I posted this video more than a year ago and I am very appreciative it’s still getting views and comments. However, I’ve forgotten so many of this film’s minor details so I can’t reply back, hahaha! Thank you so much for your interactions, though!
My favourite is definitely ‘they all did it’. I just like the way it ties together with everyone being the killer and it is so funny it just builds and builds. Not to mention Tim Curry being completely in his element as the final boss, and it has lines like ‘“I chose to expose myself.’ ‘Please, there are ladies present.’” and ‘“I’m a plant.’ ‘I thought men like you were called a fruit.’” and finally, ‘I’m going to go home and sleep with my wife.’ Which is probably one of my favourite final lines of any movie. I feel like it’s the ending that Johnathon Lynn and John Landis had in mind going in and then they came up with the other two after the fact.
Nah it's the biggest cop out ending and narratively is the weakest bc it undermines everything you've just watched by using deus ex machina to solve the puzzle. You cant possibly come to that conclusion as it posits Mr Green is not a regular "player" like the others, also brandishing a weapon the audience isnt allowed to know about to conveniently dispatch Wadsworth. It's really silly and lazily done. I wonder if the studio or the rights holders themselves opted for that being the "official" ending, bc the writing is quite good otherwise, and I cant see talented writers choosing their most amateur kind of ending, especially bc it commits every rookie mistake of bad storytelling right down to deus ex machina. You can subvert expectations, but in an inevitable way. The pieces have to be there for there to be any sort of payoff. Otherwise you're just duping the viewer by saying actually we lied when we showed you this and though it made perfect sense within the logic of thr story we now say it doesnt. It's like being taken for a ride, not in a good way. You reward viewers you dont dupe them, it's just weak writing. Either of the other 2 endings can work within the logic of the story and whats presented in the movie. The 3rd one only works after the fact, meaning after the ending itself reveals information that the audience could not possibly know, which means theres no actual payoff for what you just spent time paying attention to. Personally I think the 2nd ending makes the most sense, as it was clear that Peacock was not where the other people were, if you watch back, when key things happen. Thenfirst ending works too, it just has a lot of extra added to it that I dont think, from a writing standpoint, is necessary. The main thing is Tim Curry explaining these endings and acting it out in hilarious detail is what makes the ending compelling. So in a way, I think that's the main thing. Perhaps that's why they had 3 endings, it's more about the fun of these characters accusing each other and prancing around that spooky mansion. Less about who "actually" did it.
@@MM-qm9ld You're completely right about Mr. Green's gun being a cop-out deus ex machina that wasn't worked into the story well, and I also like the ending with Miss Scarlet as the villain best. She rocks that role and feels like a more satisfying culprit than Wadsworth, everyone (except Mr. Green), or Mrs. Peacock. Not to mention the "they all did it" ending being a cliché, and somewhat out of place for a movie based on Clue.
The most unbelievable thing about the cook's death is that she does scream. Christopher Lee explained to Peter Jackson during the filming of Return of the King that people don't scream when they get stabbed in the back.
Or she just made a grimace once stabbed but Wadsworth assumed they couldn't hear because Mrs. Peacock was screaming about the poison brandy. It's an honest mistake but it could put a reason why ending 3 makes sense.
I feel like there's a significant difference between being stabbed with a weapon designed for war being wielded by a trained military man, and being stabbed with a small decorative knife by a random female party guest. (No sexism intended, but none of the 3 potential suspects are exactly specimens of brute force)
@@dannykent6190truth is no there isn't, christopher lee was telling truth, cause when you are stabbed or shot even by non military you lose your breath You would not even have time nor be able to scream no matter what, another reason if say stabbed or shot in lung you are literally choking on your own blood making you unable to scream
Exactly and you do not have to be military trained, whether you are shot or stabbed you are unable to scream cause your oxygen is literally knocked out of you cause of the pain
It would make sense for Miss Scarlett to say ‘worked with’ because Yvette’s already dead by this point so can’t currently be working for her! The only ending I could never really get on board with is the second one.
There was a planned fourth ending that was ultimately scrapped because it was so dark and thematically out of place where Wadsworth kills every one of the victims and attempts to poison our six main characters. While I agree it was wise to cut it, I do think an ending in which Wadsworth was the murderer probably makes the most sense.
well the writer said there was a first draft where wadsworth did it but he doesn't remember any details so i don't think that was the reason at all...i think it just wasn't that interesting
Also if the cook was killed instantly(which sometimes happens), she would have either gasped or given out a slight cough. Both could easily not be heard a few rooms away, especially with all the noise going on in the study.
To me, it was Miss Scarlett who did it all. For the ending where "they all did it", there's no way that Mrs. White killed Yvette. Wadsworth says that while he was in the master bedroom, Mrs. White ran downstairs, turned off the power, took the rope and killed Yvette. Highly impossible because when the power was out, Mrs. White was still upstairs in another bedroom and began screaming when a window blew open. When we see Yvette hurrying down the stairs, Mrs. White's screams can be heard overhead and when Yvette goes into the billiard room, the killer is already inside waiting for her.
Ending 1 Yvette told Scarlet about the secret passage. Alright she didn’t killed the cook but it would make sense because look of the draw or it just so happened that both screamed at the same time. As far as Peacock goes it makes sense that she would kill the cook because Whatever Yvette knew so did the cook. Professor Plum killed the wrong guy( mistaken identity) Remember in the 3rd ending he asked the question, “Who did I kill?” Mrs White killed Yvette because her husband had an affair with Yvette. I know because she said it. Yvette killed Mr. body so called because of harassment. Wadsworth was actually Mr. Body. The only one that didn’t kill anyone was the FBI agent. Break it up into three components was simply to throw everyone off. Conclusion, they all did it. The one Kill that really doesn’t make is Wadsworth/Mr. Body killing the singing telegram lady.
Well everyone except Mr Green. He’s the only one to have no previous connections to the murder victims. Only the FBI agent who was also the only person to come to the mansion after the murders had begun and not be harmed or killed within minutes.
