Murder by Death

Plot synopsis:
A group of five renowned detectives, each accompanied by a relative or associate, is invited to "dinner and a murder" by the mysterious Lionel Twain. Having lured his guests to his mansion managed by a blind butler named Jamessir Bensonmum, who is later joined by a deaf-mute, illiterate cook named Yetta, Twain joins his guests at dinner. The house is then sealed off. Twain announces that he is the greatest detective in the world. To prove his claim, he challenges the guests to solve a murder which will take place at midnight; a reward of $1 million will be presented to the winner.
Before midnight the butler is found dead and Twain disappears, only to re-appear dead from a stab wound immediately after midnight; the cook is also discovered to have been an animated mannequin, now packed in a storage crate. The party spends the rest of the night investigating and bickering. They are manipulated by a mysterious behind-the-scenes force, confused by red herrings, and baffled by the "mechanical marvel" that is Twain's house, and they ultimately find their own lives threatened. Each sleuth presents his or her theory on the case, pointing out the others' past connections to Twain and their possible motives for murdering him.
When they retire to their guest rooms for the night, each of the guests are confronted in their rooms by things that threaten to kill them: a snake, a venomous scorpion, a descending ceiling, poison gas, and a bomb. They all survive, and in the morning they gather in the office, where they find the butler waiting, very much alive and not blind. Each detective presents a different piece of evidence with which they each independently solved the mystery, and in each case, they accuse the butler of being one or another of Twain's former associates.
At first the butler plays the part of each of the persons, male or female, with whom he is identified, but then he pulls off a mask to reveal Lionel Twain himself, alive. Twain disparages the detectives, and metafictionally, the authors who created them, for the way their adventures have been handled, including such misdeeds as introducing crucial characters at the last minute for the traditional "twist in the tale" (something the assembled detectives had been doing a few minutes earlier) and withholding clues and information to make it impossible for the reader to solve the mystery. Each of the detectives departs the house empty handed, none of them having won the million dollars. When asked whether there had been a murder, Wang replies, "Yes: killed good weekend."
Alone in his home, Twain pulls off yet another mask to reveal Yetta, who smokes a cigarette and laughs diabolically while rings of cigarette smoke fill the screen.

Tags: mystery, murder

Review:
Written by Neil Simon and directed by Robert Moore, Murder By Death is a very funny spoof of some of literature/filmdom's most famous detectives, set in a beautifully designed, creepy mansion, and at times, becoming a fine mystery film in its own right.The jokes fly by very quickly and range from subtle to over-the-top, so attentiveness is required, and multiple viewings are rewarded.
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.
An amazing ensemble cast who must have all had their tongues most firmly planted in their cheeks to produce their performances in this highly amusing murder mystery spoof.By incorporating plots and characters from your favourite classic crime genres and gently poking fun at them all it is both funny and comfortingly familiar.So if you want great visual gags (blind butler, deaf maid), superb one liners (especially from Maggie Smith & David Niven) and to escape for 90 minutes back into the gentler, less realistic Golden Age of Crime then you need look no further.If only there were outtakes..
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?
It seems that writer Neil Simon was trying to complicate moviegoers with his screenplay to this movie which pays homage to detectives of old classic movies such as Charlie Chan, Miss Marple, Sam Spade, and Hercule Poirot.
He is the highlight among a very talented cast that includes Peter Falk, David Niven, James Coco, Elsa Lanchester, Alec Guinesses, Maggie Smith, Nancy Walker and Truman Capote.Today, the character oddest for me to view is a young Cromwell who speaks with a French accent!
The other actors play roles typical of them, such as Niven and Smith's dapper "Thin Man" couple and Falk's, Columbo/Mike Hammer-style American detective.This a spoof of all the great detectives and the story has a purposely exaggerated amount of twists, particularly at the end....but, despite some of the typical crude 1970s type sexual innuendos, it provides entertainment start-to-finish with absolutely no lulls.
The characters, while admittedly based somewhat on stereotypes, are all entertaining and each have their own shtick; among them are Milo Perrier, the perpetually hungry and ridiculously sensitive Frenchman, and the *very* British Dick Charleston, played to perfection by David Niven, and last but most definitely not least, Sam Diamond(Peter Falk, doing his Columbo thing), borrowing from noir and Bogart, complete with nonsensical, lengthy rants.
