# Question about the film "Murder By Death" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 11, 2000, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-film-murder-by-death/14667 "2000-03-11T22:29:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2000, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-film-murder-by-death/14667/1 "2000-03-11T22:29:00Z")
I just saw this movie for the nth time and this always bugged me. All of the cast members were supposed to be parodies of famous detectives: Peter Falk: Sam Diamond / **Sam Spade** Peter Sellers: Sidney Wang / **Charley Chan** James Coco: Milo Perrier / **H. Peroit** Elsa Lanchester: Jessica Marbles / **Miss Marple** David Niven: Dick Charleston / **???** Who was Niven’s character supposed to be parodying? * * * _I for one welcome our new insect overlords…_ - K. Brockman ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2000, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-film-murder-by-death/14667/2 "2000-03-11T22:36:00Z")
I always thought he was Nick Charles of _The Thin Man_ series. Dick Charleston / Nick Charles – see the similarity? By the way – greatest line in the world comes from that movie. After Dick has propounded a convoluted theory, Sidney Wang responds, “Very interesting theory, Mr. Charleston. But - one problem.” “Oh, really, Wang? What’s that?” “Is stupid. Is most stupid theory I ever hear.” I still crack up, hearing that in my head! - Rick ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2000, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-film-murder-by-death/14667/3 "2000-03-11T22:43:00Z")
Heh, heh…that’s one of my brother’s favorite movies. I’ve personally never been able to make it past the “Two-two Twain” line before changing the channel with a groan. 😉 * * * “I don’t know…I don’t know.” – St. DooDah ---
**Author:** ![RTA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b4bc9f/32.png) [@RTA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTA)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2000, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-film-murder-by-death/14667/4 "2000-03-12T00:57:00Z")
I always thought Nick & Nora Astor, but the Thin Man theory works. “I don’t know what them society dames is like, but you ain’t never had it until you’ve had it with a big, fat, blondie waitress.” - Sam Diamond * * * I’m a loner, Dottie … a rebel. ---
**Author:** ![Brewpub\_Wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Brewpub\_Wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brewpub_Wench)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2000, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-film-murder-by-death/14667/5 "2000-03-12T00:58:00Z")
> [@](#): > > “Is stupid. Is most stupid theory I ever hear.” Oh, this is like my all-time favorite film of all time (yeah _rully_), and it’s chock-fulla _great_ lines, but the one I love the best is when Truman Capote gets in Peter Sellers’ face at the dining table: “It’s ‘ **THE** cow on **THE** wall’!! Say your God _DAMNED_ prepositions!” HAHAAAAA!!! ## (of course, they’re talking about a moosehead, but that’s neither here nor there). Lacey _“Casey got hit with a bucket o’ \*\*\*\* and the baaannnnddd plaaayyed onnnnnnn…”_ ---
**Author:** ![Alphagene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Alphagene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alphagene)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2000, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-film-murder-by-death/14667/6 "2000-03-12T01:10:00Z")
Twain: “You people are driving me crazy!” Diamond: “Sounds like that’d be a short trip…” * * * **Gypsy** : Tom, I don’t get you. **Tom Servo** : Nobody does. I’m the wind, baby. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2000, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-film-murder-by-death/14667/7 "2000-03-12T01:15:00Z")
Diamond: You’re Number One? Ya look more like Number Two ta me, if ya know what I mean. Yeah, Niven is supposed to be Nick Charles. God damn, I saw this movie when it came out…I was about 14, saw it with my older sister. We were reminding each other of the lines on the drive home, laughing so hard she almost wrecked the car. * * * Uke ---
**Author:** ![Alphagene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Alphagene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alphagene)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2000, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-film-murder-by-death/14667/8 "2000-03-12T01:15:00Z")
Dang… Lionel Twain: That drives me crazy! Sam Diamond: Sounds like a short ride to me. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2000, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-film-murder-by-death/14667/9 "2000-03-12T01:20:00Z")
Wang gets some of the best lines in that movie. The best exchange is between him and his son: They’re going to bed - Son: Who do you think is the murderer? Wang: Must sleep on it. Will know in morning when wake up. Son: But what if you don’t wake up? Wang: Then YOU did it. * * * _Eschew Obfuscation_ ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2000, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-film-murder-by-death/14667/10 "2000-03-12T01:24:00Z")
Uh oh…looks like this might beat out _Princess Bride_ as the MPSIMS favorite. Can anyone do a Bensonmum quote? ---
**Author:** ![jab1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee7513/32.png) [@jab1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jab1)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2000, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-film-murder-by-death/14667/11 "2000-03-12T01:48:00Z")
My favorite part is the ending where the butler, played by Sir Alec Guinness, who’s more than six feet tall, takes off his disguise and becomes Truman Capote, who was about eight inches shorter! And then HE becomes Nancy Walker, who was also taller than Capote. Favorite line: Sam Diamond checks a door and says, “Locked! From the inside. That can mean only one thing… And I don’t know what it is.” * * * When all else fails, ask Cecil. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2000, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-film-murder-by-death/14667/12 "2000-03-12T02:01:00Z")