@@HandelandJ The thing is the entire movie works well with ending 3 the most because of one aspect from the movie that (regardless of the ending) has the invisible elephant in the room: there wasn’t a single informant/accomplice of Mr. Boddy that was there that gave away ANY information concerning MR. GREEN whatsoever. No reason for Mr. Green to commit any killing (save for Mr. Boddy except that he “didn’t do it!”). Even when Wadsworth revealed that the Cook used to work for one of them, only Mrs. Peacock didn’t ask “who?” as she was too busy gasping 😮as that was the main indicator (as well as two of the endings having that same reveal, with Ending 1 having Yvette killing her instead of Mrs. Peacock). With one finally “proof of the pudding” that proves Ending 3 being the true ending, when the “Evangelist” came around, you can see Mr. Green acting less than a klutz than one noticed throughout the movie. Rather he was acting rather calm and cool, especially when he took his glasses off (when he’s behind everyone else) when the only other times he does it was when he’s extremely frustrated with Wadsworth using him as a stand-in for Mr. Boddy’s final death, and when he himself killed “Wadsworth”/Mr. Boddy and revealed himself as FBI. All that right there is evidence enough to prove that the third ending is the real ending. Impossible, you say? “And that is why you failed”
I will comment, 2 years after you posted that. My son and I thought about the library being locked, so we intensely scrutinized the footage. The truth is that the key was left in the keyhole, so anyone could have opened it...
WHHHHHHHAAAAAAAATTTTT!?! Makes sense though, he was locked in to keep him away from everything else rather than to protect him so no need to keep the key on anyone. shame they don't mention it in the film though
3:30 IMO, Yvette is still working for Scarlett up until her death. If you notice, Scarlett only uses the past tense "worked for me" after Yvette's death, when she physically can no longer work for her. And "when did she become a maid", also IMO Wadsworth simply had her working as a maid for the evening to give her a reason to be in the house
Wadsworth leaves the key in the library door. You can see him pull it out when he goes in to answer the phone call from J Edgar Hoover. Then when he locks it a second time, he leaves the key in the door.
Colonel Mustard knowing about the secret passage DOES make sense. When they are talking about the photos of him, the woman he is sleeping with in them is Yvette. She could have told him about the secret passage, as he was one of her clients.
Christopher Lee explained during his Saruman role to Peter Jackson that when you get stabbed, you don't scream loudly because the wind is knocked out of you since he killed people during his time in WW2, maybe that's why the cook didn't scream loudly
Does any of the three endings make sense of that inexplicable dialogue before Yvette is murdered? "Did anyone recognize you?" "Yes, and not just my face. They know every inch of my body. .... It's you!" The first ending makes sense of the first part, if Yvette and Scarlett are working together. But then Yvette would know she's talking to Scarlet, so why scream "It's you!"? In endings 2 and 3, Yvette could be surprised by the identity of her killer, thus the "It's you!", but then the first part of the dialogue makes no sense, because who does Yvette think she's reporting to?
It's weird dialogue even if it is Scarlet. "They know every inch of my body"? Only Mustard know her that intimately. "And they're not the only ones" Who else? The other clients? Why bring them up?
@@gogorothjt Yeah, you're right. What a strange moment. I wonder what the screenwriter was thinking with that scene? Someone should write a Clue fan-fic to explain that, and other inexplicable moments. (If it hasn't been done already ...)
For ending 1, the "its you" could have been Yvette being surprised to find that Scarlett was the one murdering everybody. Assuming they had spoken before the party, its possible that the only part of the plan Yvette was aware of was her instructions to kill Mr Body and the cook, the only 2 ppl she would have known for sure would be present and involved in the blackmail. She could have been in the dark about who was committing the other murders, and put the pieces together at the very end when Scarlett revealed the rope. For endings 2 and 3, she could have thought she was reporting to Wadsworth since in both endings, he was responsible for orchestrating the event (although for different reasons) and he'd been giving her orders all night. Idk why she would go downstairs to the billiards' room tho.
True, these scene / the dialogue doesn’t fully make sense in any scenario. If it was white who killled Yvette (which it can’t have been since she was seen in another room) - why the heck would Yvette be reporting to her / be alone with her? They hate each other…
While ending 3 is the most believable, I always liked ending 2 with Mrs Peacock being the murderer mainly cuz I always imagined the rest of them having fruit / desert afterwards after a stressful night and all the characters talking about the crazy things that just happened. I guess also cuz I liked Miss Scarlet more than Mrs Peacock.
not really, Wadsworth was following unknown instructions from a second letter after dinner, whatever he said after that letter could be just a set up from the true mastermind perhaps blackmailing him. Sure the butler has motive but he wasn't directly blackmailed, it was only his former wife, or that is what we thought. Perhaps in ending 3 the true bobby is the one who left wadsworth the second letter to force him to cover up for him, the blackmail being so bad that in the end he HAD to commit to his role even if it meant taking the blow for the real unknown Boddy.
@@timemachinegeek If you ask me, having believable situations outweigh the improbable (whether fantasy or reality) makes for a good story. If there are too many improbable moments, the suspension of disbelief is gone. Glad this is an observation rather than an opinion.
At 9:21 when Wadsworth locked the cop in the library for the second time, he left the key on the keyhole. As such, the respective killer was able to open the door to the library to kill the cop.
I would have thought you’d avoid killing with the murder weapon you’d been given and unwrapped in front of all of the others, seeing as people would assume you’d use your own weapon.
Just a small note on the cop being killed in the library, Wadsworth leaves the key in the door, hence all three endings where the cop is murdered they can unlock it
I have watched this movie so many times that I almost have it memorized. I have NEVER thought it was possible for the 2nd ending to have occurred. I do believe that Mrs. Peacock most likely killed the cook, but that is it. Like you showed, Mrs. Peacock is seen in the basement hitting that furnace (metal pipe) just after the power is turned off, and she is NOT wearing black gloves. The person who turned off the power was just seen a couple of seconds earlier wearing black gloves. Also, you can tell the voice that speaks (whispers) to Yvette just before she is strangled by someone wearing black gloves is clearly NOT Mrs. Peacock, who has a unique voice. It is, however, a woman's voice. I have always thought that Miss Scarlet had to be the one who killed Yvette, due to the fact that Mrs. White is just previously seen screaming upstairs when a window flies open. You can even still hear her screaming upstairs as Evette is going downstairs just before she goes into the billiard room and hears the woman's voice speak to her (Miss Scarlet). There are certainly a LOT of "issues" with the endings happening exactly the way in which they are presented. The more times a person watches "Clue", the more inconsistencies you can discover with how the endings are presented. I don't think when this movie was originally made that they thought about the fact people would be watching it over and over and over and looking for ways to disprove the possible endings. There are clearly "flaws"...
