History Film / Clue

* AbortedArc: Two clues from the scrapped fourth ending still remains in the film: [[spoiler: eagle eyed viewers can spot that Wadsworth disappears from the study when Mr. Boddy is found "dead" for the first time. According to the script, this was when he would have murdered the cook, using the secret passage while everyone was gathered around Mr. Boddy.]][[spoiler: He's also initially missing when everyone first enters the kitchen to check on the cook; this would have been when he stayed behind in the study to kill Mr. Boddy for real.]]

*** When Wadsworth is taking the guests into the Dining Room, Colonel Mustard asks if the seventh seat at the head of the table for him, and Wadsworth replies no, he's merely the butler. [[spoiler:Behind the chair, and directly beside Wadsworth in this scene, is a portrait of a man who looks very much like Mr. Boddy and is wearing the exact same clothes as Wadsworth. This plus the conversation are subtle hints that Mr. Boddy is actually Wadsworth's butler, Wadsworth is the real Mr. Boddy.]]

* GambitRoulette, with a SpannerInTheWorks: Mr. Boddy presents all of his blackmail victims with a lethal weapon, tells them to kill the guy who ''isn't'' blackmailing them, and then turns off all the lights, ''while still in the room.'' To the shock of no one, it doesn't end well for him. Of course, depending on the ending, [[spoiler:it was a ''successful'' Roulette - in the third ending "Mr. Boddy" was really the blackmailer's butler, and the guy he was telling everyone to kill was, in fact, Mr. Boddy. [[ReversePsychology If anybody had actually done what they were told to]], TheChessmaster would have been killed, just as the butler wanted.]]

** Both possibly subverted when [[spoiler: the "real" ending reveals Wadsworth is the real Boddy and this was part of the plan. On the other hand, his butler not realizing this can still count.]]

!! ''Clue'' contains the following tropes:

* CoolGuns: The gun that Professor Plum is given is the Harrington & Richardson Model 642, which is used by several people throughout the film, and the gun that the FBI use in this film is the Smith and Wesson Model 10.

** Wadsworth tells the guests his plan is for all of them to expose Boddy. But Boddy replies that if he goes down, he'll ensure every one of them has their secrets exposed in court. He then says "if one of you kills Wadsworth now..."no one but the seven of us will ever know." The screenplay sums up Wadsworth's wide-eyed reaction with "clearly this option hadn't occurred to him."
** Of course, this then applies to Boddy as it never occurred to ''him'' that at least one of the six people he was blackmailing would decide that rather than knock off Wadsworth, it'd be better to kill ''Boddy'' instead. This right after he even gave them each a murder weapon ''and'' turns out the lights.

** A point could be made for [[spoiler: Miss Scarlet in her ending as the murderer. Not so much for anything to do about miscounting the bullets, but that she made her case to extort secrets from the other guests at gunpoint with the threat of blackmail to keep them in line. Problem is, she then plans to kill Wadsworth on the spot ... with a gun that only has one bullet left. The moment she wasted her bullet on him and loses her immediate leverage, what was to stop any of the other guests from just grabbing her and subduing her?]]
** After the first couple murders, Wadsworth plans on locking up the remaining weapons so they can't be used to murder anyone else. This is all great in theory ... but he doesn't lock up the Candlestick or the Knife that has already been used. Just because they were used once to kill someone, it doesn't make them any less deadly to be used again. Alternately, the killer in all three endings ''also'' never thinks about this, and has to steal the key from Wadsworth (or plan on breaking open the cupboard) instead of just picking up one of the previously used weapons. Or for that matter [[ImprovisedWeapon just picking up one of the numerous candlesticks, kitchen knives, pieces of lead pipe, and other potential weapons that are lying randomly around the house and are not locked in the cupboard]].

* AndThenWhat: In two of the three endings, this question is raised. Wadsworth always suggests, more or less, the same thing: stack the bodies in the cellar, have everyone leave at different times, and [[LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain pretend it never happened]], although not necessarily for the same reasons [[spoiler:given there are different killers]].

* ArtisticLicenseGunSafety: Nobody in the film uses any sort of gun safety at all. Even the police and FBI agents seen during each ending constantly keep their fingers on the trigger at all times. [[spoiler:This includes the Chief and Mr. Green in the third ending, despite them currently pointing their guns at the backs of their fellow agents; the Chief pointing his gun directly at Wadsworth's stomach while arresting Miss Scarlet; and Wadsworth pulling the trigger of a gun to try and prove it isn't loaded.]]

