It’s Not Just a Game Anymore… ‘Clue’ Turns 35

December 14, 2020

clue the movie — Clue (1985) | Paramount Pictures

I didn’t see Clue when it was released at the cinema in the UK and I’m not sure exactly why – I was absolutely mad about the board game (called ‘Cluedo’ over on this side of the pond). I even owned the VCR game, and my family were pretty easy going about what movies I was allowed to see (the film got a Parental Guidance rating on release here, which meant I would’ve had to have been taken by an adult, so it probably came down to my brothers not being interested in seeing it or we all just missed the hype…). Looking at when it was released, there was a LOT of competition. In December of 1985, the only movie I can remember being interested in seeing at the cinema was Back to the Future, though I’m pretty sure The Goonies and Santa Claus: The Movie also figured in there. Depending on when it finally hit our local cinemas, it could’ve been waist deep amongst the 1986 releases like Labyrinth, Short Circuit or Transformers: The Movie – the latter of which won, hands down, in the battle for my attention. Generally back then, if a film didn’t involve ghosts, aliens, transforming robots, time travel or whip wielding archaeologists then I wasn’t interested…I was 7, going on 8, what can I say?!

So Clue completely passed me by until the late ’90s, probably when I was at college or university and broadening my horizons a bit. I discovered it on a VHS tape of my Dad’s; he’d recorded it off the TV at some point in the early-to-mid ’90s. To say it grabbed me instantly is an understatement – the first person you see is Tim Curry, driving his car through the night. Wind howling through the trees, a storm threatening to break. He motors towards a looming old mansion on a hill. There are echoes of Rocky Horror straight away, and I’d been a fan of that from an early age so it’s all I needed. Incidentally Curry wasn’t the first choice to play the role of the butler, Wadsworth. Director/writer Jonathan Lynn initially wanted Leonard Rossiter to play the role but, unfortunately, Rossiter died in October 1984. Curry wasn’t even the second choice for the butler role – Lynn tried to cast Rowan Atkinson after Rossiter, but Atkinson was largely unknown in the U.S. at that time. Lynn then turned to Curry, who was certainly well known enough thanks to the The Rocky Horror Picture Show, as well as having the ability to carry and hold the role well. The rest of the main ensemble is made up of Eileen Brennan as Mrs. Peacock, Madeline Kahn as Mrs. White, Christopher Lloyd as Professor Plum, Michael McKean as Mr. Green, Martin Mull as Colonel Mustard, Lesley Ann Warren as Miss Scarlet, Colleen Camp as Yvette the Maid, and Lee Ving as Mr. Boddy, along with cameo appearances by Bill Henderson, Jane Wiedlin, Jeffrey Kramer, Kellye Nakahara and Howard Hesseman. Carrie Fisher originally had the role of Miss Scarlet, but had to be replaced at the last minute by Warren due to Fisher entering rehab. Warren is absolutely perfect in the role, as is everyone else in their roles, but it does leave one to wonder what it would’ve been like with Fisher in the film.

All the characters from the board game are present, along with a few extra characters. Set in an imposing old mansion, all the locations from the game are used and, as an added detail, the secret passages in the film are true to the game as well. For those who don’t know, the game sees you trying to deduce who is a murderer, with what weapon, and the location of the murder. In the film, everyone is being blackmailed, but why? As the bodies start stacking up, who is doing the murdering?

The acting is tightly directed and flows. It’s a farce, so don’t expect seriousness. There is quick-fired dialogue and foolishness, along with a good helping of slapstick along the way. The director makes use of everyone’s strengths and one of the more iconic speeches, Madeline Kahn’s “Flames… on the side of my face…”, is as improvised, but most likely not as well known, as Rutger Hauer’s “I’ve seen things…” speech from Blade Runner.

It’s well documented that Debra Hill – yes, Debra Hill, John Carpenter repeat collaborator and producer – obtained the rights to the film and got John Landis – yes, the John Landis – on board, originally to direct. Landis then hit a wall when scripting the film and initially hired the famous British playwright Tom Stoppard to write the film. Stoppard worked on the script for a year before giving up and posting a cheque for his fee back to Landis. Landis then approached Stephen Sondheim and Anthony Perkins (do either of those require introductions?). Reportedly, they were very interested in the project but the studio balked at their fee. Landis eventually approached Jonathan Lynn to write the film, whose work on British TV show Yes Minister had impressed him. By the time Lynn had finished his treatment, Landis was signed up to direct Spies Like Us (1985) and so offered the director job to Lynn. Looking at it in retrospect, Lynn’s experience in the theatre is utterly perfect for staging a farce such as this, and stands out in every scene. In fact, every time I watch it, I wonder what it would be like on stage. I’ve even considered looking into directing a stage production of it myself, and then I look at everything else on my to-do list and sigh. (There have been both a stage musical version of Clue that isn’t based on this movie and a stage production that is.)

At the time, the notion of making a film based on a game, and a board game at that, was highly unusual and risky – if only the critics and studio execs back then could see the state of the film industry today! Unfortunately, this was reflected in the box office. For all intents and purposes, it failed. The film grossed $14.6 million from North America on a budget of $15 million. It received mixed reviews, and the idea of running different endings didn’t help. Whilst it helped the film stay true to the source material, the infamous four different endings were a marketing trick that backfired. The idea was that each ending would play at a different theatre, the theory being that it would be good for the box office – audiences would love it so much that they’d go again to see a different ending. Sadly, it didn’t quite pan out that way and ended up confusing audiences – they didn’t know which ending option to pick, so went to see a different movie instead! Lynn even scrapped one of the alternate endings altogether (apparently it later appeared in the official novelisation as well as the children’s storybook.)

Watching it nowadays, however, highlights a few questionable elements when viewed from a 2020 perspective. Admittedly, we’re dealing with a comedy written in the 1980s and set in 1954 – there are questionable attitudes towards women as well as homosexuality, for example. Sure, it’s in a comedy wrapping and could be construed as taking comical jabs at a far less tolerant, more misogynist, age and highlighting the issues or making fun of the period. Or it could be seen as a bit Benny Hill. Even after all the times I’ve seen the film over the past twenty-odd years, it can make one cringe a little, so it’d be interesting to see how someone viewing the film for the first time, now, would regard it.

In the time since it flopped at the cinemas, it has garnered cult status. It’s not perfect, but for me, it will always be a good example of finely crafted tight and punchy acting, stage work, and direction. Of what can be done with relatively minimal sets but a close ensemble cast, clearly all very much on the same page and enjoying themselves. It’s easy to watch, but you’ll take in so much. It’s silly, whilst juggling serious elements like, oh, sex, blackmail, and murder. It’s comfort food for your brain that will always give you more than a few smiles, chuckles and jumps. There are details, too, and you’ll be rewarded by multiple viewings even if it’s just to pick up all the comic dialogue you might’ve missed the first time around.