Murder by Death
Cast
Eileen Brennan .... Tess Skeffington/Vilma Normand/Diamond's Secretary and Mistress
Truman Capote .... Lionel Twain
James Coco .... Inspector Milo Perrier
Peter Falk .... Sam Diamond/J.J. Loomis
Alec Guinness .... Jamesir Bensonmum, Twain's blind butler, aka Irving Goldman, aka Marvin Metzler, aka Miss Irene Twain, aka Rita, aka Sam Diamond
Directed by
Robert Moore
Rater #2 has description and review.
Rater #1
Has Not Seen movie
Rater #2
8/10. I usually don't read murder mysteries, but watching murder mysteries
is my idea of a good time. Neil Simon's Murder by Death is a perfect
example of that genre. Not only does it have the required twists and
turns for a murder mystery, it also is hilarious (which is good,
because it's a parody of the genre as well as being one of it).
Although the plot was used again in Clue about 10 years later, this
has less of a plot and has a more frenzied feel to it, not unlike
some British comedy from thirty years ago that you'd find on PBS.
As I said earlier, I don't read mysteries, but I did recognize who
the parodies were. For example, Peter Sellers plays Sidney Wang, a
parody of late 30's, early 40's detective Charlie Chan. He's arriving
at Lionel Twain's castle for a weekend with his Number Three Son
(another spoof of the Chan movies). Other guests include Dick and
Dora Charleston (as in Nick and Nora Charles from The Thin Man
movies), Milo Perrier (as in Hercule Peroit from Agatha Christie
books), Jessica Marbles (as in Marples), and Sam Diamond (Sam Spade
from The Maltese Falcon).
When I first popped this movie into my DVD player, I expected a
snooty British comedy, not unlike a movie such as Gosford Park. I was
surprised. Not only does it have famous actors, it has a quick pace,
some slapstick, and lots of one-liners. It was never boring, and not
only was I laughing out loud a lot, I was also enthralled in the
mystery that Twain puts upon us: one person is going to die, and
whoever solves it will get one million dollars. I had no idea who was
the murderer, and when we found out who actually did it, that was the
weakest part of the whole movie, although, yet again, it spoofs the
genre.
The cast is very big, too. Sellers, as Wang, is hilarious, he is a
versatile actor. Peter Falk plays Diamond with stunning accuracy.
He's also very funny, especially when he's with his secretary Tess
Skeffington (Eileen Brennan, who is funny by herself, also). Dick and
Dora are played by David Niven and Maggie Smith. Although I've only
seen part of a Thin Man movie, they looked just like them, also, and
acted like them. I think that's what makes this movie so good, is how
closely they parody the genre without totally divulging into it.
Rater #3
Has Not Seen Movie.
Rater #4
Has Not Seen Movie.
Rated PG for some language, violence, and suggestive themes.
Running time: 94 minutes
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