Peacock did have a chance to kill the cook. But I don't think that happened. If Peacock did kill the cook, it would have been as everyone rushed to Yvette's aid in the billiard room, and Peacock would have had to regain full consciousness (and possibly full sobriety) from the cognac poisoning scare, at least if she wanted a clean stab wound like the one we see in the cook's back. She would also have had to kill the cook AND move her to the walk-in freezer and then nonchalantly rejoin everyone else after she was done, all while the noisiest thing that happens anywhere else is Yvette sobbing about being locked in with a murderer, which I don't think would be nearly loud enough to cover up the sound of that entire process, especially given the reverberance of the kitchen and the hall AND the fact that the billiard room door is open, allowing sound to get in.
As unbelievable as it was, I always liked the second ending simply because after Wadsworth says, "we always get our man" Mr. Green completely misunderstands and exclaims "Mrs. Peacock was a man?!" and then getting nonchalantly slapped by both Wadsworth and Mustard. For me that was the funniest scene in the movie.
There is a plausibility to consider here in regards to the secret passages. All the guests knew knew that Mr. Body was blackmailing them, and were desperate to get out of the situation by ANY means. Its feasible several of them upon receiving the invitation used their resources to learn anything and everything they possibly could about the house and/or who might own it to gain some leverage before attending (and the true Mr. Body may very well have fed them such information to make matters more chaotic). Since none of this is officially established in the movie its merely a theory, but it would fit the facts of the film.
Scarlet and Mustard could have learned about the secret passages from Yvette (which is acknowledged in Scarlet's ending) and Peacock could gave gotten the information from the cook.
Hey man, great video really enjoyed it but you are right the library was locked, but Wadsworth left the key in the lock hole so that’s how Miss Scarlet was able to unlock the library and kill the cop
@@hiddenechoeswhat country says it this way? Seriously curious as I googled it and the only difference I could find was a slight difference between British and American English and both drop the middle L.
Another major problem with all three endings regarding the cook's murder. Yvette and Mrs. Peacock both seemed to have a reasonable amount of time to kill the cook without being noticed. However, the cook is a pretty heavy woman (it takes four people to carry her body!). So Yvette and Mrs. Peacock would have definitely struggled to move her body to the freezer, unless the cook was already conveniently standing there.
Unless Mrs. Peacock got the Cook to show her the secret passage before killing her. The Cook and Mrs. Peacock go into the cooler, the Cook shows her the secret passage, and Mrs. Peacock stabs her in the back with the cooler door closed and runs down the secret passage to the Study. That would also explain how she knew about the other secret passage, as well.
To me #1 makes the most sense by far…. Because #3 has the biggest plot holes. Another plot hole from #3 is that if Wadsworth is actually Mr. Boddy, and Boddy is the butler, why did Boddy play along with it? Also, it’s SUPER implausible that the last 3 deaths were all done by different people, without any of them having seen each other. Lastly, it’s not implausible at all that Yvette and Scarlett talked to each other before the film, and that Yvette maybe knew how thing may turn out from working there. Also, just bc she doesn’t work with Scarlett anymore, doesn’t mean they’re on unfriendly / non talking terms.
The most believable ending is actually Scarlet. Here's why....to build off your points, White was still up stairs, Wadsworth was still based on the bed room layout still upstairs. Scarlet knew of the secrete passages, AND knew how to get around locks thanks to Ivette. Creeping into the study, speaking of the maid, is a duty that if caught would have been different, and also she is in for a split second. If seen, she goes back to her maid gig. Not to mention she drops the act with someone she knows IN THE BILLIARD ROOM. WHY would she do that unless she KNOWS WHO is in there, and why would she go unless she KNOWS who is there. She hates White, why be in the same room? 3 points! Lastly, Scarlet's act of being scared is a part. She is always on until she has the moments to get away. She always acted until she was caught, including hiding the passages AND having the hand bag to hide the gloves. End of story, by your calculations, 8 points to Scarlet ending. Discover Check, and incidentally.....mate.
This is definitely the most believable. I think he further skewed the numbers by giving a point every time someone used the weapon they were given, which makes sense at a maximum for the very first gunshot fired immediately after they got them.
The thing is the entire movie works well with ending 3 the most because of one aspect from the movie that (regardless of the ending) has the invisible elephant in the room: there wasn’t a single informant/accomplice of Mr. Boddy that was there that gave away ANY information concerning MR. GREEN whatsoever. No reason for Mr. Green to commit any killing (save for Mr. Boddy except that he “didn’t do it!”). Even when Wadsworth revealed that the Cook used to work for one of them, only Mrs. Peacock didn’t ask “who?” as she was too busy gasping 😮as that was the main indicator (as well as two of the endings having that same reveal, with Ending 1 having Yvette killing her instead of Mrs. Peacock). With one finally “proof of the pudding” that proves Ending 3 being the true ending, when the “Evangelist” came around, you can see Mr. Green acting less than a klutz than one noticed throughout the movie. Rather he was acting rather calm and cool, especially when he took his glasses off (when he’s behind everyone else) when the only other times he does it was when he’s extremely frustrated with Wadsworth using him as a stand-in for Mr. Boddy’s final death, and when he himself killed “Wadsworth”/Mr. Boddy and revealed himself as FBI. All that right there is evidence enough to prove that the third ending is the real ending.
@@tweso1499 that's as much a reason to discount ending 3 as it is to believe it. If Mr Green truly was an FBI agent and had no dirt on him at all, why was he even invited there in the first place?
Your rule of someone using the weapon they were given at the beginning earning a point skews the odds heavily in favor of the final ending, which happens to have a lot more killers than the first two.
