Talk:Murder by Death

Spoiler Warning Needed
Since this page gives away ALL of the movie, including the ending, there should be a spoiler warning. However, I don't know how to add one. Would someone who does know how please do so? Thanks! RobertAustin (talk) 14:55, 29 March 2009 (UTC)


 * Thanks for your thoughts. Spoiler warnings were banished from WikiP about three years ago if memory serves, thus, you will not find them in any articles. MarnetteD | Talk 18:31, 26 December 2009 (UTC)


 * Wait. Isn't it a spoiler to tell readers that there aren't article spoilers? Cheers! 98.210.208.107 (talk) 08:33, 18 February 2011 (UTC)

Sellers was not Holmes
The entire "deleted scenes" section is unsourced (I have placed a template accordingly), and makes a statement that I am challenging.

Sellers did not play Holmes in the infamous deleted scene from the end of the film. The deleted scene can be found on YouTube, and the actor playing Holmes does not look anything like Sellers. In fact, although the role is uncredited, the actor bears a strong resemblance to Keith McConnell, who made a career of sorts of playing Holmes and Holmes-like characters in television commercials both in the US and the UK in the early-to-mid 1970s. This bibliography, maintained by the University of Minnesota Library System, seems to bear out my claim, crediting McConnell and Richard Peel as Holmes and Watson based on a cited book by Ron Haydock about McConnell's career as Holmes. The deleted scene is specifically mentioned in this context. 98.211.124.111 (talk) 18:02, 26 December 2009 (UTC)


 * Nice catch on that one and thanks for the youtube link. Per my thread above it was nice to see it again after all of these years and my guess on who the actor is was as far off base as whoever claimed it was PS. I have removed the item since it was so patently wrong. Please feel free to add in the actual actors per your research with the U of M and use the link that you provided as a citation. Once again good job on the research and thank for providing an answer that I have been wondering about for years. MarnetteD | Talk 18:29, 26 December 2009 (UTC)


 * Although Sellers did not play Holmes, he did play the taxi-driver who brought Jessica Marbles and Nurse to the house. This is another "deleted scene" from the movie, one of several to be found on You Tube. "Here at last, cabbie," says Elsa Lanchester, "how much do I owe you?" In a cockney accent, taxi-driver Sellers replies: "Well now, lady, Victoria Station to Southampton, twelve pound six ... Southampton to New York, call that fifty quid 'cos of all the salt water getting in the engine." Doubtless this was edited out as being too farcical. There is another brief clip of Sellers driving Miss Marbles and Nurse away at the end, but this too was "deleted." Philipson55 (talk) 20:57, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

Indeed, it is Keith McConnell and Richard Peel. Drsruli (talk) 18:01, 27 May 2022 (UTC)

Trivia note
For someone researching the movie in the distant future: There *is* an address 22 Twain. It's in an exclusive area of the Berkeley, California hills, and it seems there might be a reasonable chance Simon was familiar with the name. 98.210.208.107 (talk) 08:37, 18 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Lionel Corporation states 'Lionel remains the most enduring brand name associated with model trains in the United States...', so this may merely be humorous mispronunciaion with the host's name of Lionel train and 'choo-choo train', since Wang pronounces it 'two-two twain' and not 'twenty-two twain's house. Sourcing either might be difficult, although Neil Simon is still alive. Dru of Id (talk) 05:39, 6 March 2011 (UTC)

Remake
There was a made for TV remake of this over a decade later, with parodies of Starsky and Hutch, Baretta, and other "super cops" replacing the classic sleuths of the origina. I seem to remember John Byner playing the "Hutch" character, but that's all I recall. Shouldn't that be included in the article somewhere? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.193.128.193 (talk) 06:11, 25 June 2011 (UTC)

Just checked: the movie was called "Murder Can Hurt You" and was made in 1980. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.193.128.193 (talk) 06:14, 25 June 2011 (UTC)
 * "Remake" is probably not the right term as the plot and characters are quite different. The only similarity is that both films feature parodies of famous fictional detectives. Muzilon (talk) 07:18, 11 September 2011 (UTC)

Cromwell snub?
How come James Cromwell is not listed in the stars in the opening paragraph, or in the cast?? He is mentioned in the "cast and characters". He may not have been well known at the time, but he certainly is now, and his part is not smaller than, for example, the elderly nurse.Wood Monkey 17:21, 5 April 2018 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Neurodog (talk • contribs)

Final Yetta
Yetta also pulls off the extensions from her pinkies necessary to impersonate Lionel Twain who "had ten fingers, just no pinkies". Drsruli (talk) 23:36, 27 May 2022 (UTC)

"See also": Knives Out?
I understand the reasoning behind most "See Also" entries (though some seem excessive), but "Knives Out"? It shares no cast member, no production member, it is not directly parodied by "Murder By Death" (it couldn't, since it was released decades after) nor does it reference "Murder By Death" in any way, the only thing it has in common is the whodunnit genre done. Knives Out can be said to have some comedy elements, maybe, but nowhere near the parody level of Murder By Death. Having "Knives Out" in there means you also have to have a huge number of other whodunnit films. I submit that there isn't enough of a relationship between "Knives Out" and "Murder By Death" to justify that entry; and if that "Knives Out" is in there, there's no reason why a hundred other whodunnits shouldn't be.2001:8A0:7C19:2801:A9F9:1EA2:4642:66DC (talk) 10:52, 21 July 2023 (UTC)


 * Good point. It's gone. -- Pemilligan (talk) 13:19, 21 July 2023 (UTC)

Sam Diamond based on more than Sam Spade, I suspect.
There was a detective from the late 40s on radio, and later in the late 50s on TV, called Richard Diamond, Private Detective. His character fit the fast-talking tough guy persona, and I suspect Sam Diamond is a combination of Sam Spade and Richard Diamond. It fits too close for it not to reference both.