Clue (1985)

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Clue is a 1985 comedy based on the popular board game of the same name starring Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn and Christopher Lloyd. It is notable for its all star comedic cast and crew as well as having three different endings.
Trivia:

The name of the mansion, Hill House, is a reference to producer Debra Hill.

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Quote: Colonel Mustard

Is this place for you?

Wadsworth

Indeed no, sir. I'm merely a humble butler.

Colonel Mustard

And what exactly do you do?

Wadsworth

I buttle, sir.

27 More Quotes
Writers
Cast
Eileen Brennan Mrs. Peacock
Tim Curry Wadsworth
Madeline Kahn Mrs. White
Christopher Lloyd Professor Plum
Michael McKean Mr. Green
Martin Mull Colonel Mustard
Lesley Ann Warren Miss Scarlet
Colleen Camp Yvette
Lee Ving Mr. Boddy
Bill Henderson The Cop
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Plot Synopsis

Clue is a comedy released in 1985 based loosely on the Hasbro board game of the same name. It takes place on a dark and stormy night in the midst of 1954 Cold War paranoia, a large manor to which several people have been called to attend a dinner by a mysterious benefactor. When each guest arrives, they are given an alias by the butler Wadsworth to match one of the names from the board game around which the movie is based. When their host, Mr. Body, shows up, Wadsworth reveals that Mr. Boddy has been blackmailing with important secrets.

  • Mrs. White was scandaled by the mysterious death of her nuclear physicist husband who was working on the next hydrogen bomb.
  • Professor Plum had an illicit affair with one of his female patients (he's a therapist), and is assigned to the World Health Organization, who are unaware of his lascivious past. 
  • Mrs. Peacock accepted bribes to deliver votes from her Senator husband. 
  • Miss Scarlet operates a brothel in Washington, DC, which Colonel Mustard, an actual Colonel, was photographed in, he was also a war profiteer. 
  • Mr. Green is a homosexual, which would cost him his government job if it became widely known.
 
Hilarious murder is about to ensue.
Hilarious murder is about to ensue.
Wadsworth's hope is that the victims will unite against Boddy and force him to stop blackmailing them by turning him over to the police. Boddy threatens to reveal their secrets while in police custody and gives each of them a weapon, saying if they kill Wadsworth they can leave and he'll continue to blackmail them. When the lights go out Boddy is, perhaps predictably, the one seemingly killed. In the study with the revolver. He later turns up bludgeoned to death in a closet in the foyer.
The guests wander the house trying to piece together what happened and who killed him. Unfortunately, the chef turns up stabbed in the back in the kitchen and the maid turns up strangled with rope in the billiard room. A passing motorist looking for shelter from the storm is hit with a wrench in the lounge, a police officer who stops by to investigate the motorist's abandoned car is killed with a lead pipe in the library while on the phone to J. Edgar Hoover, and a singing telegram girl is shot in the hallway. 
Wadsworth has deduced how and why everyone was killed and, through a rather madcap recap, reveals the motivations and times of each death. He then turns out the lights to mimic when it occurred and at this point the movie diverges into one of three endings. 

Ending A 
 Callgirl brilliantly disguised as a maid.
 Callgirl brilliantly disguised as a maid.
Miss Scarlett is the guilty party, having used one of her callgirls (Yvette the maid) to kill Mr. Boddy, then killing her herself to ensure the secret is kept. She plans on using the night's events to continue to blackmail the participants until Wadsworth reveals himself to be an FBI agents and subdues Miss Scarlett as the police surround the house. 

Ending B
Mrs. Peacock is the killer! Having murdered all the victims and holding the other characters at gunpoint, she makes her escape through the front door. Wadsworth reveals himself as an undercover FBI agent sent to spy on Peacock under suspicion of her selling secrets to the Russians and she is arrested by a police officer, who had earlier shown up as a Jehovah's Witness. 

Ending C
 Everyone in this picture is guilty.
 Everyone in this picture is guilty.
Nearly everyone is guilty of at least one murder. Professor Plum killed Mr. Boddy, Mrs. Peacock killed the cook, Colonel Mustard killed the motorist, Miss Scarlett killed the cop, Mrs. White killed Yvette, and Wadsworth killed the singing telegram girl. He then reveals himself as the real Mr. Boddy and that the man Plum killed was, in fact, his butler Wadsworth. Boddy reveals that he knew each victim was connected to one of the guests and brought them all together to be killed so that they could never reveal his secret. Mr. Green, the only innocent guest, promptly shoots Mr. Boddy, revealing himself as an FBI agent. When the police raid the house and demand to know the guilty party, Green tells them that all guests are guilty, but that he was the one who killed Mr. Boddy in the hallway with the revolver. 
 

Production and Reception

Clue was mainly filmed on a sound stage in Paramount Pictures in Hollywood. The set was designed by Gene Nollmanwas, Les Gobruegge, and William B. Majorand while set decoration was handled by Thomas L. Roysden. The set was furnished by authentic 18th and 19th century items, which were rented from several private collectors, including the estate of former President Teddy Roosevelt. The ballroom and driveway scenes were filmed at a mansion in California. 
The film received mixed, though they were generally positive, and the film failed to break even at the box office. Like many quality films that failed to perform upon release, it has developed a cult following and even had a musical produced based on it.
Clue 3 images
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General Information Edit
Name Clue
US Release Dec. 13, 1985
UK Release
AUS Release
Runtime 96
Language(s)
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English
Genre(s)
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Mystery
Comedy
Crime
Thriller
Theme(s)
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twist ending
Rating PG
Alias(es)
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  • In today's dollars
    Domestic $14,643,997
  • = total worldwide gross $14,643,997
  • - a reported budget of $15,000,000
  • = a -2.4% net profit of $-356,003
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