Filled with quotable lines and deliciously fun performances, 1985’s “Clue” remains the best board game-to-film adaptation thus far and one of the most effortlessly enjoyable cult films out there.
Boasting physical comedy hijinks, innuendo, and snappy one-liners, the murder-mystery farce was heavily helped by a strong script and pacing from first-time feature writer/director Jonathan Lynn.
Lynn was most famous at the time for co-creating and co-writing the legendary UK comedy “Yes Minister”. Here he managed to enlist a stellar cast of comedy legends for proceedings, including Madeline Kahn, Michael McKean, Christopher Lloyd, Lesley Ann Warren, Martin Mull, Eileen Brennan and Tim Curry.
It’s also famous for its three alternate endings – two which pin the murders on a specific guest, and a third ‘real one’ which is more ambitious and wider in scope.
In a recent interview with Empire, Lynn and Curry revealed there was a possible fourth ending made in which Curry’s butler Wadsworth himself was the murderer. Curry described it simply: “I ran around the house killing everybody.”
However, that ending was ditched as Lynn says: “It wasn’t funny enough, it wasn’t surprising enough. It ended the film on an anti-climax. So I just took it out. Three was enough.”
Curry scored raves over the years for his performance which involved a lot of rapid-fire monologues which Curry says “was a bit scary, because he [Wadsworth] never draws breath”, and some of the super-fast explanation at the end sent Curry’s blood pressure “through the roof”.
Though a box-office dud at the time that opened to mixed reviews, it has become a poster child for what a flop-turned-cult classic looks like. Lynn went on to direct several other successful comedies, including “Nuns on the Run,” “My Cousin Vinny” and “The Distinguished Gentlemen,” whilst the cast all had successful careers, with several still performing to this day.
