Eine Leiche zum Dessert

This is a hot chocolate and warm blanket movie. It's great fun, with a completely irrelevant plot that makes no sense except to bring together wonderful actors who obviously had a ball in the process.

David Niven is one of my favorite performers, and he is in his element here. He was "to the manor born" and brought class to every part he played, yet could say "Is someone in the kitchen with Dinner?" smoothly, with no hint of a smile. The fact that none of the actors is a comedian (except Peter Sellers) makes it all the funnier. Each character is understated and all the better for it.

Truman Capote often referred to what he considered his poor acting in this film, and publically apologized for previously denigrating the acting profession. Personally, I thought he was perfect for the overall feel of the movie. Since nothing fit, he was excellent. After all, how does one make sense of continuingly falling gargoyles, a wife who "choked herself to death", and the avoiding of decapitation by "being extremely well bred"?

This is a wonderful movie anyone can enjoy.

Amazingly funny, witty and intriguing throughout. I loved Miss Marbles and the Maid provided the funniest moment in the entire film. I loved the ending, it didn't make sense but it was still awesome!!!

The characters were amazing, especially Milo Perrier and Jessica Marbles but I can't stop laughing about how amazing the character of Inspector Wang was. If you ever see this on TV, WATCH IT because it will leave you feeling so good about everything.

This is probably one of the best movies of the '70s and needs more recognition, because everything about it was funny and clever.

Lionel Twain was good but evil but confusing.....Aggh I don't know what to say about his character, but the butler creeped me out and cracked me up from the moment I saw him.

They don't make movies this funny any more....now a guy getting it on with a pie is considered high comedy, but THIS is what truly funny is all about, then again, with so few of the actors in this being alive still, maybe it's not too surprising that current films mostly suck. Who else can be as funny as Peter Sellers? (certainly Steve Martin won't be) Who else can deliver a line as smoothly as David Niven? ("Saved only by the fact that I am INCREDIBLY well bred") Who could be as twisted as Capote? (THE COW, THE COW! Use your god damn personal pronouns and prepositions!) And of course, Alec Guiness being gone makes such a role unplayable by anyone acting these days!!! Great actors, at the height of their skills, a great script, great direction, and Maggie Smith at her hottest ("I want my Dickie! My husband.") Too bad they can't make movies this good anymore....

I remember seeing 'Murder by Death' once as a kid, so I thought I might rent it again. Unlike my numerous viewings of 'Clue', watching 'Murder By Death' seemed a new yet reminiscent experience.

'Murder by Death' is written by Neil Simon and directed by Robert Moore. It stars Alec Guinness, Peter Sellers, Maggie Smith, James Coco, Peter Falk and David Niven. It's about five of the world greatest detectives that are invited to a mansion for dinner and a murder. It's basically a spoof of the on the mystery genre and the great detectives of literature and film. I am not familiar with Neil Simon's written work but the script did have some funny but also repetitive moments. Robert Moore's direction was adequate and the performances were good- most notably from Peter Falk and Peter Sellers.

Made in 1976, it's hard to imagine comedies being produced like this today. The main problem with 'Murder By Death' is that it seems to forget it's visual medium, and most of the gags come from the script. It's safe to assume that anyone could have directed this film, as it was the scriptwriter (Neil Simon) who was credited alongside the title. I felt that the mansion wasn't explored enough and therefore the mystery element was lacking. But then again, it was a comedy/spoof! I particularly liked the blind butler (Alec Guinness) and deaf cook (Nancy Walker) interaction! Peter Seller's Wang was very funny too, but I'm afraid some of today's politically correct audience will have a hard time separating racism from the obvious stereotypes in the portrayal of Wang and the other characters in the film. One must understand that the humour isn't based on race, rather Sellers was portraying a modern (at the time) 70s comic take on depictions of stereotypes within the character displayed in earlier detective, Charlie Chan. It was an obvious spoof on stereotypes already established in the famous detectives of the early era of film and literature.

There is also a really interesting performance by a young James Cromwell in this film, which was pretty funny. 'Murder by Death' is an interesting film, if only for it's cast in an unusual spoof on the unique mystery genre. It's fairly enjoyable to watch but it isn't a laugh-a-minute experience. *** out of *****!

"Murder by Death" is a comic murder-mystery done in absolute lunacy. I mean this is one screwball comedy that made me laugh out loud quite often. And yet, there are so many confusing moments that I didn't know what on earth was going on. It seems that writer Neil Simon was trying to complicate moviegoers with his screenplay to this movie which pays homage to detectives of old classic movies such as Charlie Chan, Miss Marple, Sam Spade, and Hercule Poirot. In "Murder by Death", a mysterious man invites the 5 greatest detectives to his home for "dinner and a murder" as he describes it. An all-star cast is featured here and all of them are very funny. The best: Peter Sellers in the Charlie Chan take-off. Sellers is of course best known for playing the inept Inspector Clouseau in the "Pink Panther" movies, but his role here as Chinese detective Sidney Wang is a hoot. He made me laugh the hardest. Just looking at him made me laugh. The way he talked made me laugh. He's naturally funny everytime he's on screen. Also funny: the great Sir Alec Guinness as a blind butler. I thought he was supposed to be a serious actor! I don't think I've ever seen Guinness in a movie comedy, but he makes the most of his character here. He comes second behind Sellers in the laugh department in "Murder by Death". Two other funny performances are turned in by James Coco and James Cromwell ("Babe" and "L.A. Confidential") as the Hercule Poirot sendoff and his chauffeur. It's funny to watch a younger Cromwell here speaking with a bad European accent. David Niven, Maggie Smith, Peter Falk, Eileen Brennan, Elsa Lanchester, and Nancy Walker also register laughs too. But the most downright goofiest character in "Murder by Death" is the host orchestrating this crazy game, played by Truman Capote. He's very funny too. Another major factor in the film are the sets of the old mansion the movie takes place in. They're marvelous. But at times the story gets real complicated and seems to get parts dislocated. It bothered me a little the first time I saw this. Now I just sit back and let the movie play on. Neil Simon intended on this to be a crazy comedy and in that way he succeeded. "Murder by Death" is all-in-all a very enjoyable movie.

*** (out of four)