Murder by Death

PG

Released Jun 23, 1976

1 hr. 34 min.

Comedy

TRAILER

for Murder by Death: Trailer 1

List

68%

22 Reviews

Tomatometer

82%

10,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

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.

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Alec B

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.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/21/24

Full Review

Misty S

The old sleuth classic with the classic movie stars, adore this movie💯

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/11/24

Full Review

Paul M

An comedy gem which makes fun of - yet has such love for - pop culture's classic sleuths like Charlie Chan, Sam Spade, and Hercule Poirot, "Murder By Death" brings fun and laughs like only writer Neil Simon can deliver. Killer cast too - omg, there are so many fantastic performances and lines! Unfortunately these days this movie is overshadowed by "Clue," its overrated ripoff, made 10 years after. But "Murder By Death" is the original detective parody and the better movie.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/01/24

Full Review

Donald A

Murder by Death is a ridiculous farce. Once in a while, the odd joke flies in and doesn't stick. However, its astute seriousness in the entirety of the situation makes the landing and eventually certifies this murder comedy into a mostly enjoyable 94 minutes.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/08/24

Full Review

Matthew B

If you work out who the murderer is in Murder by Death, then I am afraid I cannot congratulate you. Given the constantly changing identity of the culprit, then you have a good chance of being correct no matter which person you chose. The culprit's name, and personal history and even gender changes several times. Face masks are removed more than once. Indeed, we are left in doubt whether there was a murder at all. When Sidney's Wang's adopted son asks this question, Wang simply replies: "Yes. Killed good weekend." All this defies any logical sense, making it impossible to honestly work out the identity of the murderer, but that is the point of the film. Neil Simon constantly seeks to confound any pretence of the tidy logical solution that is usually offered in a murder mystery. This is only a slight extension from the serious whodunit which has an explanation that often only barely makes sense. Is Neil Simon's murder mystery comedy an affectionate spoof or a satire? There are good arguments for assuming both. It is certainly not a biting satire, and fans of Charlie Chan, Agatha Christie, or the detectives of Hammett and Chandler will not be too upset. Nonetheless there is a dry satirical edge to Simon's portrayal of the detectives. They are just a little too smug as they pat each other and themselves on the back whilst patronising their less gifted companions. They are clever, but not as clever as they think. The story is doled out in schematic blocks that allow all or most of the characters to have equal time, albeit with a few deletions to make the narrative less forced. The characters face a few threats to their safety on arrival at Twain's mansion. As they settle down to dinner together, Twain appears mysteriously. He challenges them to solve a murder that will take place at midnight, and vanishes in an equally bizarre fashion. After this, the detectives are lured out of the room by false alarms and red herrings. When midnight strikes they discover that the victim is Twain himself. The detectives proceed to accuse one another, uncovering a bizarre motive that everyone had for killing Twain. The plot is designed to give generous time to all the characters, but it also fits in with the general contrived nature of the narrative. Essentially the story is a game, a point made clear in the opening and closing credits which show a box containing cartoonish swivel-eyed pictures of the characters. Most of the detectives featured in the film were starting to get dated by the time it was made, and are even less well-remembered now. This proved to be bad news for Murder by Death, and may explain the tepid reception that it received then and since. The story's appeal lies on having a good knowledge (and a sneaking fondness) for the very characters that the movie mocks. However absurd the old detective movies were, they were hugely enjoyable to many, and the merits of those old films shape our enjoyment of Murder by Death just as much as their flaws. I wrote a longer appreciation of Murder by Death on my blog page if you would like to read more: https://themoviescreenscene.wordpress.com/2017/10/26/murder-by-death-1976/

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

08/30/23

Full Review

Simon M

Funny, but ruined by Peter Sellers' racially stereotyped performance, even if it was supposed to be tongue-in-cheek.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

08/30/23

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Robert Moore

Director

Peter Falk

Sam Diamond

Peter Sellers

Inspector Sidney Wang

Truman Capote

Lionel Twain

Eileen Brennan

Tess Skeffington

James Coco

Inspector Milo Perrier

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Murder by Death: Trailer 1

3:06

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Penelope Gilliatt

New Yorker

Never before have been collected in one film such confident wild syntax as Peter Sellers’, such delicate disgust and common sense as Maggie Smith’s, such enthusiasm about makeup for seventy-six-year-olds as Truman Capote’s.

Mar 4, 2024

Full Review

Variety Staff

Variety

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.

Oct 3, 2007

Full Review

Dave Kehr

Chicago Reader

Stunningly unfunny.

Oct 3, 2007

Full Review

Steve Warren

The Barb (Atlanta)

Mystery fans will be disappointed... Simon fans, however, will adore the usual plethora of one-liners, and everyone will admire the acting of a star-studded cast.

May 9, 2023

Full Review

Stephen Underhill

Philadelphia Gay News

It's worth seeing for some delicious character acting by major stars and, especially, for the gay sub-theme winding through it.

May 26, 2020

Full Review

Jacoba Atlas

Los Angeles Free Press

The fault lies solely with Neil Simon's inadequate.

Oct 31, 2019

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Synopsis

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.

Director: Robert Moore
Screenwriter: Neil Simon
Production Co: Columbia Pictures Corporation, Rastar Pictures
Rating: PG
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 23, 1976, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 1, 2010

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