Murder by Death
Director: Robert Moore
Year Released: 1976
Rating: 2.0
Neil Simon-scripted spoof of Agatha Christie-type murder mysteries, sending some of the world's best detectives (David Niven and Maggie Smith are playing - more or less - Nick and Nora Charles, Peter Sellers is the Charlie Chan character) to Truman Capote's house to try to solve a convoluted murder. The jokes are so-so and the 'plot' isn't meant to be solved (if anything, Simon's venting at the lack of coherence in some detective stories), but Peter Sellers fans should consider this a must-see as his politically-incorrect performance as Chan is easily the movie's strongest trait. It must have been successful because they made a sequel, but to me it's a glorified TV movie.
