In The


 

In the...
setup of the movie, Wadsworth, the butler, approaches the house and feeds the guard dogs meat to distract them so he can shorten their chains. He manages to step in dog crap and tries to scrape it off his shoe. One inside the house, he checks with Yvette, the maid, to make sure all the preparations are made and that she has her "instructions." The maid sniffs the air and checks her shoes. Wadsworth also checks with the cook to be sure dinner will be ready, to which she replies her only line in the movie: "Dinner will be ready at 7:30."
 
 
 
Then the guests arrive and the story starts to reveal itself
Colonel Mustard is the first to arrive and is instructed that everyone is being addressed by a pseudonym and they will all be obliged to use those names.
Mrs. White is the next guest to enter; she also sniffs the air and checks her shoes, and it appears that she knows Yvette, the maid. They cut to a scene on the road approaching the house, where Miss Scarlett has broken down and Professor Plum picks her up. They both admit that they are en route to the same place. Mrs. Peacock is the next to arrive at the house. Mr. Green arrives as the rain starts to pour down and then Professor Plum and Miss Scarlett finally arrive at the house. They all learn that everyone is using a pseudonym. Once all the guests have arrived they move from having brandy in the library to dinner, announced by the banging of the gong. They are seated and have a brief discussion of literature, where it becomes obvious that Miss Scarlett is not a cultured woman.
 
Mustard: "I prefer Kipling myself - the female of the species is more deadly than the male. Do you like Kipling, Miss Scarlet?"

Scarlet: "Sure - I'll eat anything."

 

They discover that the extra chair is not for the host but for a seventh guest. Mrs. Peacock starts the conversation with a stunning display of a one-sided conversation.
They come to discover that they all have some link to the Washington D.C. area, either by profession or by residence.
 
The entrance of Mr. Boddy
Mr. Boddy then arrives and enters the dining room. There is a moment of very tense silence and they reveal that they have all received a letter inviting them to end a financial situation. They then move to the study and have brandy. Wadsworth reveals to them what each one has done in order to be called there that evening. Mr. Boddy tries to run out but it is then revealed that they are locked into the house.
 
Blackmail revealed
When they return to the study, Wadsworth begins to explain that they are all being blackmailed. It is revealed that Professor Plum had an affair with his patient. Mrs. Peacock takes bribes for her husband’s vote. Miss Scarlet announces that she runs a house of ill repute. Colonel Mustard is first announced by Miss Scarlet to have visited the house of ill repute and to be driving a very expensive car for his post. Mrs. White is being blackmailed for the death of her husband, a scientist who had been dismembered. It is revealed that she also lost her first husband, an illusionist who "disappeared." Mr. Green then stands and admits to being a homosexual, which in 1950s Washington is seen as a security breach. They then discover that Mr. Boddy is the person blackmailing them. Wadsworth tells them that the police are on the way, Mr. Boddy points out that if they tell on him their secrets will be revealed.
 
Presentation of the "Gifts" and first "murder"
 
Mr. Boddy gives all the dinner guests gifts so they can make up their minds what to do. Miss Scarlett- candle stick; Mrs. White- noose; Mr. Green lead pipe; Col. Mustard wrench; Professor Plum- gun; Mrs. Peacock- dagger. He invites them to kill Wadsworth so that their secrets will be safe and they can all leave. Mr. Boddy turns off the light and there is a gunshot followed by a scream but it is not Wadsworth who is dead, but Mr. Boddy. They try to discern who killed him and are interrupted by a scream from down the hall. They run down the hall to find Yvette, the maid, alone in the billiard room screaming. When they enter the room Mrs. Peacock is missing from the scene. Yvette was scared and had drank the cognac, which they think may be poisoned; she then joins the group. It is then revealed that Wadsworth arranged the meeting as a way to punish Mr. Boddy for the death of his wife. He revealed that Mr. Boddy blackmailed them all because he thought that they were all un-American.
 
