Thoughts on Clue

 

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"Just checking."
"Everything alright?"
"Yep. Two corpses. Everything's fine."

Once again, I've had a long work week and would prefer not to overthink a movie I love. Yup, it's the return of micro-Thoughts On. It's like you're watching Clue with me!

1. That John Morris score! Clue has four entries for memorable music. The opening theme stands on its own, as does the music during Wadsworth's recap.

2. This was the second of two 1985 movies for costume designer Michael Kaplan. The second was ... Perfect?! It's the penultimate credit for production designer John Robert Lloyd, whose work also included The Boys in the Band.

3. Scott Tobias, writing in 2010 for The A.V. Club, said the gag about Wadsworth stepping in dog poo and the reactions to it "is by far the lamest material in the movie and (director-co-writer Jonathan) Lynn makes the mistake of leading with it." For what it's worth, the joke ends with Mrs. White.

4. Memorable Music No. 2 (chronologically), "Shake, Rattle and Roll."

5. The first encounter between Wadsworth (Tim Curry) and Col. Mustard (Martin Mull) is a thing of beauty. Their dynamic over the next 90 minutes is established. Mustard will try to exert control and Wadsworth will put him in his place. And to begin with, it's just over the colonel's name.

6. "Yvette, could you attend to the colonel and give him anything he requires? Within reason, that is."

7. According to Amazon Prime, her name is Mrs. Blanche White (Madeline Kahn). It reminds me of the old Clue novels for middle-school age readers, where Mr. Boddy was straight man to his guests. The only two character names I remember are Mrs. Wilhelmina White and Miss Charlotte Scarlet.

8. I should also mention that I've never actually played the board game Clue. Now, back to the movie.

9. Giving Curry and Mull a run for their money with establishing character moments is Lesley Ann Warren as Miss Scarlet. She's examining her stalled vehicle, a car is coming ... and the merchandise is on display. Scarlet is picked up by Professor Plum (Christopher Lloyd), with whom she'll share a very back and forth relationship over the rest of the movie. She's charmed by him (or faking it) when he picks her up. By the time they get to the front door, and Plum's grabbing her tush, she's over him.

10. I'm getting ahead of myself. We've got Mrs. Peacock (Eileen Brennan), who takes in the cleavage of Yvette (Colleen Camp), and Mr. Green (Martin McKean). Tough call, but I'm going to say McKean has the best introduction. "(Wadworth commands the dogs) Sit!" "(Green does)." An old joke executed well.

11. Lynn shares story credit with co-producer John Landis. Other producers included George Folsey, Jr., Peter Guber and Jon Peters and Debra Hill. The dialogue, business and plot elements work as well as they do because it's so well tied to the characters. Clue might be the only movie where it's best that everyone's less than three-dimensional.

12. "Well, someone's got to break the ice, and it might as well be me. I mean, I'm used to being a hostess, it's part of my husband's work. And it's always difficult when a group of new friends meet together for the first time, to get acquainted. So I'm perfectly prepared to start the ball rolling. I mean, I-I have absolutely no idea what we're doing here. Or what I'm doing here, or what this place is about, but I am determined to enjoy myself. And I'm very intrigued, and, oh my, this soup's delicious, isn't it?"

13. Plum is fascinating to Scarlet again once she realizes he's a shrink. This leads to the reveal that he works for UNO-WHO.

14. I was struck by Mr. Boddy (Lee Ving) making such an entrance. Clue's cast included recognizable actors, then and now, but the balance isn't thrown off the way it would be if there was one and only one megastar in the bunch. Brando as Boddy. Stallone as Mustard. Streisand as White. Katharine Hepburn as Peacock. And such on.

15. Eileen Brennan's doing a great job of conveying how utterly terrified Mrs. Peacock is to see Mr. Boddy, barely able to conceal it with her dignified demeanor.

16. "You know what doctors aren't allowed to do with their lady patients?" "Yeah?" "Well, he did."

17. Plum's repulsive to Scarlet again, this time when he shows an interest in her prostitution operation. We also learn Mustard is one of her clients and some truly inspired wordplay goes on.

