Murder by Death (1976) Online

Complete credited cast:
	Eileen Brennan	-	Tess Skeffington
	Truman Capote	-	Lionel Twain
	James Coco	-	Milo Perrier
	Peter Falk	-	Sam Diamond
	Alec Guinness	-	Bensonmum
	Elsa Lanchester	-	Jessica Marbles
	David Niven	-	Dick Charleston
	Peter Sellers	-	Sidney Wang
	Maggie Smith	-	Dora Charleston
	Nancy Walker	-	Maid
	Estelle Winwood	-	Nurse
	James Cromwell	-	Marcel
	Richard Narita	-	Willie Wang

The screaming woman sound used as a doorbell is Fay Wray's screams from King Kong (1933).

Immediately after completing this movie, Peter Sellers was so convinced it was going to bomb, he convinced the producers to buy back his percentage share in the movie, thus depriving himself of a cut of the profits with the movie when it went on to be a hit.

Three memorable scenes ended up on the cutting-room floor: 1) The Charlestons narrowly avoid hitting Tess Skeffington; she's hiking back to her and Sam Diamond's car, with gasoline from a station five miles away. "Thank Heaven you saw me when you did", she says. Dick makes sure she's okay, "Keep to the side of the road", he advises her, then simply drives off and leaves her to walk. 2) Willie Wang, upon rejoining the others in the drawing room, after covering up Lionel Twain's corpse in the dining hall, has noticed something that none of the others did: Twain was clutching a note in his hand. Without bothering to read the note first, Willie gloats about how he is a better detective than his own father gives him credit for: "I'm sick and tired of being just your number three adopted son. The one million dollars goes to whomever solves the crime, and that could be me just as well as you!" Then Sam takes the note at gunpoint ("Better stand back, Tess; I don't want you to get hurt when the bullet comes out his other ear") and reads it ("'Please call dairy and stop deliveries of milk; Lionel Twain deceased.' So much for your clue, kid"). Willie sheepishly apologizes to Sidney. 3) Leaving Twain Manor at the end of the movie, the Wangs pass a vintage car en route to the same destination. It's driven by Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson. They ask directions, which Sidney gives them despite Willie's efforts to warn them it's a ripoff. Willie asks why his pop didn't tell them the truth. Sidney's reply: "Let idiots find out for themselves."

It was while working on this movie that Sir Alec Guinness received the script for Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977). He read it between scenes in his dressing room.

Peter Sellers reportedly played several practical jokes on cast and crew during filming, including once calling Neil Simon up and imitating co-star Sir Alec Guinness and demanding a re-write of a key scene in the middle of the night. Neither Guinness nor Simon was amused.

In the television edit of this movie, which contains footage not released theatrically nor on home video, Keith McConnell and Richard Peel appeared at the end as "Sherlock Holmes" and "Doctor Watson", respectively.

Myrna Loy was originally offered the part of Dora Charleston (a role that was a spoof of the character that she had played in the Thin Man film franchise) but she declined, later stating that "it would have been ridiculous to have Myrna Loy doing Myrna Loy". She also stated that she didn't want her "ass pinched by David Niven".

''We should have taped the first read-through of the script and released it as a comedy album. It was a classic", reported many of the production personnel after first rehearsal session together of the cast and crew. According to Writer Neil Simon, "the first reading is where I see what works and what doesn't. It was the best one I've ever witnessed for any of my plays or films." Simon was on the set of this movie every day.

Originally, Katharine Hepburn was meant to play a character called Dame Abigail Christian (a spin on Dame Agatha Christie). Hepburn dropped out after hearing Myrna Loy would not do this movie. The character was changed to Dame Abigail Christmas, and Estelle Winwood took the role. After numerous re-writes, Estelle became Nurse Withers to a new character, Elsa Lanchester's Miss Jessica Marbles.

All of the detectives in this movie are parodies of the work of three authors: Dashiell Hammett, whose Nick Charles and Sam Spade were the basis for Dick Charleston and Sam Diamond, respectively; Dame Agatha Christie, whose Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple inspired Milo Perrier and Miss Marbles; Earl Derr Biggers, whose Charlie Chan was the basis for Inspector Sidney Wang and his son.

Neil Simon remained on the set to take care of re-writes, as he did with this movie's sequel, The Cheap Detective (1978). Simon took such a shine to Sir Alec Guinness during production that he told him if he did not like anything in the movie, he'd immediately re-write it for him, but Guinness assured him it was great fun for him.

Working with such an accomplished group of professionals made Director Robert Moore's task easier and exhilarating. Moore recalled prior to the movie's release: "At times we had to stop shooting, because there wasn't a dry eye in the house. If the film audiences have half as many laughs as we have shared in making 'Murder By Death', Columbia Pictures will have a smash hit in the theaters."

Although the atmosphere is meant to evoke the 1930s and early 1940s, certain details in the story (contemporary-branded groceries in the kitchen, Twain's age and the price of paperback novels, for two) indicate that the setting is in the 1970s.