Nice video. I've always enjoyed analyzing this movie too, so here are a few of my own thoughts: 2:55 SECRET PASSAGEWAY KNOWLEDGE: I had always assumed that the murderer's contact at the house (Yvette for Miss Scarlet and Colonel Mustard, the Cook for Mrs. Peacock) might have sent their former boss another letter about what to expect at the party, to try to get in their good graces again and thereby protect themselves from being attacked by the person they informed on. But maybe I was assuming too much. For Scarlet's ending however, it is strongly implied that Yvette and Scarlet had come up with this plan before the night started, since Yvette killed the Cook and Mr. Boddy on the "orders of the person who later killed her," according to Wadsworth. 4:18 GUNSHOTS IN THE STUDY: Here I think you might be assuming too much. There is no indication that the real murderer is the one who fired the gun. Anyone in the room could have bumped into Plum by accident, or he could easily be lying about someone trying to grab the gun from him. Remember, everyone in the room had a motive to kill Boddy. Anyone could have made the attempt in this scene. The only reason they didn't keep murdering later would be that they didn't realize Boddy was still alive, and they didn't know about all the other informants. 9:22 LOCKED LIBRARY: Are you sure that Wadsworth didn't leave the key in the door? It looks like the key is still in the lock. 10:43 PASSAGEWAYS: While not specifically stated, Peacock could have learned about the passageways from the Cook. 10:59 MR. BODDY: Peacock and Plum are both right next to the door when the group enters the kitchen, and when Mustard asks Wadsworth (who was not seen running in the hall and just appeared in the kitchen) to explain himself both Plum and Peacock have gone. Though Wadsworth suggests they used the secret passage, they could also have slipped back out the door, since no one was looking in that direction. 11:06 WHERE IS YVETTE?: I don't think that's a fair assumption. You only think Yvette stayed in the study because of the Scarlet ending. By that logic, we should deduct a point from the Scarlet ending for not explaining what Peacock was doing when she slipped off to the kitchen while the rest of the group went to the billiard room. 11:43 SCEAMING COOK: According to Christopher Lee, when someone is stabbed in the back they actually can't scream, they only gasp, because the breath is driven out of the body. 12:29 POWER OUTAGE: Alright, this one *is* a bit problematic, but because the power is out, everyone is bumping around trying to find their way. It might be difficult for Plum to tell exactly where the sounds are coming from, and Peacock could be trying to establish an alibi by pretending to bump into the furnace. 14:25 WEAPON CHOICE: I think that's way too generous for the third ending, because it unfairly gets more points only because it has more people to carry out the murders. 16:42 TRIPLE MURDER: Actually, this is one of the most unbelievable parts of the third ending: three murders happen almost simultaneously in very close proximity to each other, and yet none of the murderers see each other?? The billiard room, library and hall are all right next to each other. How could White, Scarlet, and Wadsworth possibly not run into each other? Furthermore, when Wadsworth tries to find Mrs. White in the dark he accidentally walks into a shower, before he goes downstairs and turns the power back on. If he were the shooter, he would have run down, then run up, walk into a shower, and then run downstairs again, which isn't impossible, but is very strange. MISSED OPPORTUNITY: THE REAL MR. BODDY: You forgot to talk about the third ending's reveal that Mr. Boddy was actually the butler and Wadsworth was the real Mr. Boddy. This creates several major plot holes: 1. Why did the butler act the way he did when he was disguised as Mr. Boddy? Why didn't he even try to tell the guests that this was a setup and that he isn't really blackmailing them? 2. When J. Edgar Hoover calls the house, Wadsworth answers it. In the first two endings this is because Wadsworth was an FBI informant, but in the third ending the call was actually for Mr. Green. Shouldn't Wadsworth have then realized that the FBI is on to him and that Green is an agent? Why would he continue with the charade at that point? With the FBI closing in, he should just get out of there! For these reasons, I actually think the third one is the least plausible ending, though they are all very fun to watch.
Awesome comment! Your observations are terrific and brought a smile to my face knowing I'm not the only one overthinking a movie based on a classic board game. But really, are we the ones overthinking it or were the writers underthinking it?
@@timemachinegeek Of course we're overthinking it! 😄 But I re-watched the movie today and I realized how difficult it must have been for the actors to play these scenes in such a way that the characters could read as either innocent or guilty. I also realized it's a bit hard to figure out how much of Wadsworth's plan worked, depending on each ending. 1. Wadsworth's story about his wife committing suicide after being blackmailed by Mr. Boddy might be a cover in the first two endings, but Wadsworth might not be an agent for the FBI so much as he is an informant, in which case his backstory could still work. Obviously it's a lie in the third ending. 2. Wadsworth says his plan was to confront Boddy with his crimes and then turn him over to the police. He invited all the victims and informants of the blackmail for this purpose. He says the informants were invited in the hopes that they would give evidence against Mr. Boddy. I wonder what those invitations were like, since the Motorist and the Cop don't mention anything about that. 3. In the third ending, if Wadsworth is really Mr. Boddy, how did he hope his plan to get rid of his informants would work? Was the butler disguised as Mr. Boddy always supposed to bring the weapons, or did he do that as an attempt to fight free of his boss's plan and get rid of the real Mr. Boddy? If the butler brought the weapons to try to mess up "Wadsworth's" plan, how was Mr. Boddy hoping his guests would kill off the informants? 4. Wadsworth locks the Motorist and Cop in their rooms, which in the first two endings could be to protect them from the murderer. In the third ending this is a bit odd, since Boddy is actually hoping they'll get killed off. Why make it more difficult for the murderer to get at them? If Colonel mustard hadn't found the secret passage (or known about it already), the motorist would have survived. Another funny thing to note: Miss Scarlet's car broke down on the way to Hill House and Professor Plum had to give her a lift. In the first ending, what would have happened if she hadn't gotten to the party? Would Yvette have still killed the cook and Mr. Boddy?
Yeah even tho the 3rd ending has the most fun plot twist and many of the individual murders make sense, the whole Wadsworth being Mr Body angle makes it the most unbelievable by a wide margin.
