although the detectives failed, they failed brilliantly and have made him love them all again. Reception Vincent Canby of The New York Times wrote that the film had one of Simon's "nicest, breeziest screenplays," with James Coco "very, very funny as the somewhat prissy take-off on Hercule Poirot" and David Niven and Maggie Smith "marvelous as Dick and Dora Charleston, though they haven't enough to do." Arthur D. Murphy of Variety called it "a very good silly-funny Neil Simon satirical comedy, with a super all-star cast," adding, "It's the sort of film one could see more than once and pick up on comedy bits unnoticed at first. Dave Grusin's music is another highlight." Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times found the film "amusing" but added, "Why it is only amusing, and not hilarious, madcap, riotous, rip-roaring, or richly romping, I don't entirely know. It's a short movie (94 minutes) but a slow one, surprisingly so when you'd have said knockabout speed was called for." Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film three stars out of four and wrote that "after getting off to a shaky start, the picture quickly hits a speedball comedy pace it doesn't lose until the unsatisfactory unravelling of the mystery."<ref>Siskel, Gene (June 25, 1976). "'Murder' is a comedy—and why it works is no mystery". Chicago Tribune. Section 3, p. 1.</ref> Gary Arnold of The Washington Post stated that "this burlesque whodunit is probably too static and thinly contrived to generate a lasting sense of pleasure, but it's the kind of skillfully obvious, mock-innocent spoof that seems good fun while it lasts, and the fun is enhanced by the most adept and attractive comedy cast in recent memory." John Simon wrote, "Murder by Death is not a movie to write or read about, but to be seen and modestly enjoyed". On Rotten Tomatoes, Murder by Death holds a rating of 65% from 20 reviews. Award nominations See also The Cheap Detective, a 1978 film featuring Falk, Brennan, Coco, and Cromwell, also written by Simon and directed by Moore. Clue, a 1985 murder-mystery comedy featuring Brennan Ten Little Indians by Agatha Christie, a mystery novel with similar setting "And Then There Were Fewer", Family Guy episode with similar setting List of films featuring the deaf and hard of hearing Knives Out'', 2019 film featuring Christopher Plummer, Daniel Craig and Jamie Lee Curtis. References External links