"the ad indicated whether the A, B or C ending was playing..."
August 17, 2016 10:19 AM   Subscribe

“[John Landis] thought it would be really great box office,” director Jonathan Lynn told BuzzFeed. “He thought that what would happen was that people, having enjoyed the film so much, would then go back and pay again and see the other endings.” Here’s The Odd Way Audiences Experienced ‘Clue’ 30 Years Ago (Andrew Husband, Uproxx) Previously: Mrs. White, in the marketing office, with a focus group
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome (45 comments total) 17 users marked this as a favorite
 
I didn't catch it in theaters (being two at the time), but seeing all of the ends consecutively gives you the advantage of more time seeing Tim Curry run around, which is thoroughly enjoyable.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 10:26 AM on August 17, 2016 [14 favorites]


I never understood why the critics didn't like this movie. It's nothing but excellent performances throughout, and it maintains its wackiness all the way through the movie, which is incredibly hard to do with a farce. I always wished they'd put together a live stage version I could direct (there's a Clue stage musical, but it's TERRIBLE), because it would be such a hit with audiences.

I saw it in the theater, but every theater around me had the same ending, so I didn't see all the endings until the VHS came out.
posted by xingcat at 10:33 AM on August 17, 2016 [6 favorites]


I've never seen this movie in my life, but I have seen the "Flames on the side of my face" clip about 68 times and giggle each time anew.

also woo Tim Curry's character has the same last name as me IRL
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:34 AM on August 17, 2016 [3 favorites]


I lived in a small town and so only got to see the "real" ending. It remains the only real one to me, but I love the Orient Express "everybody did it" trope.

The fact that it was a flop remains mind-boggling to me. Every kid I knew saw and loved and quoted it. Every one. Lesson in the value of anecdata, I guess.

This and The Usual Suspects are two rare instances where I wonder whether Roger Ebert and I watched the same movie.
posted by middleclasstool at 10:37 AM on August 17, 2016 [9 favorites]


I saw this movie three times during the week it played in my hometown theater. It wasn't a giant success so it went away quickly, unlike hits back in the 80s. (This same "saw it multiple times in a week" thing applies to major influential films that were flops at the time like Labyrinth, Blade Runner, and Brazil. I used to see movies in the theater a lot in those days, when it was only like $3 to see them, first run.)

Didn't see the other endings, because I lived in a small town with one owner for all the theaters in town (this still is the fact today in my hometown), but damn! It's a really fine, fun film full of quotable quotes and great moments. I never understood the reviewers' hate for the movie, because it was nothing but fun for me from beginning to end.

There's apparently a 4th ending that has never been seen. I remember reading in the promotional build-up to the movie's release that they had filmed endings for every single character to be guilty, but that they only picked a few to release. It's likely they filmed them but never edited them into a completed form.
posted by hippybear at 10:41 AM on August 17, 2016 [2 favorites]


This and The Usual Suspects are two rare instances where I wonder whether Roger Ebert and I watched the same movie.

I went to see The Usual Suspects strictly on the recommendation of Anthony Lane, who has rarely steered me wrong with his movie reviews. Thanks to The New Yorker's paywall, I can't link the review, but it was magnificent.
posted by hippybear at 10:45 AM on August 17, 2016 [1 favorite]


I saw it in the Theater, and we saw ending B (Mrs. Peacock). I knew there were other endings, but didn't care enough to get my parents to shuttle me around the northwest suburbs of Chicago to see them all. I was too young to drive. Is it OK for parents to dump their pre-teen kids off at movie theaters unsupervised these days?
posted by Badgermann at 10:49 AM on August 17, 2016



It seems like we've covered this movie more than a few times here, but that's ok. I still buttle.

I never understood why the critics didn't like this movie.

