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. "Murder by Death" is the superior of the two, although considering my low opinion of Neil Simon, superior here means watchable on a rainy day.
This is a sendup of the distinctly styled Agatha Christie whodunits, the sort on which the game of Clue was based (Colonel Mustard did it in the kitchen with a revolver). 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. Twain is out to prove that he, and not they, is the greatest detective in the world and tries to stump them all. The price to the winner: one million dollars. But when Twain himself turns up as the victim, the game is really on.
Peter Falk gets to do his Bogart imitation again (although this movie precedes "Cheap Detective") and comes off a lot better. Simon writes Sam Spade with a twist- he is a crude lout, openly rude and insulting to the other guests. ( Twain: "I'm the greatest detective in the world. I'm number one!" Spade: "You look a little like number two to me, if you know what I mean.") It's a subtle shade in characterization that goes a long way in getting laughs. 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. Falk and Sellers absolutely steal the movie, as does Truman Capote, in his one and only film, as the redoubtable Twain, he has one great scene that nearly brings the film to a halt. The weak link in the cast is Jimmy Coco as Poirot, who is just plain ham-acting instead of bringing out a natural humor from within the character. His pathetic comic French makes Inspector Clouseau sound like DeGaulle.
The screenplay has the requisite twists and turns, and then some, until the murderer is finally revealed, or is he? It's an amusing ride, although some great performances beat Neil Simon's jokes by a country mile. And, by the way, why wasn't Clouseau invited? It's not like Peter Sellers hasn't played multiple roles in a film before. 3 *** out of 4
This is a sendup of the distinctly styled Agatha Christie whodunits, the sort on which the game of Clue was based (Colonel Mustard did it in the kitchen with a revolver). 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. Twain is out to prove that he, and not they, is the greatest detective in the world and tries to stump them all. The price to the winner: one million dollars. But when Twain himself turns up as the victim, the game is really on.
Peter Falk gets to do his Bogart imitation again (although this movie precedes "Cheap Detective") and comes off a lot better. Simon writes Sam Spade with a twist- he is a crude lout, openly rude and insulting to the other guests. ( Twain: "I'm the greatest detective in the world. I'm number one!" Spade: "You look a little like number two to me, if you know what I mean.") It's a subtle shade in characterization that goes a long way in getting laughs. 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. Falk and Sellers absolutely steal the movie, as does Truman Capote, in his one and only film, as the redoubtable Twain, he has one great scene that nearly brings the film to a halt. The weak link in the cast is Jimmy Coco as Poirot, who is just plain ham-acting instead of bringing out a natural humor from within the character. His pathetic comic French makes Inspector Clouseau sound like DeGaulle.
The screenplay has the requisite twists and turns, and then some, until the murderer is finally revealed, or is he? It's an amusing ride, although some great performances beat Neil Simon's jokes by a country mile. And, by the way, why wasn't Clouseau invited? It's not like Peter Sellers hasn't played multiple roles in a film before. 3 *** out of 4