Trivia / Murder by Death

• Acting for Two: Peter Sellers also played Jessica Marbles' taxi driver, but the scene was deleted.
• All-Star Cast: Including Peter Falk, Eileen Brennan, Alec Guinness, David Niven, Peter Sellers, Dame Maggie Smith, Estelle Winwood, a young James Cromwell, and a rare acting appearance by Truman Capote.
• Creator Backlash: Peter Sellers hated the script and thought the movie would be an absolute bomb. It was a smash hit.
• Deleted Role: Phil Silvers had a small role in this film, but his scenes were deleted in the final release print.
• Deleted Scene: Several additional scenes were included in the film's network-TV airing. None are available on the DVD release, but all can be found (albeit in poor a/v quality) on YouTube.
  • Dick and Dora Charleston encounter Tess Skeffington traveling on foot en route to Lionel Twain's. See here.
  • Miss Marbles converses with a taxi driver (also played by Peter Sellers, using his Willium "mate" voice) on arriving at Twain's. See here.
  • Willie Wang gloats about having discovered his own "clue", which turns out to be worthless. See here.
  • Finally, expies of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson arrive late, after the whole thing is over. See here.
• Fake Nationality:
  • British actor Peter Sellers as a Chinese detective. Likely a parody of how Charlie Chan had never been played by a Chinese actor (in live action). It is later revealed he was actually either Lionel Twain's illegitimate son or adopted and raised by Twain. In either case, no explanation is given for his speech.
  • American actor James Coco plays Milo Perrier, who (depending on which line of dialogue you believe) is either a Frenchman or a Belgian.
    "Never underestimate a Frenchman's nostrils, Miss Twain."
    "I'm not a Frenchy! I'm a Belgy!"
  • Not to mention fellow American James Cromwell as Perrier's chauffeur Marcel.
• Follow the Leader: A 1980 Made-for-TV Movie titled Murder Can Hurt You! took this film's concept and aimed it at '70s police shows with characters such as Nojack, MacSkye, Lt. Polumbo, Sgt. Salty Sanderson, and Studsky & Hatch.
• Playing Against Type: Sir Alec Guinness as a strange butler may surprise people, as well as Peter Falk playing a Humphrey Bogart-style hard-boiled detective instead of his usual Columbo.^note The trench coat that Peter Falk wears in several scenes is the same one he wore on Columbo. It belonged to him, and he wore it in a couple of other films, such as his cameo in The Great Muppet Caper.
• Stunt Casting: Truman Capote as Twain.
• Those Two Actors: Peter Sellers and David Niven had previously costarred in The Pink Panther (1963) and Casino Royale (1967).
• What Could Have Been:
  • Orson Welles was originally considered to play Sidney Wang but had a scheduling conflict.
  • Myrna Loy was originally offered the part of Dora Charleston but she declined, later stating that "it would have been ridiculous to have Myrna Loy doing Myrna Loy". She also stated that she didn't want her "ass pinched by David Niven".

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