"Dinner wasn't that bad."- Miss. Scarlet
They then find the cook dead in the kitchen and Wadsworth is not present when they start to examine it. They move the cook’s body into the study only to discover Mr. Boddy's body is gone. Mrs. Peacock finds Mr. Boddy's body in the hall bathroom. He is now really dead. They move the bodies to the study, Wadsworth locks the remaining weapons into a cabinet and they try to throw the key away. When they open the front door they find a motorist who has broken down and needs to use the phone. They lock him in the lounge. They then throw the key to the weapons cupboard away and begin to try to deduce what has happened.
 
The Search
They then break up into random pairs and begin to search the house. The motorist is killed and Colonel Mustard and Miss Scarlet find him by going down a secret passage. Yvette gets the gun and shoots the lounge door open. The chandelier falls and they discover the weapons cupboard is open. Then the doorbell rings outside; it is a cop checking on the car at the end of the drive. They lock the cop into the library where he answers a phone call. It is from J. Edgar Hoover.
 
Mustard: "Why is J. Edgar Hoover on your phone?"

Wadsworth: "I don't know. He's on everybody else's, so why shouldn't he be on mine!"

 

Wadsworth takes the phone call and the cop is shown around the house, where the guests make it look like the dead people are snogging with the others. They go back to searching and then Yvette is killed. The cop is murdered and a singing telegram is shot. Then begins the endings and explanations.
 
The first ending: Wadsworth reveals that Yvette killed Mr. Boddy and the cook, under orders from Miss Scarlet, who killed the motorist, Yvette, the cop and the singing telegram girl. Scarlett then reveals that her call-girl business is actually a cover for her real work, "secrets extortion," in which Yvette participated. Scarlet plans to use the information gathered that night to blackmail each of the other guests. However, as a butler, Wadsworth has no government information, and she threatens to shoot him. Wadsworth retorts that the gun has no bullets left and the two argue over how many bullets had actually been fired. Distracted by the doorbell, Scarlet is subdued by Wadsworth and the police rush in. Wadsworth is revealed to be an FBI agent, and to prove that there were actually no bullets in the gun, he fires it in the air. A bullet was left in the chamber, however, which hits another chandelier, sending it crashing to the floor behind Colonel Mustard (the second time that night). This is also the longest ending.
 
 
The second ending: The second ending has Mrs. Peacock as the murderer of all the victims. She pulls the revolver and threatens Wadsworth, but he points out that she has done them all a great favor by killing Boddy, a blackmailer, and his associates, and that he plans to cover up the murders. Peacock leaves to a chorus of "for she's a jolly good fellow" from the others. Wadsworth then reveals that he is an FBI agent who set up the entire meeting as a sting operation on Mrs. Peacock, who was taking bribes from foreign powers. Mr. Boddy's murder was an unplanned but convenient turn of events. Upon attempting to escape, Peacock is arrested, and Wadsworth invites the guests to stay for fruit and dessert.
 
 
The third ending: No one person orchestrated all six murders. Each of the guests murdered one of the victims:  Professor Plum killed Mr. Boddy, Mrs. Peacock killed the cook, Colonel Mustard killed the motorist, Mrs. White killed Yvette and Miss Scarlet killed the cop. By process of elimination the guests accuse Mr. Green of killing the singing telegram girl, although he claims he is innocent. Wadsworth pulls the revolver from his coat, revealing that it was he who shot the girl, and holds the guests at gunpoint. Wadsworth then reveals the shocking secret that he is, in fact, the real Mr. Boddy. The "Mr. Boddy" killed earlier was actually his butler, set up to take the fall. Mr. Boddy/Wadsworth thanks the guests for getting rid of his spies, and in doing so, all the evidence against him. He suggests they stash the bodies in the cellar, leave quietly one at a time, and pretend the evening never happened. He also plans to continue blackmailing them. Mr. Green suddenly shoots and kills Mr. Boddy, revealing that he is an undercover FBI agent. Backup forces rush in and surround the five murderers. The police chief asks which is the guilty party, and, in a nod to the game, Mr. Green replies, "They all did it. But if you want to know who killed Mr. Boddy, I did. In the hall, with the revolver." This ending makes frequent errors with the plot. For example, according to the ending, Peacock decided to turn off the lights at the top of cellar, run back down to back up against the heater for a comedic scene for the audience, and then run back upstairs to kill Yvette, the cop, and the singing messenger. This is also the only ending with no flashbacks.