One of numerous movies, mostly comedies, released between the mid 1970s and mid 1980s that revived the "Old Dark House" genre. They include The Spiral Staircase (1975), this movie, The Cat and the Canary (1978), The Private Eyes (1980), House of the Long Shadows (1983), Kenny Everett's Bloodbath at the House of Death (1984), Clue (1985), and Haunted Honeymoon (1986).

Peter Sellers also played Jessica Marbles' taxi driver, but the scene was deleted.

An interview with Writer Neil Simon in a DVD extra, Murder by Death: A Conversation with Neil Simon (1999), has him reveal that he and Director Robert Moore at one time wished to replace Truman Capote with a real actor in the part of Lionel Twain, but ultimately this never happened.

The country road was built on Stage 16 of The Burbank Studios. This was contrary to the traditional practice of contemporary moviemaking of using actual locations for exteriors. The reason for creating the set was to give the movie the look of the 1930s and 1940s detective genre movies which have a distinctive style. Instead of process photography, a large rotating drum with cyclorama of painted trees and branches and real shrubbery attached moves around as the cars remain positioned. The autos were jostled in place to simulate movement, and the exterior scenery outside moves by on the leafy carousel. It is a filmic technique used in the 1920s, and which filmmaker Ingmar Bergman continued to use. Eight dozen evergreens, hundreds of shrubs, and assorted foliage, and tons of dirt, were used to create the country road. This was a costly bit of landscaping according to the movie's production notes.

Between takes on the set, Dame Maggie Smith and James Coco played a lot of scrabble together. Estelle Winwood, who had played bridge since she was eighteen, played either gin rummy or solitaire, and Truman Capote did some work on his latest book, "Answered Prayers". Writer Neil Simon, between interviews and takes on the set, was often in his trailer working on a new play and a new screenplay. David Niven was ecstatically watching his book, "Bring On The Empty Horses", climb to the top of the best-seller charts allover the U.S. Elsa Lanchester was busy working with Charles Higham on the biography of her late husband Charles Laughton, which publishing house Doubleday was scheduled to publish in May 1976. Peter Sellers, an accomplished photographer, shot photos of the cast while they were assembled in the dining room set. Sellers gave each fellow player 11 x 14 color prints of his work at the close of production. When Eileen Brennan had a long lunch break, she would dash home to spend it with her two pre-school sons. Sir Alec Guinness spent some of his days off on the movie strolling around Beverly Hills, with much of the remainder of his free time, he used writing a show based on the work of Jonathan Swift. Peter Falk, between scenes paced back and forth in front of his trailer so often, that Producer Ray Stark gifted him with a treadmill. Falk was also involved in the editing and post-production of a movie for television in which he had recently starred, "Phoenix Loves Griffin", which was later retitled as Griffin and Phoenix (1976).

Eileen Brennan starred in another "old Dark House" mystery genre comedy, Clue (1985), an adaptation of the board game Clue, in which she played Mrs. Peacock.

Final theatrical movie of Nancy Walker (Maid).

The character name "Lionel Twain" is wordplay referring to the Lionel company, which made model trains.

In addition to the spoofs of various detective characters such as Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot, this movie gives a nod to Dame Agatha Christie's most famous story, "And Then There Were None". The novel deals with a series of murders that follow a child's nursery rhyme. One of the lines of the rhyme in the Christie story is "Three little Indian boys walking in the Zoo/A big bear hugged one, and then there were two", and the corresponding murder is committed by dropping a bear-shaped marble clock onto the head of one of the victims. In this movie, four stone bear-shaped statues are dropped toward most of the guests in turn, hitting Marcel the chauffeur.

Although Nancy Walker and Estelle Winwood's characters are listed in the final credits as simply "The Maid" and "The Nurse", they are blatantly named during the movie as "Yetta" and "Miss Withers".

In the opening credits sequence, Sam Diamond's and Bensonmum's eyes are the only ones that do not change position. In fact, Sir Alec Guinness' caricature is the only one without pupils to be moved.

Orson Welles was originally considered for the role of Inspector Wang, but was unable to accept because he was appearing in a play in Italy.

David Niven plays Dick Charleston, a role based on Nick Charles, a character originated by William Powell in "The Thin Man" film franchise. This is the second time Niven has played a role originated by Powell, having also played the title role in My Man Godfrey (1957).

(At around forty-nine minutes) When Truman Capote (Lionel Twain) offers one million dollars for the one that solves the murder, he plunks down a small stack of bills. For the stack to be that short, it would have to be ten thousand dollar bills. This denomination was used only for intra-government transactions, and not issued to the public. Also, this series was discontinued in 1940.

Phil Silvers had a small role, but his scenes were deleted in the final release print.

Final theatrical movie of Estelle Winwood (Nurse).