Five famous literary detective characters and their sidekicks are invited to a bizarre mansion full of secret passages and spinning rooms to solve an even stranger mystery , as James Coco as Milo Perrier who looks like Hercules Poirot (by Agatha Christie), as Peter Falk as Sam Diamond who looks like Sam Spade , Elsa Lanchester as Jessica Marbles similarly to Mistress Marple , David Niven as Dick Charleston as Nick Charles (created by Dashiell Hammett, whose Nick Charles and Sam Spade were the basis), Peter Sellers as Sidney Wang or Charlie Chan (written by Earl Derr Biggers).
The screenplay is funny and high quality in which it's not difficult to work out on which murder-solvers each of them is modeled ; furthermore , stands up Alec Guinnes as a botcher and hyperactive blind butler and a suitable eccentric James Coco as Poirot lookalike and Nancy Walker's last movie , ironic in that she does not utter a single word throughout the entire film.
This is probably one of the best movies of the '70s and needs more recognition, because everything about it was funny and clever.Lionel Twain was good but evil but confusing.....Aggh I don't know what to say about his character, but the butler creeped me out and cracked me up from the moment I saw him..
The characters: Peter Sellars playing Sidney Wang, spoofing Charlie Chan; David Niven and Maggie Smith playing Dick and Dora Charleston, spoofing Nick and Nora Charles; Peter Faulk playing Sam Diamond, spoofing Sam Spade; Elsa Lanchester playing Jessica Marbles, spoofing Miss Marple, and James Coco playing Milo Perrier, spoofing Hercule Poirot.If you haven't seen or read any of these classic detective stories, you'll pass a few giggles and come out of this thinking it's enormously weird.
For a time during the 1970s writer Neil Simon was so hot that his name alone was enough to ensure box office success--and one of the results of that fame was MURDER BY DEATH, a parody of murder mysteries of earlier decades.The concept is quite clever, bringing together celebrated detectives of fiction and film: Dick and Dora Charleston (based on Nick and Nora Charles of the celebrated THIN MAN films); Milo Perrier and Jessica Marbles (Hercules Poriot and Jane Marple of Agatha Christie's celebrated novels); Sidney Wang and son Willie (Charlie Chan and son of the fondly remembered film series); and Sam Diamond (Sam Spade of THE MALTESE FALCON.) Each has been invited for an overnight party at the home of the eccentric Lionel Twain--but upon arrival their hosts seals the mansion and informs them that a vicious murder will occur at midnight.
David Niven and Maggie Smith do the honors as Dick and Dora; James Coco and the ever-memorable Elsa Lanchester appear as Perrier and Miss Marbles; Peter Sellers dons Asian attire for Inspector Wang; and Peter Faulk runs wild as tough-talking Sam Diamond.
This very funny murder mystery spoof is a hoot, and the kind of movie you want to own so that you can pop it in whenever you're in the mood for something lighthearted and reliable.A mad genius millionaire (played by Truman Capote, of all people) gathers the world's five best detectives to his spooky house over a weekend and challenges them with a murder he doesn't believe anyone can solve.
I saw "Murder by Death" recently, in a back-to-back with "The Cheap Detective", both Neil Simon scripts that were written directly for film and both spoofs of particular film genres.
The five greatest detectives in the world (Sam Spade, Charlie Chan, Nick and Nora Charles, Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot) are invited to the home of Lionel Twain (get it?) to solve a murder that has not been committed but will be before midnight.
Peter Sellers is terrific as the Charlie Chan character, spouting off absurd proverbs and profundities, David Niven and Maggie Smith are acceptably droll as Nick and Nora, and Alec Guinness does a nice turn as a blind butler.
The world's greatest detectives are invited to a creepy old mansion to a dinner and a murder.Although not the comic masterpiece I was expecting after reading countless reviews, Murder by Death is still a very entertaining murder/mystery comedy.
The cast is simply perfect, there's no way to decide one better than the other, but I personally think Peter Falk steals the show as Sam Diamond, a spoof on Bogard's Sam Spade.The set design is gorgeous, the atmosphere delightfully "comic/creepy" and the script by Neil Simon is filled with great lines and scenarios.
It works extremely well in both cases.Eccentric billionaire Lionel Twain (author Truman Capote, wisely cast considering he was just as eccentric as his character was made out to be) invites the five greatest living detectives to dinner and a murder, the winner's prize money being $1,000,000.
These detectives are Sam Diamond (Peter Falk), Sidney Wang (a hilarious Peter Sellers), Inspector Perrier (James Coco), Dick Charleston (David Niven), aided by his wife Dora (Maggie Smith, who often made a good female choice whenever Simon had a British woman character), and Miss Jessica Marbles (The Bride of Frankenstein herself Elsa Lanchester).
