Clue Review

Every person in this room has the perfect motive.

Stand back! For murder. What do you mean? Murder.

But only one of these suspects is the murderer.

Is it the timid Mr. Green? Or the militant Colonel

Mustard. Mrs. White, who helped her husband on

his way. Mrs. Scarlett. who's helped many men

along the way. Practice makes perfect. Professor

Plumb, who's looking for a way. I'm looking,

I'm looking. Mrs. Peacock. I have absolutely

no idea what we're doing here, but I am determined

to enjoy myself. Or did the butler do it? No.

No? No. Paramount Pictures invites you to an

evening of mystery. This is getting quite serious.

And madness. In the movie that makes a scene

of the crime. Clue. It's not just a game anymore.

Hello and welcome to M .Y .R. Movie Weekend Review

brought to you by the GeekCaster Radio Network.

I am one of your host, T .F. John -Mike, and

joining me is shock among shocks, Lupus Convoy.

Where the hell have you been? Nursing school.

Yeah, 25, no, no, no, not 25, 100 plus hours

a day. You have no idea. Oh, I've heard your

stories. Like, no, this is worse than before.

So, but on the plus side, I have a shiny SN at

the end of my name now and soon to be LNA and

I've saved people's lives. So, yay. For a second

there, I thought you said shiny ass at the end

of your name. No You know what if you mix the

letters around So this is MWire, this is episode

85. We have been dragging out the 80s quote -unquote

spotlight for a very long time and I was actually

saving this episode for Lupus because he told

me at one point that he freaking loves the movie

that we're going to be talking about today which

is 1985's Clue. I love this movie. So without

any further ado we're gonna head it over to JT

from Saskatoon and with the Just the Facts and

we'll be back after that. Hey guys it's JT from

Saskatoon and you know what that means it's time

for today's Just the Facts. Today I'll be letting

you know all about another classic film from

the 1980s but then It's a film based on one of

the most popular board games of all time, a film

that has not one, not two, not three, but four

alternate endings. Give up yet? I am of course

talking about 1985's Clue. Based on the classic

whodunit board game, the film follows the classic

game characters Mrs. Peacock, Miss Scarlet, Mr.

Green, Professor Plum, Mrs. White, and Colonel

Mustard, six strangers who are all invited to

a mysterious gothic mansion for a dinner party.

Once there, they are greeted by the butler Wadsworth,

who reveals the real reason they were all invited.

They are all being blackmailed by their host,

Mr. Body. When Mr. Body finally appears, he offers

each guest a weapon and says if they kill Wadsworth,

then the blackmail will stop. Mr. Body then turns

out the lights and a gunshot is heard. When the

lights come back, Mr. Body is presumed dead and

the finger pointing begins. Everyone immediately

denies killing him, which proves to be partially

true when the group finds him really dead in

the hallway, killed with a candlestick. Wadsworth

and the guests then try to deduce in a very slapstick

fashion who is and who isn't a killer as they

search the house. During the search they find

Mrs. Ho the cook dead by a dagger and Yvette

the maid dead by hay. as well as several of the

surviving guests. Not only that, but several

strangers show up at the house during the investigation

and each are in turn taken out by the wrench,

the gun, and the lead pipe. Wadsworth arrives

at the conclusion that he has figured who the

killer is. He proceeds to reenact the night's

events in hilarious fashion, pointing out that

each victim was tied to the blackmail of the

guests, and then he turns out the lights. Now

this is the point where the plot gets a little

weird. Remember the alternate endings I mentioned

earlier? Well, when the lights come up again,

depending on where you saw the movie back in

the day, you got to see one of the alternate

endings. The first ending reveals Ms. Scarlet

as a killer before Wadsworth reveals himself

as an FBI agent and arrest sir. Mrs. Peacock

is the killer in the second ending and the third

ends with everybody killing somebody else and

Mr. Green arresting Wadsworth who is the real

killer and revealing himself as an FBI agent.

There is a fourth ending that was filmed but

never included in any print or on any of the

DVDs where Wadsworth poisons the whole crew and

tries to escape before he is taken out by a guard

dog. Directed by my cousin Vinny's Jonathan Lin

and written by the legendary John Landis, Clue

was released on December 13, 1985 to mixed reviews

and ultimately grossed $14 .6 million by the

end of its run, not quite making back its budget.