18. "Well, you tell him it's not true!" "It's not true." "Is that true?" "No, it's not true." "A-ha! So it is true!" "A double negative!" "Double negative? ... You mean, you have photographs?" "That sounds like a confession to me. In fact, the double negative has led to proof positive. I'm afraid you gave yourself away." "Are you trying to make me look stupid in front of the other guests?" "You don't need any help from me, sir." "That's right!"

19. I'm a little fascinated by Mrs. White's late second husband, the stupidly optimistic nuclear physicist. How does one stay cheerful while working on the bomb?

20. Anyway, Green comes out, Boddy is revealed as the blackmailer and gets White's knee in his nuts and everyone gets a murder weapon. The candlestick for Scarlet, rope for White, lead pipe for Green, wrench for Mustard, gun for Plum and knife for Peacock.

21. Scarlet and Green never directly use the weapons they receive. In Ending A, Yvette kills the cook with the knife and Boddy with the candlestick on Scarlet's order. Otherwise, Scarlet uses the wrench, rope, lead pipe and gun in Ending A and lead pipe in Ending C. White uses the rope on Yvette in Ending C. Mustard uses the wrench on the motorist in Ending C. It's implied that Plum non-lethally uses the gun in Ending C, since he targeted Boddy, succeeding with the candlestick. Peacock uses the knife in Ending B, when she uses all the weapons, and Ending C, when she just killed the cook. Green uses his own gun on Wadsworth in Ending C.

22. Fanservice Junction: I forgot about Yvette's panty flash before she sits down. 

23. Aww, look at Mrs. White as she's watching Wadsworth share the sad story of his wife, who socialized with ... socialists! "Well, we all make mistakes." Anyone who tries to "#CancelClue" on the grounds of that exchange will have to go over my dead bod(d)y!

24. Mustard's rather hypocritical, no? Saying the first "too late" during Wadsworth's tale of woe, then trying to shame Scarlet for joking about the cook's death?

25. "Oh my. Nobody can get in that position." "Sure they can. Let me show you." "... Get off me!"

26. Every time I see Clue, I always have to remind myself that it's not Harry Anderson playing the motorist. It's Jeffrey Kramer, fresh from Santa Claus: The Movie.

27. Scarlet has a new person to be repulsed by. This time, it's Col. Mustard. I would so watch Warren and Mull playing cops, with her the no-nonsense one. Again, nobody's allowing Mustard to take charge. "Well, we know what's in the study, we've just come from the library, and the stranger's locked up in the lounge." "(interrupting) Let's go look in the billiard room again."

28. I'm going to estimate Clue takes place over approximately two hours, 6-8 p.m. Three of the six (or seven, depending on the ending) victims are killed by 7:10 p.m.

29. "Let us in, let us in!" "Let us out, let us out!"

30. A lot of my notes were devoted to weapon and victim whereabouts. The cook (Kellye Nakahara) died in the kitchen. Boddy died in the study. The motorist died in the lounge. The cop (Bill Henderson) will die in the library, followed by Yvette in the billiard room and the singing telegram girl (Jane Wiedlin) in or near the hall.

31. Memorable Music: The final score is 58-46, with points each for the main theme and the recap music. In the non-original music column, we have "Shake, Rattle and Roll" and "Sh-Boom." The entire cast is a blast during the "Sh-Boom" sequence and aftermath (although where does Yvette run off to?), but I have to single out Brennan & Mull and Lloyd & Warren. 

32. "This man's drunk. Dead drunk." "Dead right." "You're not going to drive home, are you?" "He won't be driving home, officer, I promise you that!" "Yeah." "Someone will give him a lift, huh?" "Oh, we'll ... we'll ... get him a car." "A long black car." "A limousine."

33. McKean's facial expression when Wadsworth catches up with the cop is priceless. Green's amazed it worked, to the point where he's not quite able to signal Wadsworth to play it cool.

34. "Duh-da-da-duh-da-da! I ... am ... your ... singing ... telegram ..." *shot* The song wasn't that bad.

35. These people have no concerns at all about having their fingerprints on murder weapons.

36. Clue, as we likely all know, was later adapted for the stage. I cannot imagine what an undertaking the last half-hour is for the actor playing Wadsworth. Re-watching the movie, I'm still amazed by the force of nature performance Curry gives. He's well-matched by the other actors. Shout out to Brennan, who had to endure all that running only a few years after a serious car accident.

