The Task: Watch and write about every movie on my shelf, in order (Blu-rays are sorted after DVDs), by June 10, 2015. Remaining movies: 306 Days to go: 295
Movie #67: Clue
It has to be a difficult task to make a movie based on a board game. I assume that’s why it’s rarely attempted and only ever moderately successful this once, with Clue.
To clarify, Clue was not at all successful in theaters. I remember when it came out, and while I saw it and a bunch of my friends saw it — more than once, to see all the different endings — mostly it was mocked and derided for being stupid and silly and gimmicky for having multiple endings and being based on a board game. It didn’t make a lot of money, but for several children of that era — and the many children who’ve come after, catching it on TV several times a year — it achieved a certain revered status.
The reason, I believe, for this status — this success, as it were — is twofold. One, the movie employs some of the best and most respected absurdist comedic actors of the previous ten years, at least: Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn, Michael McKean, Christopher Lloyd, Eileen Brennan and Martin Mull. All were skilled at and at ease with improvisation, rapid-fire banter, and physical comedy, plus they brought Lesley Ann Warren into the mix, who was both sexy and funny. Two, nobody took this seriously. This isn’t Battleship, where there’s some grave worldwide crisis threatening all mankind that must be solved. Clue is playful and ridiculous — not even the setup or the motives or the endings make a whole lot of sense — and incredibly fun to watch.
One thing I think makes this one board game somewhat easier to adapt than any other is the fact that it comes pre-packaged with characters and a storyline. Six people — Miss Scarlet, Colonel Mustard, Mrs. White, Mr. Green, Mrs. Peacock and Professor Plum — are all present in this mansion when Mr. Boddy is killed, and one of them did it, in one of the rooms, with one of the six provided weapons. It’s a basic framework for a narrative already — who are these goofy people with these weird names and why are they all suspected of murder? It’s a structure that the talented actors and writers (including John Landis) could play with.
My favorite, unsurprisingly, is the clever wordplay and double entendres bandied about throughout the film. If there is a double meaning to be had or a misunderstanding to be made, Clue exploits it. “Why would he want to kill you in public?”
Then there’s “one plus one plus two plus one, not one plus two plus one plus one,” and Madeline Kahn with “flame, flames, flames — on the side of my face.” Not to mention the greatest last line of any frivolous movie ever, “I’m gonna go home and sleep with my wife.” Way to go, Mr. Green.
Viable Option 