Clue (1985)

[AgathaC]

51 minutes ago, blackwing said:

Not sure what prompted this article, but anything about "Clue" is welcome by me.   I'd love to finally see a BluRay release with lots of extras/specials.

From your mouth to God’s ears! This was the first movie I ever owned on VHS, then DVD. Wouldn’t be my first BR, but no matter. Some of the cast are gone now, but sounds like there are enough people involved who have fond memories that they could assemble some good stuff.

[Spartan Girl]

We could’ve had Carrie Fisher as Miss Scarlet?! Aw man…

[Bastet]

There's a documentary available on Blu-Ray (and there are upcoming screenings in London and NY; see the film's website); here's its trailer:

When Jonathan Lynn said there can be life after death, I, of course, immediately said, "Life after death is as improbable as sex after marriage," so I cracked up when the next thing he said was, "I think there's a joke about that in the film but I can't remember what is is."

If you go to the production company's YouTube channel, you can see bonus footage from the doc (things that were left off the Blu-Ray in the manufacturing process).

My friend just ordered the Blu-Ray -- leaving 227 available (the limited edition was sold out, but apparently the only difference in the standard edition is the slipcover) -- so I'll report back after we've had a movie night.

Edited March 13, 2023 by Bastet

[RunningMarket]

3 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

We could’ve had Carrie Fisher as Miss Scarlet?! Aw man…

I don't know if she would have worked as well as Leslie Ann Warren. Warren oozed sex appeal in the movie, and as she mentions in that oral history, played that up. I loved Carrie Fisher, but I'm not sure she could have worked the same angle, which made Miss Scarlett who she was.

[Bastet]

I watched the documentary and it's every bit what you'd expect from a low-budget fan-made production, but it's fun.  The director does have a film degree, although he never used it until he started on this, which took five years to complete.

I don't want to reveal everything, as I don't think that's fair -- this guy went out on a shoestring budget and put together a documentary for his fellow super fans, and any of us that interested should buy a copy.  If this was put out by the studio, I'd share my every thought.  But not with this.  An overview:

As has been said before, when Jonathan Lynn was asked about writing the script (this was back when John Landis was slated to direct), he had no idea how one would write a movie about a board game, but he'd never been to Los Angeles, nor flown first class, so he agreed to meet with Landis and Debra Hill about the project just for the trip.  What I've not come across before and found interesting was the difference between pitching a project in England and in Hollywood, and how his decidedly English pitch leading Landis to offer him the gig inspired him to say yes.  He later learned there had been five previous writers - including Tom Stoppard - hired, and they all gave up at some point because no one could figure out how the hell to turn the idea into a film.  (Stoppard mailed back his check.)

It was interesting to hear what some of the previous writers had come up with before bailing out.  That's pretty "inside baseball" and I'll leave that for film buffs to procure the documentary in order to hear about.

I'd also never before heard about Hill's original vision for the film (which was a slight tweaking of the play she'd initially intended it to be), which was an old-timey thing designed to elicit audience reaction, like having a radio announcer voice ask "Was it [Character] with the [weapon] in the [room]?" and whose detective (Parker, like Parker Bros.) maintained a murder board that was like a game board, on which he moved pieces around as he investigated, so that was interesting.

Jane Jenkins, the casting director, is a gem; she keeps the books (binders) from the films she works on, so has all kinds of information about who was considered, approached, etc. from back when producers and actors' agents were tossing out names as the project was initially introduced.  John Cleese, Rowan Atkinson, and Robin Williams were tossed around as possibilities for Wadsworth.  It is really cool learning who made it to the meeting stage but was not cast.  (Lynn not knowing Carrie Fisher's constant sniffing was due to cocaine usage, as so many he'd met in Hollywood seemed to have hay fever, is adorably endearing.)

There's an extended segment in the middle on where each of the actors ultimately cast were in their careers at the time, which I find delightful (again, rather "inside baseball") for setting the stage since so many fans discovered this film after the fact.  And the actors who participated expressing their excitement at working with the actors who are no longer with us or declined to participate made for lovely sentiments.  Especially when talking about what Tim Curry had to pull off.  And such a fun tidbit to learn Madeline Kahn was notoriously absent-minded and made her own fun with that.  (And those who aren't present are nicely included via convention footage.)