One other problem about Mrs. White killing Yvette in the 3rd ending is that: While Yvette is seen sneaking down the stairs to the billiard room, Mrs. White can be heard still screaming on the second floor. But when Yvette enters the billiard room "Mrs. White" is already there waiting for her. So for this to happen; Mrs. White would have had to turn off the power, rush back upstairs, scream, wait for Yvette to go past the second floor where Mrs. White was screaming (because Yvette was searching the attic with Mr. Green), and then run past Yvette to make it to the billiard room before Yvette. And all of that without Yvette knowing that she was walking into a trap. So I would say that the 3rd ending should have another 3 or 4 points marked off for that.
The thing is the entire movie works well with ending 3 the most because of one aspect from the movie that (regardless of the ending) has the invisible elephant in the room: there wasn’t a single informant/accomplice of Mr. Boddy that was there that gave away ANY information concerning MR. GREEN whatsoever. No reason for Mr. Green to commit any killing (save for Mr. Boddy except that he “didn’t do it!”). Even when Wadsworth revealed that the Cook used to work for one of them, only Mrs. Peacock didn’t ask “who?” as she was too busy gasping 😮as that was the main indicator (as well as two of the endings having that same reveal, with Ending 1 having Yvette killing her instead of Mrs. Peacock). With one finally “proof of the pudding” that proves Ending 3 being the true ending, when the “Evangelist” came around, you can see Mr. Green acting less than a klutz than one noticed throughout the movie. Rather he was acting rather calm and cool, especially when he took his glasses off (when he’s behind everyone else) when the only other times he does it was when he’s extremely frustrated with Wadsworth using him as a stand-in for Mr. Boddy’s final death, and when he himself killed “Wadsworth”/Mr. Boddy and revealed himself as FBI. All that right there is evidence enough to prove that the third ending is the real ending.
I grew up watching this on VHS, and the third ending was framed as "here's what really happened." I always took that for granted and never took the time to think about the feasability of the other endings. Nice video.
as far as i recall the shot at Mr Boddy in the dark room is never mentioned in ending 1 where scarlet/Yvette are the killers, it's plausible professor plum still shot in that ending, but as he never actually killed him, it was just ignored, thats what i assumed when watching anyhow XD
@@timemachinegeek The thing is the entire movie works well with ending 3 the most because of one aspect from the movie that (regardless of the ending) has the invisible elephant in the room: there wasn’t a single informant/accomplice of Mr. Boddy that was there that gave away ANY information concerning MR. GREEN whatsoever. No reason for Mr. Green to commit any killing (save for Mr. Boddy except that he “didn’t do it!”). Even when Wadsworth revealed that the Cook used to work for one of them, only Mrs. Peacock didn’t ask “who?” as she was too busy gasping 😮as that was the main indicator (as well as two of the endings having that same reveal, with Ending 1 having Yvette killing her instead of Mrs. Peacock). With one finally “proof of the pudding” that proves Ending 3 being the true ending, when the “Evangelist” came around, you can see Mr. Green acting less than a klutz than one noticed throughout the movie. Rather he was acting rather calm and cool, especially when he took his glasses off (when he’s behind everyone else) when the only other times he does it was when he’s extremely frustrated with Wadsworth using him as a stand-in for Mr. Boddy’s final death, and when he himself killed “Wadsworth”/Mr. Boddy and revealed himself as FBI. All that right there is evidence enough to prove that the third ending is the real ending.
To me, I wonder how anyone could kill Mr. Boddy with one blow with the candlestick and if is possible, I doubt Miss. Peacock could do it due to her lack of physicality. Remember, Wadsworth got hit in the head with the same candlestick in a few scenes later. Yvette could do it better than Miss. Peacock since Yvette do a lot of physical work that could build her muscles. Prof. Plum could most likely do it with one strike since he is a man. If the murderer couldn't kill Mr. Boddy with one strike, then Mr. Boddy would scream for help and the murderer would be caught right there. For Mr. Green... notice that he was only guest that his "informant" never arrived or revealed.
I love the "they all did it" especially the twist that the bumbling guy who was innocent in every story was actually undercover detective who got a good shot on the bad guy. Although, was he lying about being gay or he knows they won't talk since they're going to prison.
I have always been wondering the same thing. I know it doesn’t matter, but his last line just makes it seem like a cover up for the police. I mean who just says they are going home to sleep with their wife. It sounds like something a sitcom would have the obviously gay character that’s still in the closet would say.
@@Skyesbeautifuldream it's funny cause it could be either one. He's in the closet and know they won't squeal or he is straight and said that so the other cops won't mock him 😂
In my opinion, the second ending makes the least sense, but "Mrs. Peacock was a MAN?!" is one of my absolute favourite lines, immediately followed by the casual, "Would anyone care for some fruit or dessert?" from Wadsworth is brilliant.
My favorite is the ending where they all did it, and Tim Curry is perfect as Mr. Boddy. (Can’t imagine Lee Ving as a butler, though.) However, I have to say, there are a number of problems with it. 1) How did Colonel Mustard know about the secret passage from the Conservatory to the Lounge, prior to his “officially” discovering it with Miss Scarlet? This is never explained. 2) Mrs. White was taking a great risk going down to switch off the electricity, as she knew Scarlet and Mustard were searching the ground floor and might see her. How did she know where Yvette was? The last time she saw her, Yvette was going up to search the attic with Mr. Green. And it’s clear Yvette had a rendezvous with her murderer, she talks with her before her death. Are we to believe Yvette would want to go anywhere alone with jealous Mrs. White? 3) The phone call from J. Edgar Hoover was a complete mistake. He could blow his agent’s cover. Wadsworth handling it makes sense if he is the agent. But if he’s Mr. Boddy, it would only tip him off that someone in the house was a Fed, and he should probably get out ASAP. He never does this or even tries, which is really stupid. Also, that note Wadsworth reads to himself in the Study shortly after dinner makes no sense if Wadsworth is Mr. Boddy and not an FBI agent following orders from someone higher up. Of all the different endings, the one that makes the most sense is the ending where Miss Scarlet and Yvette are both killers. It explains a lot of little things that the other endings don’t even try to explain.
