Murder by Death (1976)

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

Director:

Robert Moore

Writer:

Neil Simon

Stars:

Peter Falk, Alec Guinness, Peter Sellers

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited 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

Storyline

Despite not knowing him, the world's most famous detectives can't pass up the offer of a "dinner and murder" invitation from wealthy Lionel Twain. Each has no idea until their arrival at Two Two Twain who else will be in attendance. Those detectives are: amateur sleuths and New York socialites Dick and Dora Charleston, accompanied by their pet terrier, Myron; Belgian detective Monsieur Milo Perrier, accompanied by his chauffeur, Marcel; Shanghainese Inspector Sidney Wang, accompanied by his Japanese adopted son, Willie Wang; frumpish Brit Miss Jessica Marbles, accompanied by her invalid nurse, Miss Withers; and San Francisco gumshoe Sam Diamond, accompanied by his femme fatale sidekick, Tess Skeffington. The dinner part of the invitation runs into problems due to the non-communication between Twain's blind butler, Jamesir Bensonmum, and Twain's new deaf-mute and non-Anglophone cook, Yetta. On the murder side, the guests initially believe Twain will try to kill each of them. However, ...

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Plot Keywords:

murder | detective | butler | guest | sidekick | 

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Taglines:

You are cordially invited to dinner... and a murder!

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Genres:

Comedy | Mystery | Thriller | Crime

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Movie Channel [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 June 1976 (USA)

Also Known As:

Neil Simon's Murder by Death

Filming Locations:

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

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation, Rastar Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In addition to the spoofs of the various detective characters such as Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot, the film gives a nod to Agatha Christie's most famous story, "And Then There Were None" (aka "Ten Little Indians"), the most recently filmed version having only debuting around a couple of years earlier [See: And Then There Were None (1945)]. The novel deals with a series of murders that follow a child's nursery rhyme. One of the lines of the rhyme in the Christie story is "Three little Indian boys walking in the Zoo / A big bear hugged one, and then there were two", and the corresponding murder is committed by dropping a bear-shaped marble clock onto the head of one of the victims. In "Murder by Death", four stone bear-shaped statues are dropped toward most of the guests in turn, hitting Marcel the chauffeur.

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Goofs

The kitchen is in keeping with the period except for the double-door refrigerator/freezer with an ice-dispenser, first introduced in 1965. The Coke bottles seem modern. At that time "Coca-Cola", not "Coke" would have appeared on the bottles, more likely embossed than printed, and probably in a green bottle.

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Quotes

Willie Wang: I don't get it, Pop. Who would hire a blind butler?
Sidney Wang: Very clever. How much he know he get paid?

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Crazy Credits

As the opening credits begin, a pair of black-gloved hands come into frame to unlock and open a footlocker containing the cardboard cutouts of the characters. These characters are displayed with their respective name credit. As the closing credits end, the same pair of black-gloved hands come into frame to close and lock the footlocker.

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Connections

Featured in The 52nd Annual Academy Awards (1980)

User Reviews

Silly Films

I will make myself out to be a lover of films with absolutely no point, i especially love this film. The cast alone should make this a film on everyones watch list, never before has so much quality been brought together on one screen. Peter Sellars, at the height of his comic brilliance. Sir Alec Guiness, brilliant in any role, a credit to English acting, possibly the greatest ever actor. David Niven is a brilliant actor, then there are the other roles filletted out with the likes of Dame Maggie Smith, James Coco, Peter Falk, i could go on but i am running out of superlatives to describe the talent on view.

The film itself is a pastiche of great detectives brought together to prove, who is the greatest? Added to the good script the talent of the actors, i am surprised the IMDb has rated this film so low, but i must accept that there are people on this earth, though inferior to me who are allowed to vote.

Watch it, it is worth it.