[Bastet]

A few additional tidbits:

- Lesley Ann Warren was offered the role of Mrs. White initially.  (It was after Carrie Fisher had to back out as Miss Scarlet they decided Lesley was better suited for Miss Scarlet and asked if she'd play her instead.  I think Carrie Fisher was one of the funniest people on the planet, but I think the things about Miss Scarlet Lesley leaned into were the perfect ones, and Carrie would inevitably have done it differently.  Also, we wouldn't have had Madeline Kahn!  So I think it all turned out for the best.)

- Lesley and Colleen Camp are still friends

- Lee Ving was cast because of a request by Paramount; they wanted a rock star in the film, since they have built-in followers and there were no big names among the ensemble cast.  Gene Simmons was considered.  (I can't imagine how far down the list they had to go to wind up with Ving.)  Jonathan Lynn was not happy about this business vs. art edict, so decided whoever the rock star wound up being, they were going to play Mr. Boddy, the smallest part.  No one got into why, but that's not actually Ving's voice as Mr. Boddy; it's dubbed by an unknown voice actor.

Also, I forgot to mention the segment at the end, with a bunch of mega-fans sharing their love for the film.  I so relate to the woman who says she automatically likes someone more if they can quote Clue back to her.  I also like the "Mrs. Peacock was a man?!" shirt one is wearing.

[RunningMarket]

I didn't quite understand the part about Ving's voice being dubbed. In his (albeit short) interview clips, he sounds quite similar to his character. EDIT TO ADD: Google tells me they didn't feel his voice was "sinister enough", which led to the dubbing.

The creator of the documentary does say that he was supposed to interview Tim Curry, but got COVID the day of the interview. He also references voice mails from Martin Mull. My question is, if this took 5 years to put together, why didn't he reschedule those? I did love the clip shown from a convention where Curry speaks so beautifully and hilariously of his time working on the movie. And that fourth ending? Let's just say... glad it was left on the cutting room floor.

Edited March 20, 2023 by RunningMarket

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, RunningMarket said:

My question is, if this took 5 years to put together, why didn't he reschedule those?

The best part is he only thought he had COVID, so it turns out he could have kept the interview with Curry.  I, too, thought, Jesus, just wait until you can interview him.  But Curry has cut way down on doing anything that isn't in print or just his voice since his stroke, so maybe after it didn't work out, Curry had second thoughts and didn't reschedule.

I didn't take from his comments about the voicemails from Mull that he'd ever committed to being interviewed, just that they'd exchanged messages.

1 hour ago, RunningMarket said:

And that fourth ending? Let's just say... glad it was left on the cutting room floor.

I don't think I'd ever before heard that Professor Plum was the one who solved the mystery in that version.  And I'd always thought it was the dogs from the mansion, not police dogs.  Anyway, I'm sure it would have played better on film than it read from the story book, but I'm also not surprised Lynn didn't think it was good enough to keep.  Besides, they were already pushing things with multiple endings, and I think three is the better number.

[Tom Holmberg]

"What Do You Mean, Murder?" Clue and the Making of a Cult Classic
John Hatch
ISBN:  9781949024609

When the film Clue came out in 1985, audiences were baffled. A movie based on a board game, with three different endings, and you had to pick which one to go see? Bad reviews compounded the problem, and instead of choosing one ending, most people stayed away entirely. Clue, outgrossed at the box office by films that had been released months earlier, quickly faded away. When it unceremoniously premiered on Showtime a year after its theatrical debut, there was no sign it was destined for anything other than obscurity, another flop bound to be forgotten. Instead, Gen Xers and millennials, raised on pop culture and cable TV in an era long before the streaming wars, discovered this zany farce about a group of six strangers locked in a remote house with a killer. The movie appealed to kids. The creepy mansion and eerie music contrasted with slapstick gags and double entendres, deflating the tension. Today, almost forty years later, Clue is the epitome of a cult classic, with midnight screenings, script readings for charity, cosplaying fans, and a stage play. “What Do You Mean, Murder?” dives deep into the making of Clue and walks fans through the movie they know and love.

