Board to Death

 

 

 "Clue.  It's not just a game...anymore"

(from the trailer to the film)

Here's an oddball idea. Take a classic children's board game.  Get several actors and actresses together to portray the characters in the game. To make it even more oddball, cast the film with some lesser known but still memorable people who can do physical comedy well. Get a well known comedy director who also has decent chops at writing comedy and pair him with another well-known comedy director, also having an ear for comedy dialogue to do the script.  Let the second writer/director direct the film, because, after all, he has the ability to do comedy.

Result? John Landis (director of numerous funny movies and writer of Schlock, The Blues Brothers, and An American Werewolf in London) and Johnathan Lynn (director of Nuns on the Run, My Cousin Vinny, and Greedy, as well as writer for numerous TV comedies) got together to put together a script that, while not on par with some of those fantastic comedies you may be thinking of right now, is still chock full of funny moments.  It seems that Landis had to shop around to finally get a co-writer because, although he had the basics, he was at a loss as how to wrap it up.

In addition, along comes a cast of character actors who can pull off the physical comedy that the script requires, as well as deliver some of funny double entendre jokes with which the writers peppered this script.  

You got Christopher Lloyd (famous as Reverend Jim on TV's Taxi, as well as a previous comedic slot as Doc Brown in Back to the Future). You got Madeline Kahn (famous for comedic turns in Young Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles). You got Michael McKean (famous as Lenny from TV's Laverne and Shirley as well as one of the members of the notorious band "Spinal Tap" in This is Spinal Tap). You got Eileen Brennan (who pulled off one of the best female drill instructor roles in Private Benjamin). You got Martin Mull (memorable as Bart Gimble on three different TV shows: Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, Fernwood 2-Night, and America 2-Night). You got Lesley Ann Warren (who even snagged an Academy Award nomination for her role in Victor/Victoria).

And last, but DEFINITELY not least, you got Tim Curry (and if  I had to list all the great roles he had done prior to this movie, I'd still be typing... but I will add one: Dr. Frank N. Furter, in Rocky Horror Picture Show).

So when it all came together you had a pretty good lineup.  But we still aren't done.  Howard Hesseman (Johnny Fever on TV's WKRP in Cincinnati), Jane Wiedlin (not a name actress yet, but famous as the guitarist of the band The Go-Gos). and Lee Ving (leader of the rock band Fear, and also known as Willem Dafoe's deputy gang member in Streets of Fire) also make appearances. Coleen Camp, Bill Henderson, Jerry Kramer and Kellye Nakahara may not have had the name or face recognition at this point in their respective careers, but they still shine in their brief roles.

At this point you may start to get the idea that I really like this movie. And that's not a bad idea. Although it is not in the top 10 of my favorite movies (or even top 10 of my favorite comedies) it still is a pretty good movie, especially if it's cold and rainy (like it is right now outside here in real life as I write this piece, as well as like it is outside the house in the movie).

You would think that taking a board game and turning it into a movie might not actually work. There haven't been all that many attempts at it.  The only one I can think of off the top of my head is Battleship, which I haven't seen so I don't know enough to compare (other than the fact that it garnered several nominations for Razzies, which doesn't bode well.)  I won't hold out for a screen adaptation of Chutes and Ladders or Hungry Hungry Hippos (although that second one sounds like a potential future Disney kid's movie or even a horror movie...)

This one fared better with the critics than did Battleship.  And it did manage to stay off John "Razzies" Wilson's radar.  Unfortunately most people stayed away in droves when it was in the theater.  It didn't even make back it's original investment.  But it did develop a following afterwards as what we call a "cult" film.

One of the more interesting things about this film was, in keeping with the game theme, it was released with three different endings, and depending on which theater you went to to see it, you may have seen a different ending than a friend who saw it across town at a different theater.  If you get to watch it now on DVD, however, all three endings are on the disc.  But my copy has an option so you can watch it as it was in theater with a random chosen ending.  If the odds gods are with you you could watch it three separate times and get to see it with all of them in different settings. (Of course, if you have my luck, you'd probably have to watch it at least 7 or 8 times before you saw it end with all of them in different settings).

The movie also has an added bonus in the realm of Hollywood big names.  It was scored by John Morris, the favorite musical composer of Mel Brooks, having done the music for many of Brooks' movies.  As well as being nominated for an Oscar for his work on The Elephant Man (which he lost to Michel Gore for Fame, by the way.)

So anyway, is Clue a great movie or is it well deserving of it's status as a poor movie that tried hard but failed?

