Murder by Death - actors, characters and roles
All actors and their roles in the film "Murder by Death"
Murder by Death (1976)
Timing:
1:34 (94 min)
7.2/10
781
781
7.241/10
6749
6749
7.2/10
45000
45000
Actors and characters
What's left behind the scenes
- Filming took place in the United States, with the entire film shot at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California, which was then known as Burbank Studios.
- The original title translates to "Murder by Death".
- The sound of the doorbell is female screams. It uses a scream by Fay Wray (1907-2004) from the horror film “King Kong” (1933) directed by Merian C. Cooper (1893-1973) and Ernest B. Schoedsack (1893-1979).
- All the detectives shown in the film are parodies of characters from the books of three writers: Dashiell Hammett (1894-1961), whose Nick Charles and Sam Spade served as prototypes for Dick Charleston and Sam Diamond in the film, Agatha Christie (1890-1976), whose Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple became, respectively, Milo Perrie and Miss Marbles, and Earl Derr Biggers (1884-1933) with his Charlie Chan, who served as the prototype for Sidney Wang shown in the film.
- Initially, it was intended that Katharine Hepburn (1907-2003) would play the heroine named Abigail Christen (a reference to Agatha Christie), but she refused to film when it became clear that Myrna Loy (1905-1993) would not be in the movie. Then the heroine's name was changed to Abigail Christmas, and the role went to Estelle Winwood (1883-1984). Afterwards, the script was rewritten many times, and Winwood became a nurse caring for a new character – Miss Jessica Marbles, played by Elsa Lanchester (1902-1986).
- A country road was constructed in a pavilion of the television production enterprise at The Burbank Studios in Burbank, California. This went against the common practice at the time of filming some locations on location. The set was built to give the film the characteristic atmosphere of detective stories set in the 1930s or 1940s. A huge rotating drum was built, on the surface of which trees and branches were drawn, and to which branches were even attached in places; and this drum rotated while the cars remained in the same place. The cars would occasionally shudder, conveying the impression of movement, and outside, like on a giant carousel, views of the surroundings moved. This technique was often used in films of the 1920s, and was later repeatedly employed by Ingmar Bergman (1918-2007). Approximately a hundred evergreen trees, several hundred shrubs, a huge amount of foliage, and several tons of earth were used to create the country road, and the construction was not cheap.
- The setting shifts from a gloomy and broken country road to a secluded and equally gloomy mansion. Its construction began in August 1975 and was completed in record time. The script described it as a building in Victorian style, however, set designer Stephen B. Grimes (1027-1988) took certain liberties with it. Grimes imagined this structure as being similar to buildings on the estates of American millionaires, which they had transported brick by brick from Europe.
- Orson Welles (1915-1985) was considered for the role of Inspector Wang, but he was busy with another project.
- The original title translates as "Murder by Death."
- Initially, it was assumed that the heroine named Abigail Christian (a reference to Agatha Christie) would be played by Katharine Hepburn (1907-2003), but she refused to film when it turned out that Myrna Loy (1905-1993) was not going to be in the film. Then the heroine's name was changed to Abigail Christmas, and the role went to Estelle Winwood (1883-1984). The script was then repeatedly rewritten, and Winwood became a nurse caring for a new character - Miss Jessica Marbles, played by Elsa Lanchester (1902-1986).
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