** [[spoiler:Most of the other murder victims are no better than Mr. Boddy and the guests. At the least they informed on one of the guests to Mr. Boddy so he could blackmail them, and some of the victims are themselves complicit in what the blackmail was about, like the DirtyCop who accepted bribes from Miss Scarlet so she could run a brothel. The exception is the Singing Telegram Girl -- the circumstances of her sexual encounters with Professor Plum are vague, but given his lecherous personality, in all likelihood he took advantage of her as her psychiatrist to seduce her. Although given the fact that Plum specialized in treating homicidal lunatics with delusions of grandeur, she might not have been quite as wholesome as she seems, even if Plum took advantage of her.]]

** [[spoiler:Most of the other murder victims are no better than Mr. Boddy and the guests. At the least they informed on one of the guests to Mr. Boddy so he could blackmail them, and some of the victims are themselves complicit in what the blackmail was about, like the DirtyCop who accepted bribes from Miss Scarlet so she could run a brothel. The exception is the Singing Telegram Girl -- the circumstances of her sexual encounters with Professor Plum are vague, but given his lecherous personality, in all likelihood he took advantage of her as her psychiatrist to seduce her. Although the fact that Plum specialized in treating homicidal lunatics with delusions of grandeur, she might not have been quite as wholesome as she seems, even if Plum took advantage of her.]]

** [[spoiler:Most of the other murder victims are no better than Mr. Boddy and the guests. At the least they informed on one of the guests to Mr. Boddy so he could blackmail them, and some of the victims are themselves complicit in what the blackmail was about, like the DirtyCop who accepted bribes from Miss Scarlet so she could run a brothel. The exception is the Singing Telegram Girl -- the circumstances of her sexual encounters with Professor Plum are vague, but given his lecherous personality, in all likelihood he took advantage of her as her psychiatrist to seduce her. Although the fact that Plum specialized in treating patients with homicidal and grandiose delusions, she might not have been quite as wholesome as she seems, even if Plum took advantage of her.]]

** [[spoiler:Most of the other murder victims are no better than Mr. Boddy and the guests. At the least they informed on one of the guests to Mr. Boddy so he could blackmail them, and some of the victims are themselves complicit in what the blackmail was about, like the DirtyCop who accepted bribes from Miss Scarlet so she could run a brothel. The exception is the Singing Telegram Girl -- the circumstances of her sexual encounters with Professor Plum are vague, but given his lecherous personality, in all likelihood he took advantage of her as her psychiatrist to seduce her.]]

* For the novelization by Malcolm [=McDowell=] click [[https://archive.org/details/retro-reading-time/Clue%20-%20Michael%20McDowell/mode/2up here.]]

* For the novelization by Malcolm McDowell click [[https://archive.org/details/retro-reading-time/Clue%20-%20Michael%20McDowell/mode/2up here.]]

** From the first and second endings, Wadsworth's declaration of who has the gun in their possession is the murderer. It's less a wham line than a wham action when the murder of the ending reveals themself.

** The dinner takes place at a mansion called Hill House--named after Debra Hill, the film's producer. It also a reference to ''Literature/TheHauntingOfHillHouse''.

*** Col. Mustard arrives in a beige coat and a beige and black scarf, and he wears a yellow tie. Also, he's a high-ranking military official and repeatedly attempts to take charge in various situations, but is generally incompetent [[ArmchairMilitary rarely actually does anything]]; in other words, he can't [[https://www.dictionary.com/e/cut-the-mustard/ cut the mustard]].

* LetsSplitUpGang: Invoked by Colonel Mustard, when he suggests searching the house to make sure they're no one else there that could be behind the murders. However, they make a point to avoid the usual GenreBlindness of the trope by going in pairs, reasoning that if one of them is the murderer, pairing off will make it harder for them to strike again; the other will notice if their partner goes missing for a long period of time, and the murderer killing their own partner would make them the prime suspect. Of course, this logic doesn't work out for several reasons, but at least they tried. The invoking of the trope is also justified - it's a ''huge'' three story house with a basement, so if they all searched together, it would both take too long (and they're on a timer to find the murderer before the police arrive) and it would be more likely that someone hiding in the house could slip away.

** Both the guard dogs and the poisoned cognac are relics from a fourth ending that written and shot, but ultimately left out in the final cut.

* ItWorksBetterWithBullets: In the first ending, Wadsworth attempts to pull this on [[spoiler:Miss Scarlet]], saying that all six shots have been and enumerating them. [[spoiler:Miss Scarlet]] disagrees, stating only one shot was fired at the chandelier. When everything is over and the murderer has been arrested, Wadsworth says that they could not have got away in any case because the gun was empty and fires it at the ceiling. Inevitably, it goes off, and triggers a second FallingChandelierOfDoom that narrowly misses [[spoiler:Colonel Mustard]].