I remember when our local cable company added HBO (ca. 1976), it seemed that this movie played, oh, about a MILLION times a month. Still, I would watch nearly every time. Favorite line: “Ahh, room filled with empty people!” ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2000, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-film-murder-by-death/14667/13 "2000-03-12T02:29:00Z")
You want a great Bensonmum line? Bensonmum: “She murdered herself in her sleep, sir.” Dick Charleston: “You mean suicide, don’t you?” Bensonmum: “Oh, no. It was murder, all right. Mrs. Twain HATED herself.” * * * And random other greats: Dick Charleston: “Will you look at that, Dora – a blind butler.” Dora Charleston: “Don’t let him park the car, Dickie.” * * * Sam Diamond: “I don’t get it. First they steal the body and leave the clothes, then they take the clothes and bring the body back. Who would do a thing like that?” Dick Charleston: “Possibly some deranged dry cleaner.” * * * Sam Diamond: “Forget it, Frenchie.” Perrier: “Stop it! I am not a Frenchie! I am a Belgie!” * * * Miss Marbles: “I smell gas!” Miss Withers (the old ‘nurse’ in the wheelchair): “I can’t help it, I’m old.” Miss Marbles: “No, not that kind of gas. The kind that kills!” Miss Withers: “Well, sometimes my gas…” Ah, I could go on for hours. - Rick ---
**Author:** ![aseymayo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e57/32.png) [@aseymayo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aseymayo)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2000, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-film-murder-by-death/14667/14 "2000-03-12T04:43:00Z")
Yeah, I’ve gone so far as to make wavs of some of my favorites. Guinness: That? Oh, it’s nothing, sir - just the cat. (loud barking) Sellers: That cat? You feed cat dogfood? Capote: How do I look so young? Quite simple. A complete vegetable diet, 12 hours sleep a night - and LOTS and LOTS of makeup. Niven: I say, you don’t happen to have seen a little white…Wang! Narita: A white wang!? Has anyone else noticed that M. Perrier’s chauffeur (James Cromwell) was the farmer in “Babe”? ---
**Author:** ![Brewpub\_Wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Brewpub\_Wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brewpub_Wench)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2000, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-film-murder-by-death/14667/15 "2000-03-12T05:16:00Z")
:::laughing so hard I’m scaring the cats::: You guys are the best! It’s been a few years since I saw it start to finish - great to hear the lines again… “A white wang!” HAAA!!! Ok, I had to do it. Went to Amazon and ordered it - it’ll be here in a couple of days (yay!) I’ve looked for it at the local video parlor, and was practically insulted they didn’t carry it. (Neanderthals!) Now I’ll have my very own copy to watch whenever I like. Neener neener neener!!! Hey :::light bulb glows over head:::! Anyone up for a Murder by Death sleepover? * * * Lacey _“Casey got hit with a bucket o’ \*\*\*\* and the baaannnnddd plaaayyed onnnnnnn…”_ ---
**Author:** ![drewbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drewbert/32/15890_2.png) [@drewbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewbert)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2000, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-film-murder-by-death/14667/16 "2000-03-12T14:23:00Z")
Willy: “I don’t get it, Pop. Was there a murder or wasn’t there?” Wang: “Yes. Killed good weekend. Drive, please.” Ooh, I gotta order it too! Good idea, Brewpub ---
**Author:** ![Esprix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprix/32/7899_2.png) [@Esprix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprix)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2000, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-film-murder-by-death/14667/17 "2000-03-13T15:18:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by Hail Ants: > > Who was Niven’s character supposed to be parodying? OK, Thin Man makes more sense - I’d always been thinking along the lines of James Bond, which I found especially ironic since Niven played the spoof Bond in “Casino Royale,” another great film to watch right after “Murder by Death.” Oh, and I’ve already got my own copy of MbD - had it for years. 🙂 Esprix * * * [Ask the Gay Guy!](http://boards.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum7/HTML/001376.html) ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2000, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-film-murder-by-death/14667/18 "2000-03-13T15:36:00Z")
Heehee…Drewbert - that’s tied with the one I quoted as my favourite exchange in the movie. Wang got all the best lines. Or else people talking to him did. Another favourite (The wording might be slightly wrong…): Son: Why do I always have to do this stuff? Wang: Because your mother not around to do it. * * * _Eschew Obfuscation_ ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2000, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-film-murder-by-death/14667/19 "2000-03-13T15:38:00Z")
Thanks. I never read mystery novels so I’d never heard of him. Miss Withers: “Jesus H Christ!” ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2000, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-film-murder-by-death/14667/20 "2000-03-13T16:11:00Z")
**Hail:** I think the point of MbD was that it made fun of MOVIE detectives and MOVIE mystery cliches, rather than mystery novels. Nick and Nora Charles only appeared in one book, but they were in several films. The Charlie Chan novels, by Earl Derr Biggers, are very rarely in print these days, but the movies made enough of a cultural impression that we still recognize the source when someone says “Number One Son” or makes up a fortune-cookie aphorism. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-film-murder-by-death/14667.md?page=2)