You Are Cordially Invited To A Write-Off And A Murder

In which the internationally famous and notably eccentric epinions author knix (affectionately known as kimster to some of us) has somehow managed to gather nineteen of the world’s best epinionators together in an effort to prove, once and for all, who is the greatest reviewer of all time and, in the process, continue a celebration of the life and times of Sir Alec Guiness who,regrettably, recently passed away.

The guest list includes:
Andrew_Hicks
fdknight
redwolfoz
mangiotto
grouch
janesbit1
energy81
Stone77777
ZentropaJK
Brundledan
brando814
knix
Donlee_Brussel
Curtis_Edmonds
bigjack
Macresarf1
lars_lindahl
ChrisJarmick
psychovant

The prize is a cool one million dollars; payable in monthly installments of five cents which is what is left over after lawyer fees, lawyer fees and still more lawyer fees. This write off and murder is sponsored by Joe Jim Bob’s Neck Cream (motto: when your neck gets too red, reach for Joe Jim Bob’s Neck Cream) and ancillary publishing rights have been
retained by the up and coming boutique publishing house known as Oleo Publishers Inc. (motto: a free sample of margarine with every porno book you buy).

As to the actual movie, Murder By Death is a cute little diversion featuring Sir Alec Guiness as well as an ensemble of stars who sparkle brightly in the vast expanse of silliness which parades across our screen throughout the course of this hilarious movie.

The hook is brilliant....an eccentric recluse (played by Truman Capote in the movie's only crappy performance) enjoins the top detectives of the literary genre to gather for dinner and a murder...whoever solves the murder gets the ubiquitous title of the greatest criminologist in the world as well as a cool million bucks which, back when this was filmed, was a tidy sum of cashola. Nowadays, of course, a million bucks wouldnt get most self respecting detective heroes out of bed but this is now and that was then.

The fun begins even as the guests arrive...each one determined to show off his or her abilities to divine the undivinable and, in the process, show how much more clever they are than the others. Of course they are all a bunch of nitwits and author Neil Simon has a lot of fun pointing this out through both words and deeds. We, the audience, watch gleefully as detectives Wang, Charleston, Perrier, Marbles and Diamond stumble over each other and the ever present collage of dangling clues in an attempt to determine who will be murdered and then, once the deed is done, who done it.

All in all this is a farce of monumental proportions in which every step is a step into goofiness and every look betrays confused silliness. There is none better than Alec Guiness who takes on the role of the blind butler with a workmanlike precision. This is a cake walk for the man; almost like a summer vacation when compared to others roles he has taken on. There is no need for him to reach deep down and dredge up the chains of human angst...instead....he just has to play "blind" and he plays it quite well.

Every move he makes is predictable but only if you are capable of predicting the moves of a blind butler who is just as loony as the rest of the cast. He talks to the wall, greets people who arent there, glues stamps to a table instead of the waiting envelope and, in the best running gag of the movie, wages war with a deaf and dumb maid who may or may not be part of the whole caper. He does all of this with a suitably dead pan expression on his face which makes his cavorting even funnier. At the same time,in my opinion, this was not the highest point of Guiness's career by any means...it was more like a walk in the park...something to do when there wasnt much else on the ole radar screen. Still..it was an enjoyable performance to watch and Murder By Death remains one of my alltime favorite movies; if for no other reason than the wit behind the story and the generous attitudes of the whole ensemble...no one person attempts to steal the show and, because of that, the whole thing comes together quite nicely to give the viewer numerous chuckles and a few outright belly laughs.

I will, however, go to my grave wondering who in the world cast Truman Capote as the reclusive Lionel Twain (Lionel Train..get it?). This was simply a horrific decision and it threatened to take the focus off the humor of the film and place it squarely on Capote's ham handed attempts to act. Thankfully he is only on screen for about ten minutes total....otherwise there might never have been an audience for this flick.

Murder By Death is a film for nearly any age. There is nothing to fear here...unless you are afraid of death by laughter....