Clue (1985):

A cast of  what turn out to be shady characters have been invited to a dark mansion with a note that claims it would be in their best interests to appear.  Each person is given a alias to prevent their identity from being known by the rest of the guests. (Although as the movie goes on, some of those guests are not entirely unfamiliar with some of the others).

The guests are (in the tradition of the board game) given these monikers:  

Mr. Green (Michael McKean)

 Mr Green works in the state department where he has been hiding his homosexual affiliations.

Colonel Mustard (Martin Mull) 

Colonel Mustard has access to Army secrets which he has been making a profit from.

Mrs. Peacock (Eileen Brennan)

 Mrs. Peacock has been guilty of accepting bribes to influence her politician husband's votes in Congress.

Professor Plum (Christopher Lloyd)

 Professor plum has been guilty of having assignations with female patients in his role as a psychiatrist.

Miss Scarlet (Lesley Ann Warren) 

Miss Scarlett runs a house of ill repute in downtown D.C.

Mrs. White (Madeline Kahn)

Mrs. White has several husbands who have all died under mysterious circumstances.

Each of the characters has some secret in their past that they have been trying to keep from being made public.  As such, the central "villain" has come into the knowledge and has been using said knowledge to blackmail them. "Mr. Boddy" (Lee Ving) is ostensibly said villain (although even that is in question).

The person of Mr. Boddy's butler, Wadsworth, played to perfection by Tim Curry is the glue that is holding the event together, although even he has a dark secret that Mr. Boddy has been using to blackmail him, in this case forcing him to act as his personal butler.

After the main cast has assembled Mr. Boddy shows up and informs them that really it is Wadsworth who is the person they need to direct their venom towards, and issues each a weapon with which to dispatch him.  Each one receives what are, in the tradition of the board game itself, implements of destruction:

Mrs. White; A rope

Miss Scarlett: A candlestick

Mrs. Peacock; A knife.

Mr. Green: A lead pipe.

Colonel Mustard: A wrench.

Professor Plum: A gun.

But after the lights are turned out, it is not Wadsworth, but Mr. Boddy himself who has become the victim of the nefarious dispatch. And because the lights were out, no one knows who did it (or with what).  

The whole comedy (of murder) hinges on the cast of malcontents searching the house to see if the murderer is hidden somewhere within (since all of them claim innocence and therefore assume there MUST be someone else.

They break up into pairs, despite the fact that they are all convinced that the murderer is really one of them and therefore the other one paired with him or her may be the next victim.  But while they search, dead bodies keep cropping up.  The cook. The maid.  A stranded motorist who just came in to use the phone. A policeman checking up to see whether the broken down car of that motorist came to the door. A girl who just showed up to deliver a singing telegram.

What with everyone around them keeling over dead, is it any wonder that they all become suspicious of each other? 

The side part of this whole scenario is that, while the movie was filmed on a sound stage, the entire set was laid out just like the board game with secret passages that lead from one room to the next. The film crew actually constructed a sound stage to fit the layout.

 While they search more dead bodies keep cropping up. Which doesn't make any of them very comfortable (obviously).

Eventually they come to an end and Wadsworth reveals that he knows who did it. 

"Very well.  I know who did it.  And furthermore, I'll tell you how it was done. (In excruciating detail... Ok I added that line,,,)"

At this point in the film, there were, as mentioned, three separate endings.  And if any of you can watch these and not use the back tracking feature to watch the scenes that Wadsworth details, you are a better man (or woman) than me.  Of course, if you succumb to this you will find out that Wadsworth (or at least the writers) were full of crap.

Of the three endings (assuming you use the feature that lets you see all three in succession), only one is truly satisfying.  At least, only one is truly satisfying to me...  But watching all three does lead to some in depth speculation into the nefarious intrigues each of these malcontents were pulling off.  Admittedly most of them would probably just be blips on the radar by today's standards.  It might seem a little unconventional that a psychiatrist would have liaisons with his female patients, or a DC madam might be frowned upon by some of the more self-righteous types.  To be sure, no one would look twice at a man with homosexual affiliations.  But given that this is all supposed to be happening in 1954, during the height of the Red Scare (among other mores of society) the comedy can still come across as we laugh at the outrage that the others have over their companions' indiscretions.

So the ultimate question is did Landis and Lynn make a halfway decent attempt at turning a board game (which in itself is fairly mediocre to say the least, at least from my perspective) into an imminently watchable film.  I think so.  I admit that it's not one of those that will bear up well with repeat viewings. Once the film wraps up, it is just, after all, a simple transition from game to film.  But it is definitely fun.

Well folks, all the bodies have been stashed, so it's time to leave the theater quietly.  Try not to take out the ticket taker as you leave because he is just an innocent bystander.

Quiggy