Despite this, the film now enjoys a cult following

among 80's comedy fans for its inventive use

of dialogue and the styler set. The film had

a star -studded cast consisting of some notable

genre actors including Tim Dr. Curry is Wadsworth,

Christopher Lloyd is Professor Plum, Martin Mull

is Colonel Mustard, and Dr. Johnny Fever himself

Howard Hessman as the police chief. Clue is one

of those rare movies based on an established

product like a TV show or theme park that gets

it right. It takes a cliched plot and runs with

it, casting the right people and the right roles

and coming up with one heck of a funny movie.

If you haven't seen this one yet, do yourself

a favor and pick it up as soon as you can. I

guarantee you won't be disappointed. This has

been Just the Facts Clue. I'm JT from Saskatoon.

Back to you guys. There you have it folks JT

and his just the facts. Thank you so much JT

the very very interesting and very enlightening

as always ah When did you first see this dude?

I? God I must have been like nine Like when it

came out on VHS. I saw it. I didn't get to see

it in the theater. Yeah, yeah But it was it was

my favorite movie as a kid and I would I actually

wore out the VHS tapes at the rental place That's

like me with secret of the sword. It was just

Every week go down rent it and I was young enough

that I didn't get all the jokes So I I would

When ever mr. Green be like, I'm a homosexual

and make all these like gay jokes I had no clue

it went way over my head. I'm like, whatever

that means Okay, of course now looking back on

it's like, oh, how did I get this? I thought

he just thought that the maid was ugly. I don't

remember. I honestly don't think I saw this as

a young kid. It came out in 85, so I was five

years old. Obviously, I didn't see it then. I

might have seen it when I was nine or 10, but

I think... Might have really actually first saw

it when I was like 15 or 16 honestly And really

what grabbed me at the time I was like wait.

What is uh? What is mr. Kraft from Sabrina the

Teenage Witch doing in this old -ass movie because

Martin Maul played Melissa Jones Hart's principal

in Sabrina the Teenage Witch yep, I was like

I was like, wait a second, what's he doing there?

And wait, why is Mr. Kraft and Doc Brown in the

same movie? Because I remember Martin Lowe from,

like, Roseanne. Yeah. And I was like, that guy

looks really familiar. It's not the same actor,

is it? But no, I mean, this movie, as JT said

in his Just the Facts, has just become a cult

classic. uh... and it's just it it it's honestly

not only is the board game responsible for this

but really the movie is what kicked it off this

is what started you know people in clubs and

churches and you know social groups doing those

murder mystery parties this is where it all started

was the board game was this movie uh... you know

in lupus convoy did in the bedroom with the candlestick

Excuse me, I was polishing that silver. And you

used toothpaste. Right. What? I figured gay knows

how to do their own silver. And I just absolutely

love this movie simply for its style. It's so

totally 80s. It is. You watch this movie now,

and you're transported back to the 80s. Just

like any 80s movie, but... You're not transported

to the 80s. You're transported to the 20s. Well,

right, but I mean but it's the way it's executed

and the right word play It's totally 80s film

style of how the film was made in all the cliches,

you know We always you know, a lot of times people

complain about the cliches. Oh, this is so clicheter

That's the oldest cliche in the book in this

movie. The cliches are just so hilarious But

at the same time it wasn't cliche at the time,

right? So it's it is kind of like Cutting edge

with the multiple endings. I mean, oh, yeah,

I I did not know about the fourth ending until

We did the night just the facts. Yeah, what there

was no fourth ending Yeah, there was a fourth

ending but it never got films It never it it

got filmed but it never made it to to any of

the DVDs or anything. Yeah Well, I guess it's

It's a new take on the scooby -doo ending But

nobody wore a mask exactly I Mean I guess I could

say that this is where Wayne's world got their

visual gags of the of the the way that they did

the visual gags for the For their multiple endings

in that movie, but really Scooby -Doo takes the

cake with the multiple endings and that's really

where the credit should go to for multiple endings

is Scooby -Doo But No, I mean I just I love this

movie the acting is great Running down the cast

here. I mean, you know, you got Eileen Brennan

as mrs. Peacock Tim Curry as Wadsworth. I mean

Tim Curry It's Tim friggin curry and he's not

being it. Well, he's being a he's a comical bad

guy. He's not being that You know chewing the

the background Yeah, and and and he's not being

what he would become for a villain later on in

the 90s with Colonel Richelieu in the three musketeers

where you know Where Athos says, you know, you'll

have to kill us first or whatever else he's like

that can be a rape You know, it's not that Tim.

