Board/card game marketed by Parker Brothers (now Hasbro) since 1949, it recreates the atmosphere of the country house murder mysteries made famous by Agatha Christie and other writers. The implied plot line is simple: a group of various socialites and servants are assembled at Mr. Boddy's spacious country seat, which comprises eight rooms. To make a definitive collar on whodunit, the various characters must identify who it was, with which weapon, and exactly where it happened (as determined by three cards drawn at the beginning of the game, and secreted away on a dark staircase in the middle of the board).
Game play is less interesting, alas, than the dollhouse-like game board, cards and pieces -- the rope, in many early sets, is an actual piece of thick string, the lead pipe is a small, malleable piece of lead, and the characters on the cards have an agreeably noirish look. Alas, this isn't carried over in most modern sets....
Mr. Boddy: In your hands, you each have a lethal weapon. If you denounce me to the police, you will also be exposed and humiliated. I'll see to that in court. But, if one of you kills Wadsworth now, no one but the seven of us will ever know. He has the key to the front door, which he said would only be opened over his dead body. I suggest we take him up on that offer. The only way to avoid finding yourselves on the front pages is for one of you to kill Wadsworth. NOW.
Clue is a comedy movie directed by Jonathan Lynn and released in 1985. The screenplay was written by John Landis and Jonathan Lynn, and was based on the board game of the same name. It has a runtime of 94 minutes and was released with a rating of PG.
Six guests are invited to a dinner, each of them have been assigned aliases to hide their identity. Slowly, the guests learn that each of them have a secret. A secret that someone has been using to blackmail them, a Mr. Boddy. After Mr. Boddy arrives, he hands out a present to each of them. A weapon. To kill the butler, Woodsworth, who is keeping them in the house. The lights go out, a gunshot rings out, and Mr. Boddy is dead on the floor. This begins the questioning of who did it, and are they willing to go to any length to keep their secret.
So we have a stellar cast: Christopher Lloyd, Tim Curry, Eileen Brennan, Madeline Kahn. These are very impressive actors, but the script could be better. This isn't to say that it's not a fun movie to watch, but it could be better. A movie that pulled off a similar idea with greater results would be Murder by Death. It even shares Eileen Brennan in the cast. Overall, Clue is fun, but not amazing.
After saying that, let's look at some of the fun parts of the film. When the movie was originally released it had three different endings, each with different murderers. Each theater was given a random ending, now on television and tape one gets all three endings after the other.
Eileen Brennan - Mrs. Peacock Tim Curry - Wadsworth the Butler Madeline Kahn - Mrs. White Christopher Lloyd - Professor Plum Michael McKean - Mr. Green Martin Mull - Colonel Mustard Lesley Ann Warren - Miss Scarlet Colleen Camp - Yvette the Maid Lee Ving - Mr. Boddy Bill Henderson - The Cop Jane Wiedlin - The Singing Telegram Girl Jeffrey Kramer - The Motorist Kellye Nakahara - Mrs. Ho the Cook Will Nye - Cop #1 Rick Goldman - Cop #2 Don Camp - Cop #3 Howard Hesseman - The Chief
The other series preceeded the Clue Jr. books and was more popular. The first Clue series contained 18 books, all of which followed a set pattern: the reader "arrived" at the mansion of Mr. Reginald Boddy, a millionaire with a heart of gold, for the weekend. Mr. Boddy invites his closest friends over to his gigantic home in the (presumably retirement-friendly) Little Falls every weekend, even though most of them are just taking advantage of his generosity and are trying to rob him blind.
The introductory chapter is the only part of any of the 18 Clue books that is written in the first person; an omniscient narrator tells the remaining stories. Included in every introduction is a brief description of each character and the one character trait that is most identifiable about them. These traits are important because characters are often only described using them later on, and they are integral to solving the books' various mysteries.