 

[Shannon L.]

2 hours ago, Tom Holmberg said:

A movie based on a board game, with three different endings, and you had to pick which one to go see?

First off, you didn't get to pick which one to go see, you didn't know which one you were going to get (unless things were different where I lived), and second, at 16, I thought that was part of it's appeal.  It gave us something to talk about ("which ending did you get?").  It's funny to me that that was a factor in movie's failure. 

Edited March 22, 2023 by Shannon L.

[Tom Holmberg]

53 minutes ago, Shannon L. said:

First off, you didn't get to pick which one to go see, you didn't know which one you were going to get (unless things were different where I lived), and second, at 16, I thought that was part of it's appeal.  It gave us something to talk about ("which ending did you get?").  It's funny to me that that was a factor in movie's failure. 

Since the book hasn't been published yet, I'll give the author the benefit of the doubt.  Often book blurbs are written by the publisher's PR dept. and may not accurately depict the contents of the finished book.

[giovannif7]

5 hours ago, Shannon L. said:

First off, you didn't get to pick which one to go see, you didn't know which one you were going to get (unless things were different where I lived), and second, at 16, I thought that was part of it's appeal.  It gave us something to talk about ("which ending did you get?").  It's funny to me that that was a factor in movie's failure. 

I was living in San Francisco in the 80s when Clue came out, and I remember going to the Stonestown theater to see the movie, which was listed as "Clue - Ending A." It didn't describe the ending at all, but there was that "A" indicator (along with "B" and "C" indicators in other theaters) to allow patrons to choose a different ending should they return. Box office was so bad, though, that the movie was pulled from the theater before I could see the third ending. I had to wait for the VHS release to see the final outcome. I adore the movie just as much now as I did seeing it in a theater decades ago. 🤣🤣🤩

[Shannon L.]

2 hours ago, giovannif7 said:

I was living in San Francisco in the 80s when Clue came out, and I remember going to the Stonestown theater to see the movie, which was listed as "Clue - Ending A." It didn't describe the ending at all, but there was that "A" indicator (along with "B" and "C" indicators in other theaters) to allow patrons to choose a different ending should they return. Box office was so bad, though, that the movie was pulled from the theater before I could see the third ending. I had to wait for the VHS release to see the final outcome. I adore the movie just as much now as I did seeing it in a theater decades ago. 🤣🤣🤩

Interesting.  I have no recollection of them listening it that way at our theater.

[DoctorAtomic]

On 3/22/2023 at 9:25 PM, Shannon L. said:

Interesting.  I have no recollection of them listening it that way at our theater.

I remember the newspaper had the A,B,C listed in the movie section, so you could pick.

[JAYJAY1979]

On 3/22/2023 at 3:28 PM, Shannon L. said:

First off, you didn't get to pick which one to go see, you didn't know which one you were going to get (unless things were different where I lived), and second, at 16, I thought that was part of it's appeal.  It gave us something to talk about ("which ending did you get?").  It's funny to me that that was a factor in movie's failure. 

I think people didn't want to spend money to watch the movie 3 times.

Edited May 14, 2023 by JAYJAY1979

[blackwing]

On 3/22/2023 at 2:28 PM, Shannon L. said:

First off, you didn't get to pick which one to go see, you didn't know which one you were going to get (unless things were different where I lived), and second, at 16, I thought that was part of it's appeal.  It gave us something to talk about ("which ending did you get?").  It's funny to me that that was a factor in movie's failure. 

 

On 3/22/2023 at 8:10 PM, giovannif7 said:

I was living in San Francisco in the 80s when Clue came out, and I remember going to the Stonestown theater to see the movie, which was listed as "Clue - Ending A." It didn't describe the ending at all, but there was that "A" indicator (along with "B" and "C" indicators in other theaters) to allow patrons to choose a different ending should they return. Box office was so bad, though, that the movie was pulled from the theater before I could see the third ending. I had to wait for the VHS release to see the final outcome. I adore the movie just as much now as I did seeing it in a theater decades ago. 🤣🤣🤩

I remember reading a review in the newspaper that "C" was the best ending (the one where everyone killed someone).  I don't remember the listings in our newspaper indicating the versions.  I remember calling around to all the theaters within the area to find out which one had the C ending, and made my dad drive us 30 minutes to that theater. 