After reading through the cricisms in the article, I have to say that people who come to this movie to find out whodunnit -- as if that were the point -- have come the the wrong shop in the first place.
 
posted by Herodios at 10:50 AM on August 17, 2016 [6 favorites]


As a child who watched this movie ....roughly every week for five years, I was always annoyed that the Mrs. Peacock ending didn't make sense (The Scarlett ending makes the most sense)
posted by The Whelk at 10:51 AM on August 17, 2016 [1 favorite]


Is it OK for parents to dump their pre-teen kids off at movie theaters unsupervised these days?

I was riding my bike from my house to the movie theater a couple of miles away to see movies without my parents even knowing where I was back in the 70s and 80s. Have times changed that much?
posted by hippybear at 10:52 AM on August 17, 2016 [2 favorites]


Tim Curry's character has the same last name as me IRL

I have the same last name as one of the suspects. I was never sure whether I should feel any allegiance to her. Or that possibly my mother had killed someone fictional.

I've not seen the film either
posted by Grangousier at 10:53 AM on August 17, 2016


I was riding my bike from my house to the movie theater a couple of miles away to see movies without my parents even knowing where I was back in the 70s and 80s. Have times changed that much?

OH yeah.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 10:54 AM on August 17, 2016 [3 favorites]


I've not seen the film either

You should rectify this deficit in your existence as soon as possible.
posted by hippybear at 10:55 AM on August 17, 2016 [5 favorites]


There's apparently a 4th ending that has never been seen

It's just a red herring.
posted by Bunny Boneyology at 10:58 AM on August 17, 2016 [12 favorites]


So is communism.
posted by hippybear at 10:59 AM on August 17, 2016 [7 favorites]


This and The Usual Suspects are two rare instances where I wonder whether Roger Ebert and I watched the same movie.

I'm with Roger, I'm not a fan of either of them. I don't hate Clue the way that I hate The Usual Suspects but it's a comedy and it didn't make me laugh at all when I watched it.
posted by octothorpe at 11:01 AM on August 17, 2016 [1 favorite]


That makes me wonder about what sort of comedy actually makes you laugh.
posted by hippybear at 11:04 AM on August 17, 2016 [7 favorites]


I was a plant
posted by beerperson at 11:10 AM on August 17, 2016


This and The Usual Suspects are two rare instances where I wonder whether Roger Ebert and I watched the same movie.

We watched 1998's The Impostors the other night, which I'd never seen and thought was lovely, and I looked up the reviews afterwards and the critics hated it. Roger Ebert was at least kind to Stanley Tucci in his hatred, but it made me wonder what movie all of these critics saw or were expecting to see. Maybe Ebert just didn't like farce?
posted by Navelgazer at 11:26 AM on August 17, 2016 [3 favorites]


Men like me are usually called fruits.

Without a doubt my favourite movie, has been forever, and while I'm glad it gets mainstream attention these days I can identify with Greg Nog's follower in that I kind of miss when it was my special thing.

I've seen it twice at rep cinemas, and though legend has it prints of all three endings are out there in Canada, got ending A both times. A little jarring to have it just end rather than go onto the next one, but still a thrill to see it in the theatre with an excited audience.
posted by yellowbinder at 11:27 AM on August 17, 2016 [2 favorites]


I missed it the theater, but it was a staple of our college movie nights enough so that "flames on the side of my face" entered the lexicon -- as did the final line delivered by McKean's character in one of the endings: "I'm gonna go home and sleep with my wife!"

The other wonderful thing was an interview I saw with Tim Curry and maybe Charlie Rose (?) where the interviewer asked about Clue and noted that, despite trouble at the box office, it had become a cult favorite. Replied Curry, "Oh no, not again!"
posted by uberchet at 11:31 AM on August 17, 2016 [12 favorites]


For those asking what's wrong with the film, one thing that bothered me was the way they kept walking the jokes back. Like: "He threatened to kill me in public." "Why would he want to kill you in public?" There. That is a joke. The punch line has been delivered. The right thing to do would be to find a way to end it there, but instead, they linger on it: "I think she means he threatened, in public, to kill her." "Oh..." (pause). Momentum in the conversation is lost.

