Murder by Death is a very good silly-funny Neil Simon satirical comedy, with a super all-star cast cavorting as recognizable pulp fiction detectives gathered at the home of Truman Capote, wealthy hedonist fed up with contrived gumshoe plots.
Murder by Death
By the time the world's greatest detectives figure out whodunnit... you could die laughing!
1976 · 1h 34m · PG
Comedy, Crime, Mystery
Directed by
Robert Moore
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Murder by Death
Overview
Lionel Twain invites the world's five greatest detectives to a 'dinner and murder'. Included are a blind butler, a deaf-mute maid, screams, spinning rooms, secret passages, false identities and more plot turns and twists than are decently allowed.
Director and cast
- Robert Moore Director
- Truman Capote as Lionel Twain
- Alec Guinness as Butler Jamesir Bensonmum
- Peter Sellers as Sidney Wang
- David Niven as Dick Charleston
- Maggie Smith as Dora Charleston
- James Coco as Milo Perrier
- Peter Falk as Sam Diamond
- Eileen Brennan as Tess Skeffington
- Elsa Lanchester as Jessica Marbles
- Estelle Winwood as Nurse Withers
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
Stunningly unfunny.
Director Moore and writer Neil Simon seem to have no real affection for either the characters they plunder mercilessly for laughs, or the locked room puzzle they turn on its head. Introductions over, the film slides downhill.
As light and insubstantial as one could wish.
More films
Clue (1985)
Comedy · Crime · Mystery · PG
Clue finds six colorful dinner guests gathered at the mansion of their host, Mr. Boddy -- who turns up dead after his secret is exposed: He was blackmailing all of them. With the killer among them, the guests and Boddy's chatty butler must suss out the culprit before the body count rises.
- Runtime
- 1h 34m
- Director
- Jonathan Lynn
- Cast
- Tim Curry, Eileen Brennan, Madeline Kahn











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