mrroberts Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 Two Neil Simon comedies on TCM tonight that I saw in the theatre when released. MURDER BY DEATH has a great all star cast and that's the main reason for watching it. I particularly enjoy watching Alec Guinness , Elsa Lanchester, and Peter Falk. The other actors I like as well but the performances seem uninspired to me ( a few are just playing for a pay check), maybe its the scripts they have to work with. This film starts out with great promise but seems to drag on and on. The second film, THE CHEAP DETECTIVE, works much better for me. Falk once again does his Bogart parody (like in the earlier film) and has a strong supporting cast to work with. The storyline and script work well, it helps a lot if you know the classic Bogart films (Maltese Falcon, Big Sleep, Casablanca) they pay tribute to. It appears that all involved are having a good time doing this film (I would love to see some outtakes if they exist). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bastet Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 I prefer Clue to Murder by Death, but still very much enjoy the latter. And the title never fails to make me laugh. Nor does the screaming doorbell. I've never seen The Cheap Detective, so thanks for the heads up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr6666 Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 Two Neil Simon comedies on TCM tonight that I saw in the theatre when released. MURDER BY DEATH has a great all star cast and that's the main reason for watching it. I particularly enjoy watching Alec Guinness , Elsa Lanchester, and Peter Falk. The other actors I like as well but the performances seem uninspired to me ( a few are just playing for a pay check), maybe its the scripts they have to work with. This film starts out with great promise but seems to drag on and on. The second film, THE CHEAP DETECTIVE, works much better for me. Falk once again does his Bogart parody (like in the earlier film) and has a strong supporting cast to work with. The storyline and script work well, it helps a lot if you know the classic Bogart films (Maltese Falcon, Big Sleep, Casablanca) they pay tribute to. It appears that all involved are having a good time doing this film (I would love to see some outtakes if they exist). thanks mr.r, enjoyed THE CHEAP DET. very much. (kinda like DEAD MEN/PLAID w/o the tricky clip stuff) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt_Markoff Posted October 12, 2018 Share Posted October 12, 2018 They're both superb. Sigh for a day when flicks like this were commonplace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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