The premise of the play reveals Neil Simon's satirical intent: the characters are all caricatures of famous fictional detectives: Inspector Sidney Wang (Peter Sellers ) as a Charlie Chan type; Sam Diamond (Peter Falk) as a Sam Spade type; Inspector Milo Perrier (James Coco) as a famous Belgique detective of similar name (Agatha Christie's Poirot) who could also be Georges Simenon's famous French detective (except that he cries out, "Not Frenchie--Belgie!"). The absurd plot begins as the detectives motor toward Twain's haunted, fog-shrouded castle in northern California for a dinner that is never served. Everything is played as a farce ("farce --n. 1. a comedy based on unlikely situations and exaggerated effects." --Random House College Dictionary) and everybody tries to ham it up. I particularly liked Peter Sellers as the Chinese Wang with his #3 adopted Japanese son in tow. Alec Guinness plays the blind butler ("The butler did it!") while Nancy Walker has a small part as the blind and deaf cook. David Niven is mildly amusing as the debonaire Dick Charleston who, unbeknownst to his wife (Maggie Smith), has only a buck-seventy-some in his tuxedo pocket (and some stamps) after going through some of her millions.

Representative joke: When asked by his #3 adopted Japanese son why HE has to clean up the dead body, Inspector Wang tells him, "Because your mother isn't here." By the way, the makeup on Peter Sellers ("Inspector Slanty," according to Sam Diamond) is especially well done. As usual Peter Sellers manages to look more like the character he playing than himself, so much so that one needs to do a double take to realize it is Peter Sellers at work.

One of the problems with a movie like this is that all the actors are trying to upstage one another and every line and pratfall is played as MY moment in the spotlight so there is little contrast around which to frame the best bits. Still, afficionados, especially those viewing this repeatedly, will find plenty to crack up about.

See this for Neil Simon, one of America's most popular playwrights, whose semi-sophisticated, upbeat comedies delighted theater and movie audiences for several decades beginning in the Sixties. I particularly loved The Out-of-Towners (1970) with Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis; The Good-bye Girl (1977) with Richard Dreyfuss and Marsha Mason; and the unforgettable The Odd Couple (1968) starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. Simon and Peter Falk followed this up with The Cheap Detective (1978). Incidentally, Falk's work here and in The Cheap Detective and in a couple of earlier Columbo movies served as a proving ground for his long-running TV hit Columbo.


One of Neil Simon's Best!   May 8, 2000
 18 out of 20 found this review helpful

Hilarious beyond compare. That describes "Murder by Death." Spoofing everyone from Miss Marple to Sam Spade, Charlie Chan to The Thin Man, and everyone in between, Neil Simon's script (outdoing such Simon classics as "The Odd Couple") is so far out there that one can only fall in love with this movie.

Being a big fan of mysteries, parodies, and all-star casts, this was the movie for me. The whole cast has a ball and hams it up to High Heaven. I love David Niven and Maggie Smith as Dick and Dora Charleston. Smith especially soars, giving an offhanded, almost nonchalant performance that leaves you rolling in the aisles. Elsa Lanchester is great as Jessica Marbles, and Estelle Winwood, in a very small role, gets a few good lines as her senile nurse. (Watch for their entrance!) James Coco is a comic riot as the always-hungry Monsieur Perrier. Peter Sellers is classic again as Inspector Wang (with every line funnier than the last). He has more proverbs than all the fortune cookies in Chinatown: "Treacherous road like-a fresh mushroom..." Peter Falk is insane as really-not-quite-there Sam Diamond, and Truman Capote gets in a fun cameo appearance as their puckish host, Lionel Twain. Smith, Coco, Sellers, and Falk shine. But two of the best performances are in rather small roles played by a pre-"Star Wars" Sir Alec Guiness (so don't expect to hear the Force theme on his entrance) showing his comedic talent as the blind butler, Bensonmum, and "Rhoda" alum, the great Nancy Walker, as the deaf-and-dumb cook, Yetta. These two have some of the funniest scenes in film history, each playing marvelously off the other's shortcomings. (Watch for when Bensonmun "fires" her--even holding the door open and pointing out--while she looks on, bewildered!)

The classic lines are everywhere. Falk: "I gotta go to da can. Sometimes I talk so much, I forget ta go." Lanchester: "Pardon my language, but it scared the ca-ca out of me!" Smith: (in response) "You know, Dicky, I like her. I really like her." Capote: (chastising Sellers' broken English) "IT! IT! Use your damn pronouns!" Perrier's driver: (About a chocolate bar with almonds instead of nuts) "The man at the store had no nuts." Coco: (responding) "He was short?" Sellers: "Look! Voice come from cow on wall!" But the best line in the whole movie is when the butler has been gone for quite some time and not returned with their meal, and starving Coco, in detective mode, says, "The most important question is: Where is the butler? And why has he not returned...(Screaming dramatically)...WITH OUR DINNER! "

I was in a murder-mystery play last year in which one character was a sendup of Truman Capote; I loaned this video to the actor who had that part. And this week, I'm playing a role in Agatha Christie's "Ten Little Indians," in which Estelle Winwood (Ms. Marbles' nurse in this film) originated the stage role of Emily Brent in 1944.

This is a really fun movie to watch on a Friday night with lots of friends--for even more fun, watch it back-to-back with "Clue!"


Again with this guy "Neil Simon"   December 16, 1999
 13 out of 19 found this review helpful

Must he make us laugh? You can't not laugh at this movie. Starring Maggie Smith (who does a smashing job in her role), Peter Falk, Eileen Brennen, Peter Sellers, James Cromwell, James Coco, David Niven, Truman Capote, Alec Guiness, Elsa Lancaster, Nancy Walker, and Estelle Winwood, this is Neil Simon, Roger Moore (The Cheap Detective) and the entire cast at their best. When you see this, I'm sure you will be able to imagine Agatha Christie roling over in her grave at this debotchery of many of her works. As though that weren't enough, Simon also finds time to rip off Charlie Chan and others. Maggie Smith shines as the wife of detecteve Dick "Dicky" Charleston. At one point, there is a knock at the door from who everyone assumes is the deaf-mute cook (Nancy Walker). Smith says "Come in." Then her husband (David Niven of "The Pink Panther") reminds her that the cook cannot hear. She then screams (in a very believable voice) "Come in! " Also in the film is Peter Sellers who is constantly giving Charlie Chan-like advice that is very funny. Stupidity = hilarity in "Murder By Death."


"DINNER AND ATE"   August 9, 2001
 10 out of 15 found this review helpful

"Oh Dickie, what would one do with a naked, dead body...?" "Well, Dora, there ARE some people WHO ......"[whisper,whisper,whisper] "Oh Dickie, that's tacky! Really Tacky!" {with great apology to Neil Simon!}

It's a tremendously "fun movie" - a confusing "whodunnit" with everybody [Sellers,Coco,Falk,Elsa Lanchester, and even Estelle Winwood, and then some]. also zingers like Eileen Brennan to Peter Falk "What are all those pictures of naked men doing in your desk?" Falk [Sam Diamond, pointblankfaced]: "Research!" A delightful work from the mid 1970ies, still available, but not quite surpassed [imitations have followed], and the stars out do each other with comedic timing - don't miss late Alec Guinness as the blind butler, or Nancy Walker as the mute maid. There's a moment when Miss Walker enters the dining room "Screaming", Maggie Smith calmly retorts : "I think she's trying to tell us something....."

A full-screen DVd version would be nice, possibly there might be outtakes in a vault somewhere in town - - good family entertainment for any holiday season.

The rent a few of the originals - "Charlie Chan", "Thin Man", etc.