Compare to the similar misunderstood-sentence stuff in Airplane: "There's been trouble in the cockpit." "What is it?" "It's the little room in the front of the plane where the pilots sit. But that's not important now." Having delivered the punch line, it recognizes that the joke is done and moves past it.
posted by baf at 11:36 AM on August 17, 2016 [4 favorites]


Replied Curry, "Oh no, not again!

And then he was shot at Stavromula Beta.
 
posted by Herodios at 12:12 PM on August 17, 2016 [6 favorites]


My brother and I had this movie memorized when we were kids. Good times.
posted by brevator at 12:18 PM on August 17, 2016


This movie is pure joy to me. And, thank heavens, to my wife and kids. We quote from it constantly. For a short while long ago, when I still thought ring tones were an acceptable thing to do, I had the bit of Tim Curry's Wadsworth replaying the whole evening:

"Mrs. Peacock took a drink... You said, 'Maybe it's poisoned!, she screamed... Agghhhhhhhh"
posted by BigHeartedGuy at 12:30 PM on August 17, 2016 [1 favorite]


I didn't catch it in theaters (being two at the time), but seeing all of the ends consecutively gives you the advantage of more time seeing Tim Curry run around, which is thoroughly enjoyable.

All of the different endings playing consecutively is, in fact, my canonical ending. I think it's much funnier that way than any of the individual endings alone are.
posted by tobascodagama at 12:37 PM on August 17, 2016 [9 favorites]


How many endings are there? One plus one plus two plus one...
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 12:45 PM on August 17, 2016 [3 favorites]


Previously previously on MetaFilter. I think Clue is one of those movies that's a lifelong favorite if you first saw it as a kid, but YMMV wildly as an adult. I liked it well enough as a grown-up, but alas, it's not part of my formative cultural DNA. (I imprinted on Murder By Death instead.)

The Usual Suspects was a goddamn amazing movie if you were a film student in 1995 because it was so meticulously plotted, had a great cast, lots of snappy dialog, and the ending of course. For film students it was particularly admirable/enviable for its relatively low budget. The last time I watched it, though, it did feel heavier on style than substance - I'm not sure that's due to my tastes changing with age, or if I've just watched it too many times.
posted by usonian at 12:51 PM on August 17, 2016 [5 favorites]


and The Usual Suspects are two rare instances where I wonder whether Roger Ebert and I watched the same movie.

Ebert was a fantastic writer about movies but there are quite a few reviews where I wonder whether he was awake for the film.
posted by atoxyl at 1:07 PM on August 17, 2016 [7 favorites]


Previously previously on MetaFilter. I think Clue is one of those movies that's a lifelong favorite if you first saw it as a kid, but YMMV wildly as an adult. I liked it well enough as a grown-up, but alas, it's not part of my formative cultural DNA. (I imprinted on Murder By Death instead.)

That's probably it. I saw Murder By Death as a kid in the theater when it came out and have loved it ever since but didn't see Clue until a few years ago and it seems pale in comparison.
posted by octothorpe at 1:12 PM on August 17, 2016


For those asking what's wrong with the film, one thing that bothered me was the way they kept walking the jokes back. Like: "He threatened to kill me in public." "Why would he want to kill you in public?" There. That is a joke. The punch line has been delivered. The right thing to do would be to find a way to end it there, but instead, they linger on it: "I think she means he threatened, in public, to kill her." "Oh..." (pause). Momentum in the conversation is lost.

This drives me nuts in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the TV show) as well. Someone will mis-speak in a funny way, and then the script will shine a big light on it by having them say, "I can't believe I just said that," or "did I really say that out loud?" Like when Dawn describes a DoubleMeat Burger as "like a meat party in my mouth," or when Spike says to Buffy, "Oh, I see, you just came here to pump me for information," and she replies, "What else would I pump you for?"

