you on the edge of your seat. Add to this perfection a liberal dose of subtle British humor (enough to satisfy even the hungriest anglophile), and the art-deco ambiance which is immaculate to the tiniest detail. My only complaint is that the DVD video quality is not pristine - it is somewhat grainy, especially during the dark scenes. (Acorn has corrected this problem in the newest Poirot release, Hickory Dickory Dock, which is crystal-clear.) But that is a very small complaint, and overall this is outstanding entertainment.
Rating:
Summary: Rivals Book as Masterpiece
Review: I love the entire Poirot series, but this is my favorite. It has perfect flow of action. David Suchet and Hugh Fraser's performances are as endearing as ever, with exceptional timing, humor, and interaction. The screenwriters did an excellent job on this one. I like to think that Hastings finally gets to finish his story (because Mr. Cust is such a good listener), and I also like to think Mr. Cust ended up with the crocodile since we never see it again in the series. This is filled with tidbits like this not even in the book. I have to admit I like this movie better than the book, though I adore everything Agatha Christie has written.
Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT!
Review: My TV mystery days started well before PBS with Charlie Chan, Sherlock Holmes, and film noir on Sundays. This will be a classic series remembered and replayed for years. An ABC murder is an interesting tale that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Filled with several murders, you will work through this with Poirot and Hastings. This is an excellent transfer and plays well at home. Much better than the broadcast and uninterrupted by fund raisers. A word to the wise-if you plan on collecting the series, a collector's set of the first five releases will be released in June. This will save a bundle over individual purchases.
|
