Plot
In 1954, against a backdrop of McCarthyism, six strangers are invited to a party in a secluded New England mansion. They are met by the house butler, Wadsworth (Tim Curry), who reminds them each that they have been given pseudonyms to protect their true identity. During dinner the seventh attendee, Mr. Boddy (Lee Ving), arrives. After dinner, Wadsworth reveals the true nature of the party: all of the guests are being blackmailed to hide their secrets:
- Professor Plum (Christopher Lloyd), a psychiatrist who lost his license because he had an affair with a female patient. He now works for the World Health Organization.
- Mrs. Peacock (Eileen Brennan), a Senator's wife who has accepted bribes to deliver her husband's vote.
- Mrs. White (Madeline Kahn), an alleged black widow who was drawn in to avoid a scandal regarding the mysterious death of her nuclear physicist husband. She was previously married to an illusionist, who disappeared under mysterious circumstances.
- Miss Scarlet (Lesley Ann Warren), a madam who operates an illegal brothel in Washington, D.C.
- Colonel Mustard (Martin Mull) is thought at first to have been blackmailed for scandalous pictures, but it is later revealed that he was a war profiteer who made his money from selling stolen radio components on the black market. He now works at The Pentagon.
- Mr. Green (Michael McKean) is a homosexual which was a secret that would cost him his job with the State Department if it were widely known.
Finally, Wadsworth reveals Mr. Boddy's secret: he is the one who has been blackmailing them. Wadsworth has gathered all the guests together to confront Mr. Boddy and turn him over to the police, which he later reveals is his revenge against Mr. Boddy, who is his former employer, because Boddy's blackmail had resulted in Wadsworth's wife committing suicide.
Mr. Boddy reminds the guests that he can reveal their secrets in police custody and offers them an alternative proposition: by using weapons that he has provided to each of them, they can kill Wadsworth and destroy the evidence, keeping their secrets safe. Escape is not an option as Wadsworth holds the only key to the locked doors, and vicious dogs patrol the perimeter, thus Mr. Boddy turns out the lights in the room, creating a moment of chaos in which someone shoots the gun. When they are brought back up, Mr. Boddy is dead, seemingly murdered by an unknown cause in the study (there is no gunshot wound, just a bullet hole in the wall). The guests all quickly deny killing him, and are later proven right as Mr. Boddy (previously faking his death) is ultimately found murdered with the candlestick in the hall. Wadsworth and the guests try to deduce who killed Mr. Boddy by exploring the house. During their slapstick explorations, Mrs. Ho, the cook (Kellye Nakahara) has been murdered with the dagger in the kitchen. During the course of the evening three others who visit the house: a stranded motorist (Jeffrey Kramer), a police officer (Bill Henderson) investigating the motorist's abandoned car, and a singing telegram girl (Jane Wiedlin), are all killed with the wrench, the lead pipe, and the revolver; in the lounge, the library, and the front hall, respectively. Yvette, the maid (Colleen Camp) is strangled in the billiard room with the rope as well.
Wadsworth comes to the conclusion that he knows who the murderer is, and runs through a frantic, madcap re-enactment of the entire evening with the guests in tow. Wadsworth points out that the victims were Boddy's accomplices in blackmail. Each of them had a connection to one of the guests, enabling Boddy to find out what secrets to blackmail them over. In preparation to reveal the murderer of Mr. Boddy, Wadsworth turns off the electricity to the house. At this point, the story proceeds to one of three endings: A, B, or C. In the film's initial theatrical run, some theaters announced which ending the viewer would see. In the VHS home video and releases, and most television broadcasts, the three endings are shown sequentially, with the first two characterized as possible endings, but ending C being the true one. The DVD home release also provides the option of a random single ending.
Read more about this topic: Clue (film)
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