But the point was that she was supposed to be in the kitchen stabbing the cook when they were discussing the possibility of poisoned drinks, so she wouldn't have been listening to their conversation anymore at that particular moment
In the Board Game, the Library has two different doors. I don’t know if it’s the same in the movie or not. But if it is the same, Wadsworth locks one entrance but not the other, which defeats the purpose. Also, there’s a gag early in the movie about the door shutting and from the inside of the library, Colonel Mustard can’t tell because there is a case of books there. But I don’t remember if it remains this way throughout the movie. My memory is telling me there are two different entrances to the library, one that has a bookcase on the inside of the room, and one that does not. But I could be wrong.
Great video, its fun to watch people break down the plausibility of these endings! However a few small details you missed out In ending three. If Mrs White killed Yvette how come we can still hear Mrs White screaming from upstairs as Yvette descends after splitting from Mr Green? Did Mrs White record herself? Is she actually screaming from the billiard room? Actually throughout all three endings it's never explained why Yvette splits off from Mr Green to go down stairs when the power went out. Even if it was to turn the power back on why did she go to the billiard room? Also if Yvette and the Singing Telegram girl were killed roughy a few minuets apart how come Wadsworth and Mrs White didn't run into each other as they hurried back upstairs? If the phone call from the FBI was for Mr Green but Wadsworth answered it and Wadsworth is really Mr Body wouldn't that have tipped him off that one of the guests or accomplices was working for the FBI? One more thing what happened to the real Mr Green? If the one in ending three is an FBI agent what happened to the actual Mr Green, I can only guess he went to FBI ahead of time and told them of what was happening. Still a great video and breakdown though, just thought I'd point out some things I noticed that might've made ending three slightly less plausible.
About the phone call I noticed that wadsworth looked confused after the phone call possibly the FBI agent on the other end gave some sort of story after he was unable to get Mr. Green. And I think Mr. Green’s whole backstory was probably fake. Probably someone (maybe senator peacock) had a hint about the blackmailing so they came up with a phony person to be blackmailed to try to flush out mr. body.
@@BradyKaynee Wadsworth’s explanation for knowing the secret passages was: “This house belongs to a friend of mine. I’ve known all along.” After which he added, when questioned, that he couldn’t be the murderer because why would he reveal how he did it? Which reminds me of one thing I don’t understand regarding this video _(“One thing?”):_ Why no theory on Wadsworth turning out to be Mr. Body in the third ending? Sure, I love *ALL* of Tim Curry’s roles, whether his character is good or bad, but I didn’t buy him being Mr. Body! Also, not that I agree with Mrs. Peacock being the killer, but the Cook could easily have told her about the secret passages- off screen, much like Yvette would have had to do with Miss. Scarlet- because she used to be _her cook!_ “Sitting here at dinner, you told us we were eating one of your favorite recipes. And Monkeys’ Brains, though popular in Cantonese cuisine, are not often to be found in Washington, DC!”
4:10 I can explain the improbability point here. Though Wadsworth never touches on this except in the third and final ending, I think Prof. Plum did try to kill Mr. Boddy but failed. The only difference is that in Ending A (Miss Scarlet and Yvette), I think Plum never managed to kill Mr. Boddy with the candlestick, because someone else (in this ending, Yvette) beat him to it.
Ms. Scarlet's score is actually -3. She cut the power after the Ballroom, when Col. Mustard was in the Kitchen. While this introduces its own issue, specifically why Col. Mustard didn't investigate from the Kitchen, this is explained by Mustard taking a defensive position due to self-preservation in private. "I'll go first. I've had a good life" is easily explained by public facing bravado from the expectation held for military men of the time. This movie took place during the 1950s, and Mustard was a military officer in WWII.
Mrs. Peacock's score is -1. The gunshot is easily explained by the prospect of Plum actually trying to kill Boddy and missing. If he intended to kill Boddy later, he could lie and claim that Boddy was dead. Peacock simply beat him to the kill. This does raise the question of why Peacock didn't simply let Plum do it, which is answered by her seeing that he'd already failed. And, as I've already covered, the key is in the lock to the library.
Ending 3 actually gets a 6. "Wadsworth" was "in the Master Bedroom," which means he couldn't confirm who turned off the lights. So, he either got it wrong, meaning that Ms Scarlet is a possibility for having turned off the lights (Gloves being in her purse) or..... "Wadsworth" turned the lights. In either case, his claim that Mrs White turned off the lights is simply incorrect. And, again, the key to the library door was In the lock.
There's a difference between the quantity of the improbabilities and the quality of them. Miss Scarlett has an employee, Yvette, who is not only *willing* to gather secrets from all of her clients and to *kill* for Miss Scarlett, but is also *able* to, as well. Okay, *maybe* that's true; but why would Miss Scarlett kill such a competent and loyal employee? Maybe because Yvette betrayed her to Mister Boddy? Okay, I can believe that; but there was absolutely *no* foreshadowing for any of this. Even Mr. Green says it made no sense for Miss Scarlett to be the killer, forcing the movie to give us a completely different motive for her on the spot. As for the third ending, every single person decided to kill someone? Mrs. White is a killer, so that's believable, and Col. Mustard *maybe* works because he was a soldier and has probably killed before. But we're given no indication (in this ending) that Miss Scarlett, Mrs. Peacock, *or* Professor Plum are violent at all. And remember, this all starts with Prof. Plum killing Mister Boddy, who apparently is blackmailing him for having an affair with the Singing Telegram Girl. Why is he even worried about that? He already lost his license over that, and surely the UN is capable of doing a background check that would have already revealed he lost his license involuntarily. As he said in the first ending, he doesn't have much reason to worry about being exposed, considering "the kind of people they have at the UN". The second ending makes the most sense to me, because Mrs. Peacock has been shown to be increasingly erratic over the course of the movie. She's dreadfully worried about exposure, yelling at the top of her lungs that it's all "a vicious lie". I can see someone like that killing to keep her secret. And one person killing six people is a lot more believable than multiple people killing multiple people. Her lack of knowledge about the secret passages and access to the various keys is admittedly confusing, but as you pointed out, that's a problem in *all* the endings.
Such a great one-liner about Plum's work, delivered as only Tim Curry can: *Wadsworth:* Professor Plum, you were once a professor of psychiatry specializing in helping paranoid and homicidal lunatics suffering from delusions of grandeur. *Professor Plum:* Yes, but now I work for the United Nations. *Wadsworth:* So your work has not changed.
