Murder By Death (1976)

Murder by Death (1976) is a comedy crime caper classic. I’m not going to give 5 stars to this movie because I think it’s not as good as Clue (Cluedo, 1985), which I consider a masterpiece of the genre. But these movies are close. It is less good than 12 Angry Men , which is also perfect. I will add to this list of films Murder on the Orient Express (1974), whose 2017 remake is also very good. I still haven’t seen the 2010 one, though.

This very humorous movie can be considered a big thrill with some suspense. The actors do very well. Peter Falk proves that he is a very good actor because, although there is clearly a nod to Columbo, since he is a detective with almost the same costume, he has a totally different character. He is definitely more macho and vulgar. Nevertheless, I had an incredible pleasure to see him here.

Peter Sellers plays an Asian, and the portrayal of East Asians in American film and theater has been controversial. However, this actor was so strong, funny, and talented. Plus, it was a different time. This movie has a lot of misogynistic, macho, sexist, and racist facets, but it was still very funny.

Afterwards, what is interesting is to see who is laughing. There are people who only have mean laughs, that is to say, they only laugh when they are making fun, and others who laugh heartily at good humor, without taking into account the forms of discrimination. It’s also quite clever to show that detectives are not perfect, and that people who fight crime have their flaws and are not angels. A very good moment of cinema that many people today will not understand, and it’s really a pity.