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      TRAILER 3:06

      Murder by Death

      1976, Comedy, 1h 34m

      21 Reviews 10,000+ Ratings

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      Murder by Death  Photos

      Murder by Death (1976) Murder by Death (1976) Murder by Death (1976) Murder by Death (1976) Murder by Death (1976) Murder by Death (1976)

      Movie Info

      Five diverse, infamous private eyes, including Sam Diamond (Peter Falk), Sidney Wang (Peter Sellers) and Jessica Marbles (Elsa Lanchester), are invited to the mysterious Lionel Twain's castle for a dinner party. There, they are told that Twain plans an unsolvable murder in the house at midnight -- and he will pay $1 million to the one who determines the killer. But when Twain's blind butler, Bensonmum (Alec Guinness), dies long before the deadline, the stakes go up for the trapped sleuths.

      • Rating: PG

      • Genre: Comedy

      • Original Language: English

      • Director: Robert Moore

      • Producer: Ray Stark

      • Writer: Neil Simon

      • Release Date (Theaters):  original

      • Release Date (Streaming):

      • Runtime:

      • Production Co: Columbia Pictures Corporation, Rastar Pictures

      Cast & Crew

      Peter Falk
      Peter Sellers
      Truman Capote
      Eileen Brennan
      James Coco
      Alec Guinness
      Elsa Lanchester
      David Niven
      Maggie Smith
      Estelle Winwood
      Ray Stark
      Neil Simon
      Dave Grusin
      David M. Walsh
      John F. Burnett
      Stephen B. Grimes
      Harry Kemm
      Marvin March
      Ann Roth

      News & Interviews for Murder by Death

      Critic Reviews for Murder by Death

      Audience Reviews for Murder by Death

      • Aug 01, 2022

        I do kind of appreciate the call outs against the bad mystery writing that pervaded a lot of supposedly "classic" characters of the genre. That said, it all gets a little one note.

        Super Reviewer
      • Apr 10, 2019

        With the obvious exception of Truman Capote (who is terrible as an actor), this is a hilarious spoof of detective stories that relies on an astonishing collection of high-class thespians and has an impressive amount of great jokes, even if some of them do miss the mark here and there.

        Super Reviewer
      • Nov 11, 2012

        If you know the historical touchstones from early 20th century crime fiction, this is a fantasticly funny film. Any how can you not LOVE Truman Capote?! Q: How do you stay looking so young? Answer: "A pure vegitable diet, 10 hours of sleep at night, and LOTS and LOTS of makeup."

        Super Reviewer
      • Dec 28, 2011

        Sidney Wang: No pulse, no heartbeat. If condition does not change, this man is dead.  "You are cordially invited to dinner... and a murder!" I really loved this stupid spoof of the murder mystery genre. Murder by Death is hilarious film that is pure fun from start to finish. All of the characters were funny, but the two I loved the most were Wang and Diamond. Wang is an Asian played by Peter Sellers. How is that not going to be hilarious? Diamond is played by Columbo himself, Peter Falk. Both of these actors and a great supporting cast featuring Maggie Smith, Truman Capote and James Cromwell make for one hell of an entertaining comedy.  The five best detectives are invited to a mansion where the owner, Lionel Twain promises them dinner and a murder. Each detective and their second are greeted by someone trying to kill them by making a piece of the building fall. Then they are shown to their rooms by a blind butler. And their meal will be cooked by a woman who can't speak or hear, and the butler doesn't know this because he can't see he note cards saying she can't speak. This is the type of humor you should be expecting throughout the whole film. Murder by Death is perfectly paced and also has a perfect runtime. It knows, like all the good spoofs do, not to overstay its welcome. Comedy like this can only be funny for so long, and when Murder by Death ends it is still funny. This film combines slapstick humor and stereotype humor into the murder mystery plot with great results. There is very little that the characters say that isn't at least mildly amusing, and a great deal of the time, hilarious.  This is kind of a forgotten and under appreciated comedy from the 1970's. I would give it a recommendation on Seller's alone, but everything else about it is great too. The ending wasn't as funny as it should have been or as funny as Neil Simon probably thought it was, but overall I can't say enough about the film. Sidney Wang: And you Mr. Charleston, did not approve of Mrs. Charleston dying her hair blonde? Dick Charleston: What do you mean?  Sidney Wang: Mrs. Charleston's hair red. You have blond hairs on shoulder. This means she has dyed red hair blonde, then back again to red, or else you have been... So sorry, Wang is wrong. 

        Super Reviewer

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