One of my all-time favorite films. As a kid in the mid to late 1980s, I used to rent "Clue" from my local VHS rental store dozens of times per year. It's a great movie and one that can't be taken too seriously. It's meant to be a campy, fun, send-up of classic "mystery"/"whodunit" tropes. The cast is amazing, Tim Curry is beyond brilliant. Could the writing have been better? Was the debacle of a theatrical release contrived and ill-conceived? Sure....but that's what makes "Clue" what it is....a goofy/fun escape that doesnt take itself too seriously and expects the same of its audience.
You know some of this plan may have been improvised. Yvette goes to the study to see if there's any weapons she could grab, presumably having an excuse as to why she went there if they see her opening the door (like "I heard a gunshot and wanted to know what was happening"). Then again why even go to the study. There's knives in the kitchen.
That's a funny thing about the weapons: there are so many more deadly objects around the house! You can see another large candlestick on the mantle in the study, at one point Mustard picks up a billiard cue and Scarlet is afraid he might beat her do death with it. The only weapon worth locking up was the revolver. When it comes to stabbing, bashing, or strangling there are too many objects that could be used for that...but the murderers never think of this! In every ending they have to steal the key to the cupboard rather than just pick up any of the other potentially deadly objects around the house
Of note, “But Here’s What Really Happened” was a product of the home release on VHS and later on DVD, streaming, etc. In the theatrical release, different theaters received different endings and whichever one you happened to see, you had no reason to believe that wasn’t the “real” ending
I would have to see people talk about this movie that watched it at different theaters and thinking someone is lying about watching the movie. When I first heard this I was thinking “Wow the people that had the “true ending” were lucky. It was the most interesting” It also raises a question. Is Mr. Green gay? I never understood if he’s final line was cover up for the cops, and he really was being blackmailed.
I don't know why this video was recommended to me now, but I Loved Every Moment!!!!! Thank you so much, Time Machine Geek!!! *CLUE* remains one of my favorite movies. No matter how down and depressed I feel, I can always put on *CLUE* and feel better because it makes me howl with laughter. Seeing your video truly made my day. Thank you! 🤗
"Colonel" is pronounced "Kernel". I keep thinking he's saying "Colin O'Mustard." 🙄 The colonel mustered his troops. (I mean, the kernel mustard them. 😉)
Wadsworth mentioned the mansion belonged to a friend of his. It is possible that the friend was also client of Yvette/Ms Scarlett just like Col Mustard. Under this scenario, Yvette may visited the house, learned the layout, gotten copies of all the keys and relayed all the information to Ms Scarlett. Remember, Ms Scarlett mentioned in ending A that she was in the business of secrets. She may have sent Yvette there to find information to blackmail the house owner. Finally, it is mentioned in the film that Yvette WORKED for Ms Scarlett. They never mentioned when exactly Yvette stopped working for Ms Scarlett. This could be any where from a few years right up to when she was murdered.
There were three different cuts of this movie that were put out into theaters. Obviously, the movie we all know and love now is a combination of all three cuts with all three individual endings being shown. However, watching this video, I believe there might be a possibility that some things might have been part of a fourth cut. The cognac line might have been part of this. In the fourth ending, which was not released in film version, but was in the Clue Storybook, Wadsworth reveals he killed everybody (possibly with help from Yvette, but I don't know about that). He also reveals that he poisoned everybody's drinks and he pulls all the phone lines in the house. He tries to make a run for it, but when he starts driving, one of his dogs is revealed to be in the car with him. The dog bites his neck and Wadsworth veers off the road in pain, crashing into the gate.
The cook worked for Miss Peacock, so she may have told her about the secret passages. That was the most plausible explanation for understanding the fact that Miss Peacock knew about the secret passages. But other than that, the second ending is my favorite. The first has many inconsistencies.
3:15 "yes she worked for me" doesn't mean that she stopped working with her. Miss Scarlet strangled her and at that point she's dead and she cannot work for her anymore. But this ending pretty much made no sense tbh.
I just found this. And I have to say, while the story doesn't explain this, you might not have been able to scream when you get stabbed in the back. Since the air in your lungs are forced out. Though as you said, they really should have explained that in the movie. And if you are wondering where I got my information, source: ru-vid.comkCvPOPe-TlA
That's also where I learned of that information, and you make a very good point to bring it up. The cook couldn't have screamed in any of the endings, because the breath would have been knocked out of her from the stabs to her back, so that wouldn't have needed to be a factor considered in whether or not whomever killed her would have been found out.
Ending 3 makes the most sense but I still can't get behind it being the official ending. 1.) Because the title card wasn't added in until after the movie left theaters and was released to TV/dvd. While it was in theaters, you only got 1 ending, and it was random depending on which theater you went to. So you would have to go see it multiple times to get all the endings. 2.) There was a 4th ending that was scrapped. 3.) There are still major plot holes in it. I think what really happened was a mix of all 3 endings. - Professor Plum attempted to kill Mr. Body with the gun and failed. In his panic and heightened adrenaline, I think he mistook Mr. Body for being dead and proclaimed him as such. - Yvette would later kill Mr. Body with the candlestick while everyone was checking on the cook. She was also working with Miss Scarlet, trying to play both her and Mr. Body to make as much money off of them both as she could, or she decided to ally with Miss Scarlet because she was also being blackmailed by Mr. Body and thought teaming up with Scarlet would be in her best interest. - The cook was killed by Mrs. Peacock while the rest were checking on Yvette. The cook never actually screamed, Wadsworth just assumed as much and everyone believed him. If you received a sledgehammer to the gut or chest, you wouldn't scream. You're more likely to grunt and fall to the ground. - Colonel Mustard killed the motorist after he left Miss Scarlet to keep checking the ballroom. - Miss Scarlet met up with Yvette in the billiards room after pulling the switch and killed Yvette and the police officer to cover her tracks. She's also the one to kill the Singing Telegram Girl to cover for Professor Plum/leave less loose ends for all of them. - While Mrs. White didn't kill anyone here, she definitely killed her husbands. - Mr. Green is entirely innocent, and Wadsworth is not secretly Mr. Body because the phone call from Mr. Hoover makes less sense if Wadsworth is actually Mr. Body. I also like to think that the reason certain people knew things was because, when Yvette was hired by Wadsworth as a maid, she was either told about the blackmail plot to arrest Mr. Body, or she found out through snooping what was going on, and told Miss Scarlet to offer a sort of team-up. She either, again, snooped around or was told about the secret passages and who else was expected, as a part of the setup, and told Miss Scarlet everything. Miss Scarlet likely reached out to Colonel Mustard and Mrs. Peacock to let them know their informants would be there as well. It's how Colonel Mustard and Mrs. Peacock would know about the passages to kill their respective victims. The reason she was scared in the ballroom by the window could be because she didn't know if Mr. Body would have backup with him, or she could be scared of another possible killer considering she wouldn't be sure if Professor Plum actually fired the first shot. Probably still a good chunk of plot holes here, but that's was makes this movie fun. There's no official ending, so we're always questioning who did what and we can come up with any variety of murder plots we want. Just like the board game itself.