It's not that villainy of Tim Curry. It's just

a honestly this Portrayal that he did here and

the portrayal that he did in Home Alone 2 I almost

equate them to the same character Because it's

so comical. You've got Madeleine Kahn as Mrs.

White. Oh, she was the best. Yes, yes. Flames!

The sight of my face! Burning! Burning flames!

Best line ever! Christopher Lloyd as Professor

Plum. Michael McKean as Mr. Green. Martin Moll

as Colonel Mustard. And only Martin Maul can

pull off Colonel Mustard, holy crap. Leslie Ann

Warren as Miss Scarlet, Colleen Camp as Yvette,

Lee Ving as Mr. Body, Bill Henderson as the Cop,

Jane Weldon as the Singing Telegram Girl, Jeffrey

Kramer as the Motorist, Kelly... Nakahara as

the cook and Howard Hesseman as the evangelist

slash the chief Stellar casting I mean, you know,

like I said before I When I first saw this movie,

I caught it like in the middle of it and I was

like wait Why like I said earlier, why is Doc

Brown and in Martin Mull in the same movie that

I? Was like wow and that immediately besides

Tim Curry that immediately caught my attention

Do you have a favorite scene out of this? You

know the interesting where they're running back

and forth to recreate all the murders that's

that captures it for me. Yeah You know when they're

grabbing this when? He's grabbing mr. Body not

mr. Body mr. Green right running around throwing

them everywhere Will you stop that no? It's There's

too many good scenes in this to just kind of

distill just into one Right. Yeah, but it mostly

revolves around the slapstick of redoing all

the the murder scenes. Yeah. Oh, yeah And I mean

for those of us who grew up with board games

For those of us who still know what the hell

a board game is unlike the kids of today's society

You know, this was the board game come to life

All all the major characters from the board game

all the major weapons all the major locations

You know, this is the the board game basically

jumping off the board and and just Saying here.

Look, this is how the game is played and it was

more entertaining than the actual like video

clue that came out Yeah, yes Although honestly

would have been cool if the motorist had been

like mr. Gray or Colonel Gray or whatever he

was. Yeah. Oh, man. So I got a bit of trivia

here for you. Let's do it. The clue was filmed

on sound stages at the Paramount Pictures film

studios in Hollywood. The set design is credited

to Les Grubridge, Gene Nolomus, and William B.

Madurand. With set decoration by Thomas L. Reusden,

after the completion of the movie, the set was

bought by the producers of Dynasty, who used

it as the fictional hotel, The Carlton. Huh,

interesting. Now this is funny. I'm gonna have

to watch that just so I can check out the scenery.

Yeah. Princess Leia, Carrie Fisher, was originally

contracted to portray Miss Scarlet, but - No.

Yes. But withdrew to enter treatment for drug

and alcohol addiction. Well, I guess that's good

for her, but - Yeah, I mean - I can't imagine

her in that character, though. No. Not at all.

Not at all. All scenes were filmed within the

studio lot with the exception of the ballroom

scene and the driveway gate scene which were

filmed on location at a mansion located in South

Pasadena, California. Exterior shots of the mansion

were enhanced with matte paintings by a matte

artist, Sid Dutton, in consultation with Albert

Whitlock. The site was destroyed in a fire on

October 5th, 2005 to decorate the set of... decorate

the set, the authentic 18th and 19th century

furnishings were rented from private collectors,

including the estate of Theodore Roosevelt. Wow.

Yup. And the last bit of trivia, which you already

mentioned it a little bit, Madeline Kahn's the

flames on the side of my face speech was entirely

improvised. Really? Yes. That was not scripted,

apparently. Wow. That's why I love it so much

I guess yeah, yeah So we have a rating system

here on M wire And we rate movies from one to

four. One is, don't watch this even if it's free.

Two is worth a watch if it's free on TV. Three

is worth adding to the Netflix list. Or four

is, this is a must add to your DVD collection.

