One of the great literary fallacies of the past few centuries has been the belief that everything needs to make sense – it is a concept that has driven the vast majority of literature across every conceivable medium, with the general guideline being that everything needs to be resolved neatly and without any sense of confusion, since audiences aren’t always receptive to ambiguity. Someone who had a very different opinion on this matter was Neil Simon, one of the great writers of the 20th century, and arguably one of the sharpest and most intriguing playwrights and screenwriters of his generation. His work usually take the form of keen observations centered on the human condition, in which wry humour and eccentric characters anchor fascinating stories – and while they usually took a very similar form, mostly as urbane, upbeat modern comedies with broadly dramatic overtures, he was not opposed to experimenting on occasion, with one of his most compelling projects being Murder by Death, in which he collaborates with Robert Moore (who would go on to direct his screenplay in The Cheap Detective, another darkly comical detective story), the duo taking on the murder mystery genre, which has always been one of the most beloved in both the written and visual form, as well as one of the oldest, having its roots to the very start of literature, where mysteries were constructed and intended to be solved, either by the reader or a figure whose designation in the story is to find answers. This is only the impetus for the film, which is a hilariously irreverent and frankly quite bizarre spoof of a genre that is nothing if not entirely predictable, one that continues to entertain and enthrall, despite its predictability and tendency towards formulaic narratives. This was what Simon was aiming to parody, and he crafts a delightfully odd but unquestionably captivating dark comedy that is incredibly well-made and endearing in ways that we may not have initially expected, which makes for compelling and intriguing viewing that is both entertaining and provocative, in more ways than one.

The decision to make a film that openly lampoons the detective genre is neither revolutionary nor original, and everyone involved in this film is very aware of this fact, never daring to suggest that what they were doing was in any way oppositional to what had been happening in the genre for years – even in the more serious era of film noir and hardboiled detective fiction, there were attempts to dismantle the genre and show it in a radically different way than what was seen as conventional. These films that advantage of the tendency towards predictable storytelling structures, and that they are all loosely based around the same formulaic constructions, with the use of an overly smart detective that just so happens to be in the right place at the exact moment they are needed being an element that has been suitably mocked, appropriately so, since it can become quite predictable. Yet, Simon is not someone who only conceives of such an idea without the willingness to explore it deeper, so working closely with Moore, he throws together a peculiar dark comedy that pushes the boundaries that were already eviscerated beyond recognition by prior works and chooses to focus on a few of the elements that remained relatively untouched. If anyone was going to write a smart, insightful and bitingly funny satire of detective fiction that avoids the same narrative pratfalls that it is focused on subverting, it would be Simon – we don’t normally associate him with genre work, and it can almost seem jarring to see his name attached to something so wacky, considering most of his work has been focused on finding humour in ordinary scenarios rather than depending on the macabre to draw our attention, but he has never been anything if not thoroughly consistent in his desire to look far beyond conventions, this film proving that he had a strong authorial voice, even when doing something more abstract. He found a kindred spirit in Moore, a journeyman director who also possessed a touch of the absurd, their collaboration on this film and their next attempt at parodying detective fiction being absolutely remarkable and unquestionably hilarious.

What is most interesting about Murder by Death and its approach to its material is that this is a film that doesn’t only spoof the concepts of detectives, but takes aim at the entire industry of detective fiction, which has been appropriately challenged by Simon, drawing on their most common cliches and reconfiguring them into a blisteringly funny satire that is as much about these stories and characters as it is the people who create them. We look at the likes of Agatha Christie, Dashiell Hammett and Arthur Conan Doyle (and the myriad of other notable people who have made their name through stories of private investigators), and marvel at how accessible and charming their work is, not realizing that they are very often predictable and formed from a process of ticking off items off a shared rubric, only changing certain elements, such as setting and characters. Once you have read or seen one, you have essentially encountered them all, at least for the most part – but yet we keep coming back to these stories since they offer thrills and a sense of danger that panders to our inherent interest in solving mysteries and finding solutions. There is an abundance of metafictional elements that drive this film, and while the most obvious comes in the form of the characters being mostly drawn from common detective archetypes – the premise being that this is a murder mystery in which all the guests are the private detectives that usually show up in these ensemble mystery films, focusing on the question of who would emerge victorious when everyone is placed on equal footing with the same lack of information and similar levels of confusion, in what is very clearly an intentionally stilted and bizarre film in which rational thought is too distant a concept to be a part of the narrative. However, Murder by Death is most captivating when we realize that this is a dark comedy about the act of creation as a whole, with the very writers who have constructed this genre being the main targets of Simon’s brutally hilarious deconstruction of the detective genre, adding layers of postmodern commentary into this already complex film.