Now for ending #1, some of the items can be explained away due to timing not chance. Peek in thru door then open it more. Ending #2, I agree. Peacock I believe is not that energetic to get around that fast. And 1 error I feel is the assumption the cook screams. Being stabbed in the back possibly thru a lung, no air. And if she did, good lungs to be heard thru all the walls.
Funny; I just happened to rewatch Clue two nights ago. As usual, the part that seemed like an odd, last minute addition was the singing telegram girl. It didn’t seem to tie in with anything, other than needing to add a sixth murder, for some reason. Also, I’ve always wondered how the people who saw it originally at the theaters felt about whichever ending they got to see, and whether or not they even realized there were multiple endings.
The Miss Scarlett ending was only the “first” when it was released on video. During its theatrical release, different theaters got prints with different endings that reflected how the board game had random killer, room, and weapon cards for the “case file”.
One potential loophole in the Scarlet/Yvette ending: while Yvette doesn't know that Mrs Peacock will start screaming, I think the fact that *she* starts screaming afterwards suggests that maybe that was the plan. So if the Cook had screamed, Yvette would scream too, and that would make everyone think it was her both times?
My school did the stage play version of this movie last year, and we used the “they all did it” ending. Personally it’s my favourite because it gives all the characters a chance, and I just found it really fun
wait wait wait Prof plum is in the kitchen. They all turn to question Mrs Peacock and they say who was gifted the knife? it was you! she goes "Yes but I put it down." then Prof. plum goes "Where?" she goes "in the study" and he asks again "Where?" and she responds "I don't know! before I fain--- after I fain---- I don't know! but any of you could've picked it up" and he turns back around and goes Hmmm
Nice run through! Just FYI: apparently, according to Christopher Lee, people don't scream when stabbed, so that's a non-issue. I agree that there are a lot of plot holes, but this isn't Agatha Christie, so I just enjoyed it for what it was - the best Murder/Comedy ever! The "re-boot" on Psych was pretty fun, too!
Mr. Green secretly being a badass FBI agent. And the whole accident prone bit being there to throw Wadsworth off, is great. However, that does make you wonder why Wadsworth was the one to talk to Mr. Hoover.
Just an FYI...you mentioned you thought it was cool the Miss Scarlet ending was first because she's first on the board... the film was released with the three endings played in different theaters at different times. The newspaper (yes, i said it) advertised the movie with "Ending A" "Ending B" "Ending C".... without the reveal. The 3 endings weren't released in entirety until the VHS release. The DVD is awesome because you can let the DVD play all three in order...or...you can let the disc choose a random ending.
I think the reason Ms. Scarlett is scared in the ballroom and checks, even though she is murderer in the first final scene, is that she didn't attempt to kill Mr. Body then. That explains the distance across the room and not being able to make it to the gun. The angles of the shot to hit his ear and the wall are also forensically off based on the positions of Prof. Plum, Ms. Scarlett and Mr. Body. When someone else did, she got scared for her life thinking there was another killer. She later realized that Mr. Body wasn't dead and killed him then. My question is how did she get the candlestick up on the top of the door frame?
I doubt this movie really took this into consideration but no one can scream when being stabbed in the back. Watching a behind the scenes of Lord of the Rings Christopher Lee revealed that, because of his time during WW 2, he witnessed that when someone is stabbed in the back they have no opportunity to scream because they are gasping for air. Like when you get the wind knocked out of you when you land back first on the floor.
It's explained in the behind-the-scenes of LOTR by Christopher Lee that people don't scream when they're stabbed in the back, they gasp- because of the air forcefully leaving their lungs. I thought this was more common knowledge by now
what i think this movie finally shows: How difficult and complicated it is to write the script for such a mystery crime movie. When i compare it to the logic of detective conan they performed ok. But as big Clue fan, having all the games and the movie i just want a new version. New house, new people, new muderings
It's a truly wonderful film, I remember watching it during before care at my elementary school, basically just a baby sitting service our school offered to parents who had to work early/late outside school hours. We watched every ending after our teacher realized it had multiple! (She'd had the movie for years but only watched it in full once).
The cook couldn't scream with a sucking chest wound. Rear knife entry between the 3rd and 4th rib would force air out of the lungs unobstructed. Old commando tip for Incapacitating someone
Didn't someone (Scarlett/Peacock) steal the key from Wadsworth while they were opening the door for the Motorist? Also, the cook may have not screamed at all while being stabbed and it could simply be that Wadsworth was only speculating as to why the cook wasnt heard. This would explain how Yvette was able to kill her before the conversation about Poisoned Brandy
I'm guessing you've never heard that quote from Christopher Lee about how people don't actually scream when they get stabbed in the back. Also stress makes people miss things like someone slipping away. And Peacock could've killed Boddy when she slipped away to use the bathroom. Peacock's is the more believable than Scarlett's with a final score of -2
I was saying exactly this. People don't actually scream when they are stabbed in the back, I went straight to Christopher Lee correcting Peter Jackson.
All three endings were only put together when Clue was released on VHS… in the theatre each copy of the movie only had one ending to prevent critics or other people from ‘ruining’ the ending. So if you went to different theaters you might have seen more than one ending.
The book has a fourth ending and if you choose the random ending on the DVD and Blu-Ray it's random which one you get. Which was how it was in theaters.
