Directed by: Jonathan Lynn
Starring: Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn, Michael McKean, Eileen Brennan
Rated PG, 94 minutes
The cast of “Clue:” From left, Lesley Ann Warren as Miss Scarlet, Martin Mull as Colonel Mustard, Madeline Kahn as Mrs. White, Michael McKean as Mr. Green, Tim Curry as Wadsworth, Christopher Lloyd as Professor Plum, and Eileen Brennan as Mrs. Peacock. (Courtesy photo)
This being my 100th movie review for the Harvard Press, I decided that, rather than go review something new, I would share some thoughts on my favorite film of all time, the 1985 cult classic, “Clue.” I’ve now seen it countless times, introduced it to dozens of friends, and even had the good fortune to see a midnight showing of it in a movie theater in Philadelphia last year. For me, it simply never gets old.
Like many cult classics, “Clue” bombed at the box office when it was released. The reason, understandably, was that it had three different endings, and different theaters showed different endings. However, the version I’ve always watched, on DVD, includes all three endings in one. This might not seem as if it would make a large difference, but if you watch only one ending, you miss out on how the three play off one another and how the third is more final than the others (containing one of my absolute favorite final lines from any movie, perhaps topped only by that of “Some Like It Hot”).
The plot of the film, as you may already know or have guessed, is based on the board game of the same name. However, the details that fill in the story are ingeniously planned and hilarious. At an old mansion in New England, a mysterious host—Mr. Boddy—has invited six complete strangers to dinner. They each adopt pseudonyms for the evening: Miss Scarlet, Colonel Mustard, and so on—the playable characters from the game. Additionally, there is a butler, Wadsworth (Tim Curry, “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”), who has been left instructions by their host on how the evening should proceed.
Slowly, it’s revealed that the guests are all victims of a blackmail scheme that Mr. Boddy is running. But before they can resolve that issue, Mr. Boddy is murdered, and suddenly the guests start pointing fingers. Mrs. White (Madeline Kahn, “Blazing Saddles”) claims she didn’t do it, but she’s had multiple husbands who were mysteriously killed. Mr. Green (Michael McKean, “This Is Spinal Tap”) says he couldn’t have done it, but no one trusts him, since he is, shall we say, different from the rest. Mrs. Peacock (Eileen Brennan, “Private Benjamin”) denies the deed, but she’s clearly been involved in some illegal political activity that she wouldn’t want anyone revealing. And so on.
So what are the guests to do? Well, they’d better find out who killed Mr. Boddy quickly, since, as has apparently been planned, the police have been called to arrive at the mansion within a half hour. What ensues is a wild, dangerous, and often unexpectedly silly scramble throughout the mansion to find a killer—or killers?—before the cops come, or worse, before the guests end up dead themselves.
What makes this movie so much fun to watch is its sense of humor. At once dark, punny, slapstick, and sometimes more than a little stupid, the comedy is relentless and paced perfectly with one gem of a line after another and just enough time in between to laugh. Writer-director Jonathan Lynn (“My Cousin Vinny”) came out of nowhere to take the helm of the movie in the planning stages, and turned it into a totally original spectacle. (A personal favorite line of mine, spoken with Tim Curry’s inimitably campy gravitas: “And monkey’s brains, though popular in Cantonese cuisine, are not often to be found in Washington, D.C.!”) “Clue” is the movie that taught me the invaluable lesson that stupidity and wit aren’t mutually exclusive.
And I haven’t even mentioned the actors, a group of iconic comedians that were all perfectly cast. Eileen Brennan as a harried socialite? A well-groomed Michael McKean as a clumsy dork? Madeline Kahn as a femme fatale? Martin Mull (TV’s “Arrested Development”) as a hot-blooded and stupid colonel? Lesley Ann Warren (“Victor Victoria”) as a sassy businesswoman? Christopher Lloyd (“Back to the Future”) as a hapless professor? And we can’t forget Tim Curry as a butler! An exquisitely goofy and utterly inane cast, across the board.
When you watch “Clue,” you get a sense that the cast and crew were having a wonderful time on set. That their joy palpably translates to the viewer—likely helped because of the movie’s cult status and the interactive traditions that viewers now have when watching it—makes it a truly special film. If you haven’t seen it yet, treat yourself. If you have, treat yourself again. Trust me, it won’t get old.
Danny Eisenberg is a 2010 graduate of the Bromfield School and a senior at the University of Pennsylvania.