Murder by Death boasts an extremely impressive cast, drawn from both sides of the Atlantic, brought together to play these hilarious characters, many of whom were already in Simon’s circle of regular collaborators, while others would have their introduction to his work, setting them up for future collaborations. The ensemble nature of the film means that no one actor stands above the other, but works together as a collective to create the feeling of communal chaos that is defining of this film. However, they are still worth mentioning, since where else could one find a cast that sees Peter Sellers interacting with Peter Falk by way of Alec Guinness, all three actors being at the peak of their eccentricities, or where Maggie Smith and David Niven by the most eccentric couple? We have icons of the Golden Age of Hollywood like Elsa Lanchester existing in the same space as journeyman stage actors like James Coco, and having it seem entirely plausible and engaging. Perhaps the most memorable aspect of this film is that it served to be the acting debut of Truman Capote – one can almost envision Simon writing this role as “a Truman Capote type”, and taking the bold risk of seeking out the esteemed author himself to play the role, which he agreed to do – he’s not a particularly good actor, and outside of a very memorable cameo in Annie Hall, it isn’t surprising that this was the only acting performance by the writer, who is nonetheless terrific, his fay eccentric making his performance as the central villain and catalyst for the story all the more captivating. The cast has terrific chemistry, and even when playing outright stereotypes (Sellers’ yellowface performance is somehow grotesque and fascinating since much like we would see in Tropic Thunder many years later, there is a narrow boundary between pushing boundaries and being offensive, which becomes even murkier when a performance becomes the very concept that it is criticizing), the actors deliver spellbinding work that drives the film and makes it so extremely captivating, grounding it within a recognizable version of an otherwise abstract reality.

Many lessons can be learned from a well-crafted comedy, and when it comes to parodies and spoofs, the very best are those that are capable of standing alongside the very works that they lampoon, a mistake many filmmakers struggle to achieve since the general belief is that it can be successful simply through incessant mockery. Murder by Death is a triumph precisely because it doesn’t stoop to these levels, and instead sets out to be just as captivating as the works that inspired its creation, which gives it a necessary boost. This film is simultaneously a hilarious evisceration and loving tribute to the murder mystery genre, which has certainly never had a shortage of tributes over the years, but which remains very popular – whether this is due to the thrilling suspense that usually pulsates throughout these films, or because they play to both the inherent interest in the morbid and ingrained desire to resolve mysteries and get the satisfaction of piecing together clues that lead to the shocking and entertaining resolution. There aren’t many ways to discuss this film that doesn’t ultimately lead to us mentioning that this is not a story that ever intends to make much sense – in what is a ferocious deconstruction of the tendency of these stories towards always having a neat conclusion, Murder by Death ends in as intentionally bizarre a way as possible, proving that logic was never a factor in this story, and that those seeking a satisfying conclusion should look elsewhere. It’s a bitterly funny way of ending this narrative and proving the writer’s absolute disdain for conventions, so much so that he intentionally steers us away from having anything close to a strong ending. Not many writers could have conceived of such a dastardly plot, but Simon is nothing if not someone who aims to provoke, so this film proves to be one of his more unorthodox works, and quite frankly one of his very best attempts at going beyond conventions and focusing on ideas that were previously untouched throughout his terrific career.