Now, this movie is currently not on Netflix for

instant streaming. It is available on iTunes

for rental or purchase. What would you rank it,

one to four? I would say four, just because Not

only is it a cult classic and it is a comedy,

the cost of this video now, it's like 10 bucks

on DVD readily available. It'd be the same as

going out and renting it, honestly. So, you know,

it's going to be fun. And it's one of those movies

that if it's the first time you watch it, set

aside time and get a bunch of friends and sit

there and just make fun of it. Oh, yeah, because

that's what what we did. I mean, we sat there

and a bunch of my friends, I'm like, hey, this

is my favorite movie. We sat down, we watched

it. And at the end, they're like, it was good.

It was long, but it had some good parts. It's

definitely something you could sit there and

have fun with. So I would definitely put this

as a four. As far as the home media release,

obviously as JT said it was released theatrically

December 13th, 1985. In 1986 it was released

on VHS. in canada in the u .s. in other countries

it was released on vhs february eleventh nineteen

ninety one the dvd was released on june in june

of two thousand in february twenty eleven la

la land records released john morris's score

for the film is a limited edition soundtrack

cd actually wanted to get that for this recording

but i wasn't able to at the time but i st i do

still want to get that because that's one thing

we didn't really talk about was the music in

this movie is so awesome it is it's really Didn't

know that the soundtrack was available now. Yeah,

I'll have to look into this. Yes, but it's If

you've ever done any role -playing in a group,

this would be like great background music. Oh,

yeah, it's just got the suspense and the I Want

to see Like the harpsichord type sound that it's

got going on Kind of it just lends itself to

a murder mystery that you would have going on

in your house. Oh, yeah So I definitely would

enjoy having it. And I think the music itself

is some of the best that I've heard from that

era. Oh, yeah. Very much so. Yeah. It doesn't

have the stereotypical 80s like glam rocker single

based on the based on clue. You know, it doesn't

have as you said before, it has that 20s vibe

to it, just like the movie itself. So it definitely

fits this fits the era. Yes. Now, I know that

at one point, I actually think that, which this

is kind of sad to me. Sadly, I have two really,

really sad pieces of news here for this movie.

There is a TV series for this. What? That's not

a good what, that's a what. yeah well it's not

it's a TV series obviously based on the board

game but aired on the hub from November 14th

2011 to November 17th 2011 the series features

a youthful ensemble cast working together uncovering

clues to unravel a mystery it's a Scooby Gang

pretty much what the hell hub that yeah This

is just a reimagining I would assume right? Yeah,

it's it's basically to bring the board game to

a new generation It really had takes nothing

from the actual film, but just the source material.

Yeah Yeah Just the fact that it's there though.

Just makes me mad because it just I don't know

I and Apparently, because Hollywood doesn't have

an original bone in its body, Universal Studios

announced that a remake of the film was in the

works. It will be directed by Gore Verbanski

and is set for release in 2013. Why? Why, why,

why, why, why? Because they want to make it snazzy

and CGI. The only way they can do this justice

is if they do the casting right. they do a little

bit of ad lib and they throw in surviving actors

in as cameos like just in the background or something

there are just some film franchises or singular

just films just films by themselves that do not

need remakes i agree and i feel this is one of

them however God. I know we can't win this argument.

Well, it's like arguing with a brick wall, but

you know, it just... I don't know. We're gonna

go to a commercial break and we'll be back with

our final thoughts. Oh my god. Wadsworth, don't

hate me for trying to shoot you. Frankly, Scottish,

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thing on? Oh goody! Why hello there! It's your

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Podcast, Legends of the Dark Knight. So we are

back and we have recovered from the shock of

the fact that they're going to basically Do this

movie a huge injustice by doing a remake of it

in 2013. No, we haven't gotten over that shock.

We're just I Just don't know what this alright

so final thoughts on clue 1985 what are your

final thoughts sir? I want to go watch it again

But seriously if I didn't have to go to sleep,

I would totally feel like putting that background

Right after this recording before my next recording

of the evening I'm actually going to watch it

in between the time from now that I have to to

the time I have to record the next podcast that

I'm recording tonight, but This movie is so so

awesome. It's so well loved it It's just Anybody

who is anybody who loves these type of movies

or loves watching these types of things or even

Has participated in a murder mystery game needs

to see this film because it's it's just done

so well so awesome Any other thoughts before

we close this out sir communism is a red herring

and If you are an illusionist make sure you're

a very good illusionist that when you disappear

you can reappear as is quite Apparent in the

movie Yes, exactly. We hope you enjoyed this

episode of NY I wish you'll join us next time

when we will continue the 80s spotlight Months

years, I don't know how long it's gonna take.