Neil Simon got seriously silly for once when he penned this lovely, pitch-perfect send-up of the classic whodunit.At the manor of the eccentric, wheelchair-bound Lionel Twain, six of the world's greatest detectives are assembled at Twain's invitation to solve a murder that hasn't taken place yet.
Among the notables: Inspector Sidney Wang (Peter Sellers), who might easily be mistaken for Charley Chan; Dick and Dora Charleston (David Niven and Maggie Smith), dead ringers for Nick and Nora Charles of the Thin Man series; Miss Marbles (Elsa Lanchester) and Milo Perrier (James Coco), who slightly resemble the Agatha Christie creations Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot; and Sam Diamond, played by Peter Falk as only he (or Humphrey Bogart) can.Trying to explain this delirious mess any further is an exercise in futility.
It got me to thinking, y'know those movie trailers that tout the Oscar achievements of their stars: "Academy Award winner, so and so; Academy Award winner, so and so; Academy Award nominee, so and so?" Just look at the cast's accomplishments here and imagine the whopping trailer it would take to promote the actors!In alphabetical order:Eileen Brennan - nominated for Private BenjaminJames Coco - nominated for Only When I LaughJames Cromwell - nominated for BabePeter Falk - nominated for Murder, Inc. and Pocketful of MiraclesSir Alec Guiness - won for The Bridge on the River Kwai, nominated for The Lavender Hill Mob, The Horse's Mouth, Star Wars, and Little DorritElsa Lanchester - nominated for Come to the Stable and Witness for the ProsecutionDavid Niven - won for Separate TablesPeter Sellers - nominated for Dr. Strangelove and Being ThereDame Maggie Smith - won for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and California Suite, nominated for Othello, Travels with My Aunt, A Room with a View, and Gosford ParkThis spoof-fest of famous fictitious investigators - Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, Charlie Chan, Sam Spade, Nick and Nora Charles of The Thin Man fame - has the most ridiculous plot but that doesn't matter since the thrill here is watching the best in the biz showing off their acting chops and playing off each other for laughs..
The writer Truman Capote is the host; his campness is a little too arch even for this though Alec Guinness, (a blind butler), James Coco, (the Poiret figure), David Niven and Maggie Smith, (the William Powell/Myrna Loy stand-ins), and Elsa Lanchester, (Miss Marbles who travels with a 93 year old nurse played by Estelle Winwood), are all excellent.
But it's still very enjoyable and a fun watch.As a note if you enjoyed this you may well enjoy another murder mystery comedy called Clue.7/10 - Good but with the stars involved should have been better..
Peter Sellers and David Niven (both of whom were terrific in Casino Royale) are wonderful as 2 of the 5 great detectives invited to a dinner by a mysterious Mr. Twain (Truman Capote)who wants to outsmart them.
The great cast includes Alec Guinness, Peter Falk, Peter Sellers, James Coco, David Niven, Maggie Smith, Truman Capote, Eileen Brennan and James Cromwell.
The difference is that the world's greatest detectives are the guests, and a million dollar prize has been put up by the host.The concept and plot are well thought out and with a wittier script this could have been a very funny film, but despite the quality of the actors involved, the characters remain stereotypical parodies of the fictional detectives they represent.
With PETER FALK doing a superb turn as Sam Diamond (a Raymond Chandler type of detective with Humphrey Bogart characteristics), and EILEEN BRENNAN as his moll, quick with the humorous sarcasm, this is a clever parody of every murder mystery ever written.
In fact, everyone concerned with this Neil Simon parody is having fun in their offbeat roles.Most offbeat of all is NANCY WALKER as a ditzy mute maid and ALEC GUINESS as a blind servant--and, unfortunately, TRUMAN CAPOTE as Lionel Twain, the host of a dinner party designed to trap a murderer.
Too bad Philip Seymour Hoffman wasn't around at the time to do justice to Capote's embarrassingly bad interpretation of Twain who, despite all the Capote mannerisms, seems stilted and unrehearsed.David NIVEN and MAGGIE SMITH do wonders as a Nick and Nora type of couple, ELSA LANCHESTER is eccentric as Miss Marbles, and JAMES COCO has fun with his interpretation of a Belgian detective modeled after Hercule Poirot.All the requisites for mystery are present: the thunder and lightning, the heavy rains, the dark old house, the group of dinner guest suspects, and a plot that gets sillier with each scene.
