When people get invited to a lavish mansion for dinner, they expect fancy lobsters, vintage wines, roasted beef, and chicken gracing their table. What they don’t expect is to find themselves at the center of a murder and blackmail conspiracy. It sounds like one wild dinner party! Well, that’s exactly the plot of Jonathan Lynn’s 1985 film “Clue.” This film is packed with an all-star cast, including Eileen Brennan, Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn, Christopher Lloyd, Michael McKean, Martin Mull, Lesley Ann Warren, Colleen Camp, and more. It’s a whodunit that keeps you guessing and laughing all the way through.
Clue (1985) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
Who are the guests at the dinner party?
The film kicks off with Wadsworth arriving at a creepy mansion in the middle of the night. He’s one of the staff hired by the mansion’s mysterious owner to handle the household chores. Tonight, though, Wadsworth is on edge. He’s been tasked with setting up a lavish dinner party and has strict orders to make sure everything goes off without a hitch. The owner has invited six guests, each receiving a letter and an alias to use while in the house, keeping their real names secret from the other guests.
The first guest to show up at the mansion is Colonel Mustard (not his real name), followed by Mrs. White. Next, Mrs. Peacock arrives, and soon after, Mr. Green joins the party. The last two guests, Professor Plum and Miss Scarlet, arrive together after Scarlet’s car breaks down on the way. The guests keep bugging Wadsworth to tell them about the dinner party and reveal who their host is, but Wadsworth stays tight-lipped. When the dinner bell rings, everyone heads to the dining hall, where they’re served a feast prepared by the mansion’s cooks. While sipping wine and slurping soup, the guests try to get to know each other but are careful not to share their real names, just as the letter instructs.
What are the guests being blackmailed for, and for what?
Things get tense when a seventh guest, Mr. Boddy, arrives at the mansion. After dinner, they’re all directed to the study, where Wadsworth reveals that they’re all being blackmailed for something shady they’ve done, which, if exposed, would ruin them. As mentioned earlier, someone has dirt on each guest and is using it to blackmail them. The blackmailer has sent Wadsworth a letter detailing each person’s secrets to show he’s serious. For example, Professor Plum was once a respected psychiatrist specializing in treating delusional and homicidal lunatics. However, he lost his license after sexually assaulting one of his patients.
Mrs. Peacock, on the other hand, is married to a big-shot senator and has taken bribes from lobbyists to sway her husband’s decisions. She insists it’s all lies, but in reality, she’s shelling out money every month to keep the bribery story hush-hush. Mrs. Scarlet is also caught in the blackmail web. She runs a fancy hotel and a phone service that hooks men up with young ladies for a short time. And guess what? Colonel Mustard is one of her regulars. As for Mrs. White, she has been paying off the blackmailer ever since her husband died under mysterious circumstances. She insists she didn’t kill him but is paying to avoid any scandal and media frenzy. Mr. Green’s secret is that he’s gay, and if that gets out, he’ll lose his powerful and lucrative position at the State Department.
So, who’s the puppet master behind all this blackmail? As expected, it’s none other than Mr. Boddy, the seventh guest.
What happens to Mr. Boddy?
After Boddy’s secret is out, he hands out parcels to the other guests, each containing a weapon. Someone gets a candlestick, someone an iron rod, another a knife, and someone else a handgun. Boddy is clever and knows the only way to stop him is by turning him over to the cops, but if they do that, they’ll also have to confess their own secrets, which would land them in jail. Things get interesting when Boddy tells the guests to kill Wadsworth, as he’s the one with the house key and without a secret, rendering him unexploitable. However, as soon as Boddy shuts off the lights, someone kills him. Boddy’s lifeless body lies on the floor, but there are no signs of how he died. No bullet wounds, no blunt force trauma, no visible injuries of any sort.
What happens to the cop, the telegram girl, the chef, the maid, and the passerby?
Wadsworth informs everyone that the killer is among them, and they must find the culprit before the police arrive, or they’ll all end up in jail. But in the following hours, things turn dark, and bodies start piling up. First, they find the cook’s body in the kitchen, stabbed in the back. With this discovery, the guests start turning on each other. Some accuse Mrs. Peacock of stabbing the cook, while others point fingers at Wadsworth and Mrs. White. Then, a passerby shows up at the mansion asking to use the telephone, but he’s soon killed with a wrench. A cop arrives to investigate the situation but meets the same fate, along with the maid and a singing telegram girl.
Clue (1985) Movie Ending Explained:
What are the three endings of Clue (1985)?
Guess who the true murderer is! Despite how ridiculous it may seem, the film has three distinct endings.
In the first shocking ending to “Clue,” the vivacious Wadsworth exposes the cunning Ms. Scarlet as the plotter. Scarlet personally butchered Yvette, the motorist, the police officer, as well as the singing telegram girl; she conspired with Yvette to murder Mr. Boddy and the chef. Scarlet aims her gun at Wadsworth but then remembers it is empty. The police come in and arrest her just as she is about to test his claim. It is also revealed that Wadsworth is a covert operative working for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
In “Clue’s” second surprising ending, the cunning Ms. Peacock is the killer, knocking off victims to hide her dirty secret of accepting bribes through her husband’s diplomatic assignments. Outwitting Wadsworth and the crew, she holds them at gunpoint and almost escapes. However, just as she’s about to taste freedom, the evangelist-turned-cop stops her in her tracks. She’s cuffed, and Wadsworth, the undercover FBI agent, offers the stunned guests fruit or dessert, ending the film.
In the third, final, and wildest ending of “Clue,” the blame is passed about. Boddy pretended to die when Professor Plum failed to shoot him; Ms. Peacock, in the meantime, offed the chef. After that, Plum really murdered Boddy, and Mustard, in an effort to cover up his history of war profiteering, murdered the Motorist. Ms. White murdered her husband and strangled Yvette since the latter had taken her husband. After Ms. Scarlet shot the police officer, Wadsworth shot the telegraph girl who was singing. The twist here is that Boddy is really Wadsworth, and the true butler is the first to fall prey. Green shoots Boddy, exposing him as the real FBI agent, just when he feels he has the upper hand.
Clue (1985) Movie Themes Analyzed:
In the 1985 film “Clue,” the quirky characters embody themes of deception, morality, class, and paranoia. Professor Plum hides a scandalous past under a façade of respectability, while Mrs. Peacock, a wealthy politician’s wife, engages in corruption to protect her secrets. Colonel Mustard wrestles with guilt over his shady activities, and Miss Scarlet’s quest for self-preservation reveals her moral compromises. Mr. Green’s drive for social advancement exposes class struggles, while Mrs. White’s personal vendettas reflect class dynamics. Wadsworth, the manipulative butler, stirs paranoia and suspicion, ultimately revealing everyone’s hidden truths. The film concludes, underscoring the inevitable repercussions of every action, whether a clandestine affair or a lucrative war venture, it casts a long shadow that will ultimately consume you.