Decade? Yeah when we enter the danger zone with

Top Gun For now I am TFG1 Mike with Lupus Crown

Boy. Thank you for listening until next time

and remember Mr. Green is the FBI agent Are you

sure? Well, it couldn't very well be Miss Scarlet,

I mean... Or what, she had her badge? She gives

blondes a bad name. That was just Yvette. Even

that. Yvette was smarter than Miss Scarlet. Miss

Scarlet survived. Eh, barely. There were three

more murders. So let's consider each murder one

by one. Professor Plumb, you knew that Mr. Body

was still alive. Even psychiatrists can tell

the difference between patients who are alive

or dead. You fired the gun at him in the dark

and missed. So you pretended he was dead. That's

how you were able to kill him later, unobserved.

That's right. He was the missing person in the

kitchen after we found the cook dead. But he

was with us in the billiard room when we found

Yvette screaming. If that's when the cook was

killed, how did he do it? I didn't! But you don't

expect us to believe that, do you? I expect you

to believe it. You killed the cook. She used

to be your cook, and she informed on you to Mr.

Body. You made one fatal mistake. Sitting here

at dinner, Mrs. Peacock told us that she was

eating one of her favorite recipes. and monkey's

brains, though popular in Cantonese cuisine,

are not often to be found in Washington, D .C.

Colonel Mustard, when we saw the motorist at

the front door, you took the key to the weapons

cupboard out of my pocket. Then you suggested

that we all split up. You separated from Miss

Scarlett, crossed the hall, opened the cupboard,

took the wrench, ran to the conservatory, entered

the lounge through the secret passage, killed

the motorist with a blow on the head. Like that!

Not so incredible as what happened next. The

barter wheels split up again. I went upstairs

with you. Yes, you, Mrs. White. While I was in

the master bedroom, you hurried downstairs and

turned off the electricity, got the rope from

the open cupboard and throttled Yvette. You were

jealous that your husband was shooping Yvette.

That's why you killed him, too. Yes. Yes, I did

it. I killed Yvette. I hated her so much, it

flames, flames, flames on the side of my face.

Breathing, breathless, heaving breaths, heaving...

But while we were in the billiard room, Miss

Scarlett seized the opportunity and under cover

of darkness, crossed to a library where she hit

the cop whom she'd been bribing on the head with

a lead pipe. True or false? True. Who are you?

Perry Mason. So it must have been Mr. Green who

shot the singing telegram. I didn't do it. Well,

there's nobody else left. But I didn't do it.

The gun is missing. Whoever's got the gun shot

the girl. I shot her. You? So it was you. I was

going to expose you. I know. So I choose to expose

myself. Please, there are ladies present. You

thought Mr. Body was dead, but why? None of you

even met him till tonight. You're Mr. Body. Wait

a minute! So who did I kill? My butler. Oh, shucks.

He was expendable, like all of you. I'm grateful

to you all for disposing of my network of spies

and informers. Saved me a lot of trouble. Now

there's no evidence against me. This all has

nothing to do with my disappearing nuclear physicist

husband or Colonel Mustard's work with the new

top -secret fusion bomb. No. Communism was just

a red herring. The police will be here any minute.

You'll never get away with this, any of you.

Why should the police come? Nobody's called them.

You mean, oh, my God, of course. So why shouldn't

we get away with it? We'll sack the bodies in

the cellar, lock it, leave quietly one at a time,

and forget that any of this ever happened. And

you'll just go on blackmailing us, huh? Of course.

Why not? Well, I'll tell you why not. Good shot,

Green. Are you a cop? No, I'm a plant. A plant?

I thought men like you were usually called a

fruit. Very funny. FBI. That phone call from

J. Edgar Hoover was for me. But if you want to

know who killed Mr. Body, I did. In the hall.

With the revolver. Okay, Chief, take him away.

I'm gonna go home and sleep with my wife. In

a world. There, I said it. Happy?