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:

Peter Sellers reportedly played a number of practical jokes on cast and crew during filming, including once calling Neil Simon up whilst imitating co-star Alec Guinness and demanding a re-write of a key scene in the middle of the night. Neither Guinness nor Simon was amused.

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:

Sam Diamond: The lady here in the rented dress is my secretary and mistress, Miss Tess Skeffington.

Movie Connections:

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

What A Hoot

An all-star cast, superb dialogue, effective lighting and editing, great production design, and interesting costumes rev up the technical quality of this cinematic spoof of literary whodunits. An eccentric genius named Lionel Twain (Truman Capote) invites the world's five greatest fictional detectives to a dinner party, at which time someone will be murdered. The detective who solves the crime first gets $1 million.

Everything in this film, from the acting to the sound effects to the plot ... is deliciously exaggerated ... hence the humor. For example, mystery readers accept that Hercule Poirot and Charlie Chan are so observant as to spot the most obscure clue, which conveniently points to the solution of the puzzle. In "Murder By Death" writer Neil Simon exaggerates that gambit. A guest detective draws the most outlandish conclusion from the most irrelevant fact, which in turn is shot down by another guest detective who points out the flaws, and then proceeds to do exactly the same thing.

The dialogue is marvelous. In one scene the blind butler serves non-existent soup from an empty bowl, to which Miss Marbles (Elsa Lanchester) protests: "Murder by starvation, maybe that's his game". In another scene, Inspector Perrier (James Coco) reads from a list, and then concludes: "Everything here has been rented for tonight". Miss Marbles responds in a melodramatic voice: "You mean?" "Yes", answers Perrier momentously: "this entire murder has been -- catered".

And then there's the scene wherein Sam Diamond (Peter Falk) ruminates: "I don't get it; first they steal the body and leave the clothes; then they steal the clothes and bring the body back. Who would do a thing like that?" To which Dick Charleston (David Niven) responds in a serious tone: "Possibly some deranged dry cleaner".

The film's casting is wonderful. Truman Capote may not be much of an actor, but he brings to the film a personality that is appropriately eccentric. My only problem is that the amount of screen time for the cast is uneven ... too much for Peter Falk and Peter Sellers, and not enough for Elsa Lanchester, who arrives late.

"Murder By Death" is a wonderful film classic that still holds up thirty years after it was made. The film conveys no heavy-duty political or social "message", no great insight into the human condition. But when you're in the mood for lighthearted, escapist entertainment that provides some laughs, this film is a great choice.