The model for the manor is a mixture of two old English houses, Compton Wyngates in Warwickshire and Knole, which belonged to the Sackville-West family, which had embellishments of French influence. More interest and enthusiasm was shown by the construction crews than usual because of the craftsmanship required in creating the unique set. Plaster casts for woodwork, moldings, mantelpieces and staircases, which hadn't been used in more than twenty years, were resurrected. For the stonework outside the main entrance, the stone was specially mined at Arizona quarries, and cut to specifications. Production Designer Stephen B. Grimes' favorite room in the mansion set was a bathroom re-created from his boyhood memories of English water closets, complete with a custom-built leakwood commode seat.

(At around fifty-nine minutes) When each companion reports hearing gunshots to their respective sleuth, the visual of Miss Skeffington saying "Gunshots, Sam!" was removed from the final print of the movie; only the audio is heard. Both the audio and video of the sequence were included in the trailer for the movie, however (as seen on the DVD release).

From the Automotive Classics firm in Santa Monica, California, Property Master Terry E. Lewis leased five cars for the various sleuths to drive. Sam Diamond (Peter Falk) and his Girl Friday, Tess Skeffington (Eileen Brennan), are in a 1948 Chevrolet. Dick (David Niven) and Dora Charleston (Dame Maggie Smith) and their terrier, Myron, are in a 1937 silver Packard convertible. Sidney Wang (Peter Sellers) and his No. 3 adopted son, Willie (Richard Narita) , are in a 1941 Ford "Woody" station wagon, while Monsieur Perrier (James Coco) and his chauffeur, Marcel (James Cromwell), are in a 1945 Citroen. Jessica Marbles (Elsa Lanchester) and her nurse, Miss Withers (Estelle Winwood), are in a vintage English taxicab.

The setting moves from a dark and rutted country road to an isolated, gloomy, fog-shrouded English-style manor house. Construction on the mansion began in August 1975. While an elaborate and complex edifice, the structure was completed in record time. Although the script described the house as Victorian, Production Designer Stephen B. Grimes took some artistic liberties. In his mind, Grimes pictured the kind of American estates which millionaires, such as the Hearsts or Morgans, used to bring over, stone-by-stone, from Europe.

Furnishings for the mansion, according to Set Decorator Marvin March, were valued at more than twenty-five dollars. Employed were antiques from the Mark Hopkins Estate in San Francisco, other antiques rented from exclusive Los Angeles shops, and some old pieces from The Burbank Studios property department. In addition to the classic furniture pieces, there were authentic suits of armor, period paintings, porcelain, daggers, and old swords, "and many stuffed animal heads. Because of numerous special effects sequences, some copies of paints had to be created. Peep holes are present in the movable eyes of several of the paintings."

The cast features three Oscar winners: Sir Alec Guinness, David Niven, and Dame Maggie Smith; and six Oscar nominees: Peter Sellers, Eileen Brennan, Peter Falk, Elsa Lanchester, James Cromwell, and James Coco.

On the invitations at the beginning, Lionel Twain's address is given as "22 Lola Lane". Lola Lane was an actress in the thirties and forties, and one of the four Lane Sisters.

First of three Neil Simon-written movies featuring James Coco. The others being The Cheap Detective (1978) and Only When I Laugh (1981), the latter being the only one based on one of Simon's plays. Coco also appeared in Simon's Last of the Red Hot Lovers (1972) on Broadway.

(At around four minutes) During the first scene when Sir Alec Guinness licks the stamps for the invitations, the stamps used were the eight cent Dwight D. Eisenhower "No Dot", three-color stamps released in May 1971, and not the more popular six cent stamp released nearly a year earlier. First-class postage stamps were up to thirteen cents by the time the movie was produced.

James Coco's character spoofed Dame Agatha Christie's famous super-sleuth Hercule Poirot. Dame Maggie Smith starred in two Agatha Christie adaptations featuring Poirot (played by Sir Peter Ustinov), Death on the Nile (1978) and Evil Under the Sun (1982).

One of eleven movies made by Writer Neil Simon and Producer Ray Stark. The movies, mostly made at Rastar Pictures with Columbia Pictures, include this movie, The Cheap Detective (1978), California Suite (1978), Chapter Two (1979), The Sunshine Boys (1975), Seems Like Old Times (1980), The Goodbye Girl (1977), The Slugger's Wife (1985), Brighton Beach Memoirs (1986), Biloxi Blues (1988), and Lost in Yonkers (1993).

Principal photography on this movie began on Tuesday, October 14, 1975 after a week of rehearsals, and finished on December 19, 1975.

One of four movies written by Neil Simon that were directed by Robert Moore. The others being Chapter Two (1979), The Sunshine Boys (1977), and The Cheap Detective (1978).

Included among the American Film Institute's 2000 list of the 500 movies nominated for the Top 100 Funniest American Movies.

Goof, not a point of trivia. (At around one hour and twenty minutes) When Dick and Dora are lying in bed and Dora is applying hand cream, she puts the bottle down on top of the comforter right in front of her. After the scorpion is spotted, the bottle has vanished.

Nurse Withers has the same last name as the character Hildegarde Withers who appeared in several movies including The Penguin Pool Murder (1932).