Film & Water #152 – Clue

THE FILM & WATER PODCAST

Episode 152: CLUE

You are cordially invited to this episode of The Film & Water Podcast, where Rob and returning guest Kim Cavill discuss the 1985 comedy-mystery CLUE, starring Tim Curry, Madeline Khan, Martin Mull, Christopher Lloyd, Lesley Ann Warren, Michael McKean, and Eileen Brennan!

Have a question or comment? Looking for more great content?

Subscribe via iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-film-and-water-podcast/id1077572484

This podcast is a proud member of the FIRE AND WATER PODCAST NETWORK:

Thanks for listening! That's A Wrap!

13 responses to “Film & Water #152 – Clue

  1. I was happily surprised to see you covering Clue on this week’s episode. I saw this in the theater & still remember the multiple endings at different screenings. It’s been many many years since I’ve seen it so now you’ve given me a good excuse to seek it out.
    FYI: In the mid 1980s there was a Clue VCR game & we had it (along with the board game). I don’t think I’ve thought of it for 30 years but after listening to your episode, there it was on Youtube. The VCR game was obviously shot on a super low budget with poor community theater production values, but I liked it at the time. If the old Clue game is on Youtube, where are the rest of the Video Comics episodes?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDSscSbLQD0

    IDW did publish a Clue comic book miniseries in 2018 but I didn’t pick it up. Lastly, the TV show Psyche did a tribute episode to Clue that featured guest stars Warren, Lloyd, & Mull.

  2. Man, I haven’t seen Clue in DECADES. You and Kim really have me wanting to watch it this weekend. Off to the streaming services!

    Oh, and Madeline Kahn…I’m in her fan club too. She was just the best.

    Oh, and for a similar all-star ensemble comedy vibe (minus the murder), might I suggest Noises Off? Maybe we can cover it on a Superman Movie Minute bonus episode? It’s got Chris Reeve showing his great comedy chops!

    Chris

  3. There’s no reason to choose either Murder by Death or Clue, they’re both fun. I know the latter is one of my Girls (the two sisters)’s favorite movies, and they also collected a series of books based on the game/movie. I’m not too clear about these. I’ll ask.

  4. I love this movie; I grew up watching it all the time. I will concede that MURDER BY DEATH is a better movie, but since I saw CLUE years earlier and far more often, it imprinted itself on my impressionable brain far more than MBD.

    As fun as it was revisiting this movie and its many memorable moments through your discussion, I think the highlight of this episode was Kim reminding me of the barely remembered expansions to the Clue board game. There was the original, yes, but there was also Clue Master Detective, which introduced four additional characters (Monsieur Brunette among others), new weapons, and locations. This was version of the game that I first started playing at a friend’s house. But later on, I got the Clue Museum Caper game, which had a cool three-dimensional set. The object was to steal priceless paintings without being seen by cameras. It actually should not have been called Clue at all, to the best of my memory; its connection to the original game was flimsy. But I enjoyed playing it and it was probably the last tabletop game I played as a kid.

    Great show!

    Mrs. Peacock: “Is there a little girls room down the hall?”
    Yvette: “Qui qui, madame.”
    Mrs. Peacock: “No, I just need to powder my nose.”

  5. Speaking of murder mystery spoofs, does anyone recall the musical “Something’s Afoot”? It ran briefly in the 1970s and was later filmed onstage for Showtime in the early 1980s starring Jean Stapleton & Andy Gibb! You can find it on Youtube:

  6. Rob, I want to try to add a tenuous link to your “favorites” chain. Ty (the Guy) Templeton, in his wonderful series “Stig’s Inferno,” did a “Clue” joke. Forgive me for not being accurate, but I can’t find my copy of the TPB. The set-up is that Satan is telling some denizen of hell that is being tortured the reasons for the torture, and the capper of all the transgressions is that this shade revealed the ending of Clue as they were watching it together. To which the tortured demon responds with, “I told you version three! We were watching version 1!” So, there you are. The movie “Clue” in a comic book.

  7. Thanks for this great episode about one of my favorite comedies. I tend to rank “Clue” up there with “Young Frankenstein”, “Blazing Saddles”, and “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.” I didn’t see this one in the theater, but my parents did, and they loved it. As an aside, I don’t recall which of the endings my parents saw in the theater. As a result of my parent’s love for this movie, I saw it soon after it appeared in our local video store. As a kid, a lot of the jokes went over my head, but I remember loving the frantic energy that builds over the course of the film, especially the running from room to room.

    This episode came out at a perfect time for me. Over the last year or so, my daughter has gotten into the boardgame. When I told her that there was a movie based on the game, she insisted that she wanted to see it. So, we had a copy of Clue sitting by our DVD player, waiting to be watched, when you dropped this episode. Now, I’m even more excited to watch it with my daughter, and see how she reacts.

  8. Great episode, everyone! Clue and Murder By Death are two favourites of mine so I was glad that you now have covered them both. I think Murder By Death is the better movie, but because I saw Clue first and Madeline Kahn is Madeline Kahn, I think I enjoy Clue just a little bit more.
    I first saw Clue on VHS from the local video store, so I only ever knew of the multiple endings and thought it was a neat gimmick. It made it feel like the board game where the ending was always different. It also led to more zaniness to the point where I didn’t care whodunnit; that wasn’t the point for me. I never knew that they only ever showed one ending in the theatre per showing and probably would have felt frustrated by watching an ending that wasn’t satisfactory.
    To follow on Chris Franklin’s recommendation of Noises Off… (which I now want to watch), I would recommend Radioland Murders from 1994 for a wacky ensemble murder mystery. I wouldn’t say it is as great as Clue but I found it enjoyable.
    Keep up the great work!

  9. It’s been way too long since I last rewatched Clue. Thanks for revisiting this classic. I only saw it on VHS and cable, and the 3 endings together felt so right, so I’m glad that’s how I’ve seen it.

    The Psych reunion was a delight. A fun tribute all around.

    And yes, give it up for the ladies. Eilleen. Madeline. Lesley Ann. Just wonderful.

    When I think of a remake, I would go for Will Ferrell, Steve Carell, and Paul Rudd, but dang, they were all on Anchorman together, and part of the fun of Clue was the cast was a surprising mix that worked fantastic together. But considering the original Clue featured actors were quite established in their careers, maybe Fer-Car-Rudd would be the right mix. Hmmm.

    Great episode! You and Kim were excellent!

  10. Hokey Smokes Comrade! I went to look at a few places where I was able to locate hard to find novels for less than outrageous Amazon and ebay prices, but the lowest I found was $150. Cray-Cray!

  11. Haven’t watched Clue since the ’80s, but thought the gimmick was fascinating and the flick was a gas. Wonder how it would hold up…?

Leave a Reply to Dan S Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *