Murder by Death (1976)

Director:

Robert Moore

Writer:

Neil Simon (written by)

Release Date:

23 June 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Mystery | Thriller | Crime

Tagline:

By the time the world's greatest detectives figure out whodunnit... you could die laughing!

Plot:

Five famous literary detective characters and their sidekicks are invited to a bizarre mansion to solve an even stranger mystery.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Butler | Blind | Detective | Mansion

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Eileen Brennan	...	Tess Skeffington
Truman Capote	...	Lionel Twain
James Coco	...	Milo Perrier
Peter Falk	...	Sam Diamond
Alec Guinness	...	Bensonmum
Elsa Lanchester	...	Jessica Marbles
David Niven	...	Dick Charleston
Peter Sellers	...	Sidney Wang
Maggie Smith	...	Dora Charleston
Nancy Walker	...	Maid
Estelle Winwood	...	Nurse
James Cromwell	...	Marcel
Richard Narita	...	Willie Wang

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:PG (Approved No. 24496) | Portugal:M/12 | Belgium:Tous | Finland:K-12 | Iceland:L | Ireland:PG | Netherlands:AL | Norway:15 | UK:PG | West Germany:12 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Oakley Court, Windsor Road, Oakley Green, Windsor, Berkshire, England, UK

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Nancy Walker's last movie.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Milo Perrier is in the kitchen inspecting the dead body of the butler with Jessica Marbles and Inspector Wang, he discovers a note in the butler's hand. When he removes it, it gets ripped. When we see him in the next shot with the note, it is no longer ripped.

Quotes:

Dora Charleston: Is he dead?
Sam Diamond: With a thing like that in his back, in the long run, he's better off.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Murder by Death: A Conversation with Neil Simon (1999) (V)

Great fun

Murder by Death is a fun movie that will no doubt be more enjoyable for fans of detective fiction and detective movies. The plot is about a group of detectives that are invited to a spooky house to solve a murder that hasn't been committed yet. The cast is star studded. Peter Sellers steals the show as the Charlie Chan character Mr. Wang. David Niven is typically classy and fun as the Nick Charles ripoff and Maggie Smith is great as the Nora Charles character. Peter Falk does his best Humphrey Bogart impression as Sam Diamond and it's pretty good. Elsa Lanchester makes a decent Ms. Marbles and the age factor is nicely aped when Estelle Winwood is mistaken for her character. James Coco is great as the Poirot character and overacts brilliantly. Truman Capote is extremely annoying but funny in spots as Lionel Twain. He's given some great lines to work with. The atmosphere is thick and the music is cool. The plot meanders toward the end and some of the "solutions" are pretty ridiculous but the rest of the movie is extremely enjoyable.

6.9/10