Clue

Six invited guests, given assumed names, are summoned to the secluded mansion, Hill House, on a stormy night. Mr. Green (Michael McKean), Colonel Mustard (Martin Mull), Mrs. Peacock (Eileen Brennan), Professor Plum (Christopher Lloyd), Miss Scarlet (Lesley Ann Warren) and Mrs. White (Madeline Kahn) are greeted by the British butler, Wadsworth (Tim Curry) and the French maid, Yvette (Colleen Camp). Over dinner, the guests discover that each lives in Washington D.C., or is employed by the government. A seventh guest arrives, and is introduced as Mr. Boddy (Lee Ving).

The group then gathers in the study where, one by one, Wadsworth reveals that each guest is a victim of blackmail, provides evidence concerning the guests' indiscretions, and then explains that Mr. Boddy is the man who has been blackmailing them all, and that the police will arrive in forty-five minutes. After giving each guest a different gift-wrapped weapon ranging from a revolver to a candlestick, Mr. Boddy tries to convince the guests that they must kill Wadsworth or be exposed, and then shuts off the lights. There is then much commotion followed by a gunshot. When the lights are turned back on, Boddy himself is dead. Wadsworth then confesses to being the one who invited all of them to the mansion, and reveals his motive for doing so was to bring Boddy to justice (his wife, who was also a victim, committed suicide as a result of the blackmail). The guests then try to deduce who killed Boddy. Yvette mentions the cook (Kellye Nakahara), so they hurry to the kitchen, where she is then found dead, stabbed in the back with a knife.

After locking their weapons in a cupboard and admitting a stranded motorist (Jeffrey Kramer) into the mansion (who is promptly locked in the lounge), the guests pair off to search the mansion after a suggestion by Col. Mustard that there may be someone hiding in the house who is responsible for Boddy's murder. During the search, an unknown character burns all of the evidence Wadsworth presented earlier, and kills the motorist with a wrench (which had been locked up with all of the other weapons). A policeman (Bill Henderson), having seen the stranded motorist's car, comes to the door, asks to use the phone, and is locked in the library by Wadsworth. The entire mansion's power soon goes off and the policeman is killed with a lead pipe, along with Yvette (in the billiard room with a rope). During the outage, another unexpected guest, a singing telegram girl (Jane Wiedlin), is shot with the revolver on the front porch. The lights eventually come back on and shortly thereafter, Wadsworth proclaims that he has solved the mysterious murders, which leads into the film's multiple endings.

First ending

In the first scenario, 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. Scarlet 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 a chandelier, sending it crashing to the floor.

Second ending

In the second scenario, it is revealed that Mrs. Peacock is the murderer of all the victims. She pulls out the revolver and threatens Wadsworth, but he points out that she has done them all a great favor by killing Boddy, their blackmailer, and his associates. Wadsworth also claims he never contacted the police, and the entire evening can easily be buried and forgotten. 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 offers the guests fruit and dessert.

Third ending

In the third and final scenario, it is found out that each of the guests murdered one of the victims; Professor Plum killed Mr. Boddy, Mrs. Peacock killed the cook (who used to work for her), Colonel Mustard killed the motorist (his driver during the war), Mrs. White killed Yvette (who had an affair with her husband) and Ms. Scarlet killed the policeman (whom she'd been bribing to allow her to continue operating her "specialized hotel"). These victims (except for Mr. Boddy) were the sources of information used in the blackmailing. 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 accomplices, and in doing so, all the evidence against him. He also reveals he never called the police as he claimed, and 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 (Green) 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." He then says: "Okay, Chief, take 'em away. I'm gonna go home and sleep with my wife," thus revealing that even his claimed homosexuality was part of his cover. This ending was established as the real one in the film's home release.

Fourth ending

In a fourth scenario that was never filmed, Wadsworth, after pretending to be dead, says that he killed Boddy, and then reveals to the guests that he has poisoned them all so that there will be no witnesses and he will have committed the perfect crime. As he runs through the house to disable the phones and lock the doors, an evangelist from earlier returns, followed by the police, who disarm Wadsworth. Wadsworth then repeats the confession he had given earlier to the guests, physically acting out each scene himself. When he arrives at the part about meeting Colonel Mustard at the door, he steps through the door, closes it, and locks it, leaving all the guests trapped inside. Fortunately, the police and guests escape through a window, while Wadsworth attempts to make a getaway in a car, only to hear the growling of a German Shepherd Dog from the backseat.