Clue (1985 movie)
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Clue is a 1985 U.S. comedy film based on the boardgame Clue (a.k.a. Cluedo). The film uses the characters and murder mystery premise of the boardgame as the basis for a quickfire farce.
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Overview
The basic premise of the board game is that of six guests, one of whom has killed their host Mr. Boddy. The film expanded on this by making the six central characters victims of Boddy's blackmail, and they join him at his mansion for dinner one evening. When he is killed, a madcap riot begins in which the blackmail victims along with the maid, the cook and Wadsworth the butler, all find their lives at risk.
Cast
- Tim Curry as Wadsworth, the butler
- Eileen Brennan as Mrs. Peacock
- Madeline Kahn as Mrs. White
- Christopher Lloyd as Professor Plum
- Michael McKean as Mr. Green
- Martin Mull as Colonel Mustard
- Lesley Ann Warren as Miss Scarlet
- Colleen Camp as Yvette, the maid
- Howard Hesseman as the Chief
- Lee Ving as Mr. Boddy
- Jane Wiedlin as The Singing Telegram Girl
The film was directed by Jonathan Lynn, who wrote the script with John Landis.
Box Office
The film was not successful at the box office, but found new life on home video where it quickly became a cult film, and remains so today.
Trivia
The movie is unusual in that it was made with three different endings, which were randomly played at cinemas during its theatrical release. Some have claimed that because of this gimmick, the mystery of the movie is inherently unfair (after all, if there are three possible scenarios that can occur, it is impossible for the audience to deduce the ending from the clues given.) The critics were reported to have had their favourite ending (the second on the video release). When released on video - and later DVD - and broadcast on television, all three endings were included in the film with silent film-style title cards interspersed between. The DVD release includes an option to have one of the endings randomly selected and played at the end of the film, thereby recreating the theatrical experience.
Reportedly, there was actually a fourth ending scripted and shot, in which Wadsworth committed all the murders out of a twisted need for perfection in his life. He reveals that he poisoned everyone with a slow-acting toxin in their drinks. It ended with Wadsworth being killed by dogs as he attempted to escape by car from the house. The rather grim nature of the ending is probably why it was never released. It was never shown because the film makers thought the ending would have been too obvious - it only survives in the novelization and the storybook, which features but a single photo from that ending (the Chief punching Wadsworth in the stomach).
Though based on the Clue premise and featuring the game's characters and mansion, the film took several liberties. Writers Landis and Lynn added more characters (a butler, a cook) and added a maid separate from Mrs. White, who was pictured as a maid in the board games but in the film was the widow of a nuclear scientist. Also, the mansion's geography was changed, and three floors were added. Finally, the film was set in 1954 New England, while the actual board game was British originally.
Social Commentary
The film is set in 1950's America during the era of Cold War McCarthyism where the federal government purged members of the Communist Party, and homosexuals from employment and touched off a national campaign where anyone with political viewpoints that were considered to be liberal were harassed, blacklisted and became social outcastes. The film makes reference to the infamous House Committee on Un-American Activities and the fact that McCarthyism treated homosexuals, called sexual perverts as akin to Communism, or Socialism.
Despites the film's satire of McCarthyism, gay film critics often pointed out that homosexuality of the neurotic character Mr. Green (played by Michael McKean) was the subject of various physical comedic jokes, that went from mere absurdity to being mean-spiritied. The most critical scene was when the table Green was sitting on collapsed after Wadsworth the Butler (played by Tim Curry) mentions how Mr. Body blackmailed all the guests because he felt that they were "un-American." The official novel of the film mentioned that among the destroyed photographs was a picture of Mr. Green holding hands with another man, something not shown in the film. One of the film's endings went as far to change Mr. Green's sexual orientation, although as a humorous moment where we learn Green was an undercover agent, and not gay at all.
Television Version
The television version has some scenes that ran longer then the theatrical version to make up for the cuts made for content.
DVD Version
The film is available on DVD, and includes all the alternative endings.
See also
External links
- IMDB entry for Clue (http://us.imdb.com/Title?0088930)
- Extensive Clue Collection and Fan Discussion Forums TheArtofMurder.com (http://www.theartofmurder.com)