They don't need somebody to comment on it. A brief awkward pause or a flash of discomfort on the face of the actor would do, and would be much better than taking the time to explicitly point out that someone said something awkward.
posted by not that girl at 1:19 PM on August 17, 2016 [3 favorites]


I forget who coined it, but this style of joke euthanasia is called "the aftermirth."
posted by knuckle tattoos at 1:23 PM on August 17, 2016 [7 favorites]


I always wished they'd put together a live stage version I could direct

I saw a stage production of Clue once. It was at the Texas Thespian Convention, some time in the early-mid 90s. I can't remember what High School put it together, but the kid playing the Tim Curry role was fantastic.

They did all three endings by having everyone walk backwards Hamilton rewind style. During the second ending, one of the performers slipped and fell off of the front of the stage, and reproduced his tumble in reverse during the rewind. The crowd (full of high school theater nerds) went wild.
posted by Uncle Ira at 1:24 PM on August 17, 2016 [6 favorites]


They don't need somebody to comment on it. A brief awkward pause or a flash of discomfort on the face of the actor would do, and would be much better than taking the time to explicitly point out that someone said something awkward.

Thank you. And if the movie is really good, it won't even pause for the reaction shot. Reaction shots are for sitcoms. Keep up, people!
posted by Mothlight at 2:29 PM on August 17, 2016 [1 favorite]


As I feel compelled to say in any Clue thread: With Fear's Lee Ving as Mr. Boddy!!!
posted by AJaffe at 3:07 PM on August 17, 2016 [2 favorites]


You guys can keep talking about the film but I'm going to go home and sleep with my wife.
posted by LastOfHisKind at 8:38 PM on August 17, 2016 [2 favorites]


What's this shiz? A 2016 Clue remake, with eleven colors/weapons/rooms? Starring nobody, written by nobody.
posted by Rhomboid at 11:02 AM on August 18, 2016


Huh. Apparently Gore Verbinski was attached to a Clue remake for a while but this 2016 one doesn't seem to share any DNA with the names thrown around in that 2011 article.
posted by usonian at 11:16 AM on August 18, 2016


My favorite comment in one of those earlier Clue threads is that this movie is a kid's idea of what a grown-up story would be like.
posted by Harvey Kilobit at 8:26 PM on August 18, 2016 [1 favorite]


Clue the game is a kid's idea of what a grown-up mystery would be like, so it all evens out.
posted by hippybear at 8:49 PM on August 18, 2016 [3 favorites]


Yeah, I'm not certain why that's regarded as a criticism.

What's this shiz? A 2016 Clue remake, with eleven colors/weapons/rooms? Starring nobody, written by nobody.

No. For god's sake, remake bad movies. Or mediocre movies. Or do something interesting with gender or race or something, if you must remake a good movie. But don't just churn a reboot out that's basically "like the good thing, only MORE!"
posted by middleclasstool at 7:04 AM on August 19, 2016 [3 favorites]


Just noticed Polygon put out a history of Clue with Justin McElroy a few days ago.
posted by books for weapons at 9:20 PM on August 19, 2016 [2 favorites]


You guys I bought a ticket to MR. BODDY'S BANQUET and The Guilty Party, an entire Clue-based dinner party at the place that does Sleep No More.

They want everyone to come dressed in character.

I picked Mr. Green.
posted by The Whelk at 10:34 PM on September 1, 2016 [1 favorite]


I COULDN'T GET A NAVY SUIT IN TIME

So I picked Professor Plum instead - boom
posted by The Whelk at 5:07 PM on September 11, 2016 [1 favorite]


No. For god's sake, remake bad movies. Or mediocre movies. Or do something interesting with gender or race or something, if you must remake a good movie. But don't just churn a reboot out that's basically "like the good thing, only MORE!"

Exactly. It seems like the ideal remake is one with an interesting idea, but that was poorly made.
posted by Chrysostom at 11:39 AM on September 16, 2016


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