This is an amusing detective spoof movie by Neil Simon, where millionaire Lionel Twain (Truman Capote) has invited the five greatest detectives to a "dinner and murder." The detectives and their sidekicks are asked to solve a murder in the bizarre mansion, which is full of mysterious features like a blind butler (Alex Guinness), a deaf-mute maid (Nancy Walker), identical rooms, secret passageways, falling statues and deranged animals.Mixed in with the chaotic fun are unforgettable characters like the prim but pompous Dick Charleston (David Niven), the sarcastic wise-guy Sam Diamond (Peter Falk), the thoughtful and eccentric Sidney Wang (Peter Sellers), the sultry Tess Skeffington (Eileen Brennan) and the elegant Dora Charleston (Maggie Smith).
As the film progresses, the clues, are, shall we say, interesting, and don't fit together quite as well as they should.A word of warning, if you are not a nominal mystery buff, you may not catch some of the things that are being spoofed.Nevertheless,if the viewer doesn't watch and listen carefully, he will miss some priceless gags.The first time my wife and I saw this on TV, she dozed off after a long day at work, because she was exhausted.When she woke up, she asked me, "How did it end?"I told her "You wouldn't believe me if I told you" and I didn't.She was slightly miffed for a few days.A couple of years later, Murder by Death was on again and she watched it clear through.Her comment - "You were right, I wouldn't have believed it, if you had told me how it ended!"And if you haven't seen it, neither will you..
If you have not seen the films of the various detectives the characters are based on then it is worthwhile searching them out and then watching Murder by death with a new sense of fun.
That is why I adopted him," and "Probably some deranged dry cleaner." The acting, from an all-star cast was what made the movie, especially Peter Sellers as Mr Wang(I warmed to the character, as I didn't like him as much when I first saw it), David Niven and Peter Falk(who I've loved since Colombo).
Like its backwards title, Neil Simon's detective spoof "Murder by Death" is completely silly...and over-the-top even on a comedic level.
It's delightful to watch.Peter Sellers, Peter Falk, David Niven, Maggie Smith, Alec Guinness, James Coco and Eileen Brennan are simply brilliant in this film and deliver some of their finest performances here.
The movie enjoys an almost ensemble and all-star cast including already established then stars like David Niven, Maggie Smith, Peter Sellers and many others.
Sam Spade, Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, Charlie Chan, and Nick and Nora Charles are all given a broad comic farce by an all-star cast comprised of Peter Sellers, Peter Falk, Alec Guinness, Elsa Lanchester, David Niven, Maggie Smith, Nancy Walker, Eileen Brennan, James Coco, young James Cromwell in his first movie, and even Truman Capote, author of one of the most emotionally moving American classic novels, Truman Capote, who was 42 but nonetheless not aging so well.The world's most renowned sleuths, and their second bananas, are solicited to a dinner party at the ghostly estate of bizarre fat cat Lionel Twain (Capote), who cautions them that a murder will be committed at the stroke of midnight, and he gambles one million dollars that none of the detectives can determine the killer.
Doesn't Add Up. I couldn't believe so many users gave this top kudos, so I came by to try to even the score a bit...I agree with the reviewer who reasoned that just because it is a Neil Simon play-turned-movie with a star-studded cast, this does not necessarily add up to a good movie, even for murder mystery enthusiasts who enjoy parody.
The film also features Alec Guiness as a blind butler and Nancy Walker as a deaf maid (they have the funniest scene in the movie when they are trying to communicate with each other which because of their respective handicaps is impossible but it's funny to watch).
Many of the denouements in the Charlie Chan, Thin Man, Hercule Poirot, and Agatha Christie mysteries never made much sense and that's the point of the ending here.It's a refreshingly politically incorrect ride and played to the hilt by all involved but Maggie Smith as the always-in-the-dark Dora Charles, Nancy Walker as the eye-rolling deaf and dumb maid Yetta, Peter Falk as Bogart's Sam Spade, and Truman Capote as the bitchy host Lionel Twain are the standouts.Murder by Death has a small, loyal cult following and is a charming '70's curio showcasing one of the best casts assembled for a comedy..
But when I look at it I do find this film genuinely funny, with a host of other excellent actors including Sir Alec Guinness, Peter Falk, David Niven, and Maggie Smith.
The 5 best detectives of the world are invited to visit the mysterious Loinel Twain and the casts will remember there visit!The Cast was great: -David Niven is great as Mr. Charleston and his wife is played by the still wonderful Maggie Smith.-Peter Sellers is again funny as the Chinese detective-James Coco & Cromwell are the Belgian detectives.
(for both this film was sadly there last, only Lanchsester gave a little performance in Die Laughing, this was her last mayor role)Peter Falk is the last and also the most clever detective.-And Alec Guinness as the mysterious blind butler...This movie is wonderful, certainly the actors are worth watching!!Rating: 8/10 or *** out of ****.