Review of The Alphabet Murders (1965) by Eric R — 13 Jun 2011

The film opens with Tony Randall breaking the fourth wall (addressing the audience) as he introduces the film. He looks normal, but in fact the rest of the film he will not. He is decked out in make-up, barely recognizable as the goofy yet intelligent Belgian detective, Hercule.

We follow Hercule as he tries to solve a group of murders which victims seem to be murdered alphabetically, hence the name. This is a very interesting film in that it really shifts between comedic and dramatic tones.

Hercule deals with ridicule from the local police, though he is nearly always one step ahead of them. He is nearly insufferable, yet very lovable at the same time. I could see some people having issues with the tone, but I found it to be a welcoming blend that just made the film that much more fun.

Hercule is really just such a fun lovable, goofy character which Tony Randall plays perfectly. This may sound weird but it almost felt like he should be a character in Tati's Playtime. Tashlin, as usal, really films this thing beautifully with some very cool motivated camera movements.

He clearly wanted to make a comedy-caper film and I think this really stand up to any such film, like Pink Panther (the original of course) for example.