While many of the mini-mysteries are seemingly innocent in nature (actual murder is rarely involved, and when it appears to be, the solution indicates that the character in question didn't actually die), the last one in each book involves someone murdering Mr. Boddy (usually for his money, though sporadically out of rage sometimes brought on due to monetary-related issues). As mentioned, the introductory chapter in the next book is written from Mr. Boddy's point of view, and he explains that he was either knocked unconscious or passed out from fright rather than having actually died. Since the pattern in which Mr. Boddy is "killed" is maintained in the 18th (and thusfar final) book, it can be more or less assumed that he's actually dead (until someone decides to pen #19).
Each "chapter" ends with a question that the reader must answer -- who killed Mr. Boddy? Who stole Miss Scarlet's jewelry? Mr. Boddy's mansion is the same format as the mansion in the board game and has the familiar rooms (the library, conservatory, ball room and so on). The game's classic weapons (the wrench, rope, lead pipe and candlestick, among others) are also involved.
The page after each chapter's last page provides one of the evidence lists that players use in the board game to keep track of eliminated suspects, rooms and weapons. The solution is printed on the following page, but upside down.
So who are these conniving charming individuals? Let's find out:
Colonel Mustard: As his title suggests, Mustard is a military man. Even though he's no longer on active duty, he lives for protocol and his hot temper leads him to challenge people (and even inanimate objects, on occasion) to duels. It goes without saying that he is very easily insulted.
Mrs. Peacock: This lady is a little too prim and proper for most people's liking; she's obsessed with etiquette, lives for modesty and thinks everything is rude. Of course, she doesn't necessarily think that stealing is particularly rude as long as she's the one benefitting from it.
Mr. Green: Green being the colour of both money and envy, Mr. Green isn't short on either. He's described as a businessman who would cheat anyone -- even his own mother -- for the sake of a quick dollar. He can be particularly bossy and short-tempered when he doesn't get what he wants, which is usually money. He's also vain.
Professor Plum: The most intellectual of Mr. Boddy's frequent guests, Professor Plum is also a tremendous scatterbrain. He often forgets things from one moment to the next, from where he left his keys to which mansion room a construction team left a gigantic bomb in.
Miss Scarlet: A vain beauty whose love of money is surpassed only by her love of herself (and possibly jewelry). She is also the most jealous of the characters and is the most likely to commit a crime of passion.
Mrs. White: Not so much a guest as a staff member, Mrs. White is Mr. Boddy's maid. She is a master of doublespeak and is very talented at being sociable to her boss and his guests to their faces while making snide remarks behind their backs. She knows the mansion and its owner better than any of the other suspects.
Otherwise, there's no telling what you might find at a used bookstore.
It's funny how some of my favourite things in the world are 18 small paperbacks, some of which I've owned since I was eight years old.
Clew (?), Clue, n. [OE. clewe, clowe, clue, AS. cleowen, cliwen, clywe ball of thread; akin to D. kluwen, OHG. chliwa, chliuwa, G. dim. kleuel, knauel, and perch. to L. gluma hull, husk, Skr. glaus sort of ball or tumor. Perch. akin to E. claw. 26. Cf. Knawel.]
1.
A ball of thread, yarn, or cord; also, The thread itself.
Untwisting his deceitful clew. Spenser.
2.
That which guides or directs one in anything of a doubtful or intricate nature; that which gives a hint in the solution of a mystery.
The clew, without which it was perilous to enter the vast and intricate maze of countinental politics, was in his hands. Macaulay.
3. Naut. (a.)
A lower corner of a square sail, or the after corner of a fore-and-aft sail.
A loop and thimbles at the corner of a sail.
A combination of lines or nettles by which a hammock is suspended.
Clew garnet Naut., one of the ropes by which the clews of the courses of square-rigged vessels are drawn up to the lower yards. -- Clew line Naut., a rope by which a clew of one of the smaller square sails, as topsail, topgallant sail, or royal, is run up to its yard. -- Clew-line block Naut., The block through which a clew line reeves. See Illust. of Block.
© Webster 1913.
Clue (?), n. [See Clew, n.]
A ball of thread; a thread or other means of guidance. Same as Clew.
You have wound a goodly clue. Shak.
This clue once found unravels all the rest. Pope.
Serve as clues to guide us into further knowledge. Locke.
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