37. Scarlet is disgusted at Plum again, this time for being so bad at examining Boddy.

38. "So ... whoever knew ... that the cook was involved ... killed her." "Yes." Savor it, Mustard. It's the one time you're on the same page as Wadsworth, and that's because he stopped reading for a second.

39. Off the top of my head, Lynn repeated two shots, both involving Warren. One, when Scarlet screams in the kitchen. Two, when Scarlet's about to bludgeon the cop.

40. "Can you keep a secret?" "Yes." "So can I."

41. Hey, It's ...!: Howard Hesseman.

42. For what it's worth, Siskel and Ebert liked the Scarlet's the murderer/ringleader ending, A, best. They disliked the everybody does it ending, C, which Paul Attanasio liked best. Tobias liked Endings A and C best. Rita Kempley was okay with Ending A, but preferred Endings B and C.

43. I'm not sure why, but I love Brennan's drawl on "Why would I have murdered all of the others?" I used to think I loved Ending C the best, but I think I really love Ending B. It's got the reveal that they were eating monkey's brains, White providing melody during the singing of "For She's a Jolly Good Fellow," the pun involving J. Edgar Hoover and the Mounties joke. I do wish they would have inserted a shot of Peacock being apprehended, though. Now that I know her last line was dubbed in, it took me a little out of the moment.

44. Then again, if there's at least one moment to recommend Ending C for:

"Yes ... Yes, I did it. I killed Yvette. I hated her so much. It-it-it ... flames-flames ... on the side of my face ... breathing ... breathle-heaving breaths ... heaving ..."

Improv, bitches. (This moment led to one of the funnier review sentiments I read.)

45. "Take 'em away, chief. ... I'm going to go home and sleep with my wife."

RECOMMENDED!

Thoughts:

-- "Is there a little girl's room?" "Oui, oui, madame." "No, I just want to powder my nose, thank you."

-- Box Office: Grossing $14.6 million on a $15 million budget, this opened at No. 6 and came in at No. 57 for 1985. Paramount was zero for two for Christmas 1985. Roger Ebert questioned why Clue needed the gimmick of different endings. "It would be more fun (to show them all). And fun, I must say, is in short supply in Clue."

-- Critic's Corner: "Like any good farce, Clue keeps on escalating until the escalation itself becomes the central joke," Tobias wrote. Janet Maslin, who thought the movie was "substantially smuttier than its PG rating would indicate," didn't feel there was much of an ensemble. "(It) merely means that they often repeat the same line simultaneously." In Washington, D.C., Attanasio was trying to figure out who bungled the movie. Oddly enough, he wanted Landis and Lynn to "(take) the characters seriously and (create) a real murder mystery." Rita Kempley: "Low comedy at its highest, slapstick at its wackiest, staggeringly silly buresque at its bawdiest. It's a cleverly concocted non-mystery."

-- Attanasio, who ultimately placed most of the blame on Landis ("He likes his body counts, and he's become obsessed with the crude idea that the law is corrupt."), also disliked how the "flames" scene was shot. "Lynn lands on (Kahn) with a shock cut. It's almost as if he's scolding her for being interesting."

-- "At the start of the evening, Yvette was here, by herself, waiting to offer you all a glass of champagne." "I was in the hall. ... I know, because I was there."

-- Awards Watch: It's kind of a bummer Clue didn't receive an Edgar Award nomination, but I guess Fletch fulfilled the comedy quota. As mentioned earlier, the winner was Witness (over the far more deserving Blood Simple).

-- Four of the seven leads were interviewed for Random Roles. Clue didn't come up in Warren's interview. Lloyd: "A lot of people are really into it. Everyone's got their favorite of the different endings." Mull: "... In all honesty, it was a lot funnier off camera than it was on. ... It was hilarious. But then we had to tone it down for the camera." McKean: "And then I started hearing about the other people who were going to be in it, and I thought, 'Oh, this is getting good!'" 

-- "This is war, Peacock! Casualties are inevitable. You cannot make an omelet without breaking eggs. Every cook will tell you that." "But look what happened to the cook!"

-- Next: The Jewel of the Nile and Out of Africa. On deck: The Color Purple and Brazil. Coming soon: Enemy Mine and The Trip to Bountiful.