The 1980’s was truly a great decade for cinema. Some of the most iconic films were made throughout the 80’s and would pave the way for other directors to follow. Today I would like to focus on a film that came out in 1985, which I have come to believe as being vastly under-appreciated. It has stood the test of time and it merits the title of Classic. This film is Clue.
The origins of Clue date back to the 1940’s where Anthony E. Pratt, an english musician, applied for a patent of a game he invented titled Murder. His wife helped him with the designs of the game and it was later purchased by Norman Watson, who made the trademark name Cluedo. The game was licensed to the Parker Brothers in the US, and the name was changed to Clue. It was a detective style game, where you try to solve the who, what, and where of the crime.
Jonathan Lynn who co-wrote and directed Clue, with the help of John Landis, had the arduous task of taking characters from a board game and giving them distinctive and convincing personalities. Stars like Carrie Fisher, Leonard Rossiter, and Rowan Atkinson were first considered to play the main roles. But due to circumstances, they eventually did not make the final cut.
The entire project was filmed on sound stages in Paramount Picture film studios in Hollywood. The set design was credited to Les Gobruegge, Gene Nollmanwas, and William B. Majorand, with set decoration by Thomas L. Roysden. The interior design was reminiscent of 18th and 19th century.
What makes the film so great is the characters. It benefits from a very entertaining cast, who do a fairly good job at inhibiting their individual characters. The show-stoppers are Madeline Kahn who provide the bulk of the films comedic moments. Not to mention the mysterious and charming Tim Curry who dominates the third act.
John Morris gives a pretty incredible score from start to finish. The set pieces and overall atmosphere brings you into this mansion with these characters. It does a fantastic job of bringing the board game environment to life. It’s cheesy and over the top, but aware of itself.
In more recent years, the brilliant Knives Out hit the theaters and made 311.5 million USD. This film has a similar formula of Clue and is a great modern day murder mystery. It’s films like Clue that are truly great and that make people, specifically filmmakers, want to preserve this genre or story.
Cedric Cinema 