I was curious about the other endings, and the local theater was showing the Miss Scarlet A ending, so we saw it twice. 

I never saw the Mrs. Peacock ending until I bought the movie on VHS tape.

Just thinking about all of this makes me feel so incredibly old!  I was trying to explain to my kids the thrill of getting the Wednesday newspaper (I think it was Wednesday) and looking at the ads to see all the movie listings and times for the weekend.  They looked at me like I had two heads.

On 3/20/2023 at 1:58 PM, Bastet said:

I don't think I'd ever before heard that Professor Plum was the one who solved the mystery in that version.  And I'd always thought it was the dogs from the mansion, not police dogs.  Anyway, I'm sure it would have played better on film than it read from the story book, but I'm also not surprised Lynn didn't think it was good enough to keep.  Besides, they were already pushing things with multiple endings, and I think three is the better number.

I have the Storybook and I don't recall it mentioning that Professor Plum solved the mystery.  I do remember that Wadsworth escaped and tried to steal a car only to find police dogs in there with him.  Presumably they maul him to death or at least injure him.  And presumably the police give all of the guests the antidote to the poison.  I'm sure it would have played out better on film but it doesn't sound as interesting as the others, and it would have been the cliche that "the butler did it".

[Cress]

The Clue movie has been adapted to a play. It's called Clue Onstage. (I think other versions are based on the game, not the movie.) I saw one last year done in Dallas, and now this October it will play in Mckinney, Texas, a DFW suburb.

Has anyone here seen a Clue theater production put on in their area? The staging of the rooms in the mansion is interesting, at least in the Dallas version I watched.

Edited August 17, 2023 by Cress

[blackwing]

4 hours ago, Cress said:

The Clue movie has been adapted to a play. It's called Clue Onstage. (I think other versions are based on the game, not the movie.) I saw one last year done in Dallas, and now this October it will play in Mckinney, Texas, a DFW suburb.

Has anyone here seen a Clue theater production put on in their area? The staging of the rooms in the mansion is interesting, at least in the Dallas version I watched.

I saw this one in Chicago about a year ago.  Not sure if it's the same production or not, but it was based on the movie.  There were some changes in the lines (I forget the details exactly) but it was pretty faithful and entertaining.

About 25 years or so ago, I also saw "Clue the Musical" which was a small local production.  I still have a coffee mug from it.

[Bastet]

9 hours ago, Cress said:

The Clue movie has been adapted to a play. It's called Clue Onstage.

There was a production of that here in Los Angeles (well, L.A. and the greater L.A. area) last year, but my friend and I couldn't make it to the local venue and didn't feel like trekking to the ones farther out.  It'll be downtown (the Ahmanson, for any locals) next summer, so we'll go then.

 

Edited August 17, 2023 by Bastet

[Cress]

I really love the movie, including the music. "Sh-boom" is so fun.

[Cress]

I did manage to see the Clue play in Mckinney with my sisters. Pretty funny, but some room-changing scenes dragged. Interestingly, they changed Mr. Green slapping Mrs. Peacock to Miss Scarlet slapping her instead. When Mr. Green revealed himself as FBI, some other character complained that he let six people die on his watch. True, but harsh. :)

I did a recent rewatch of the movie on Paramount+ and it's still so funny.

[Black Knight]

There are two comedies I've seen so many times I can quote them by heart. One is, of course, Clue. The other is My Cousin Vinny. And I only just learned a couple of days ago that they had the same director, Jonathan Lynn. Coincidence?

[Palimelon]

A nice tribute to Martin Mull (who passed away a few days ago) in the movie...

 

[One4Sorrow2TooBad]

I can't help but keep checking my shoes for dog shit,lol !