MURDER BY DEATH is a parody film of the classic murder/detective movies of the 1940s of which I am a big fan of.
An eccentric millionaire decides to host a dinner party and invites the world's greatest detectives, so on a foggy night come parodies of Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, Charlie Chan, Nick and Nora Charles and Sam Spade.
Peter Falk as Sam Spade is the real standout here-- doing his best Humphrey Bogart impression (Bogart played Spade in 1941's THE MALTESE FALCON), spouting his tough guy of the streets wisdom amidst the gathering of more refined detectives. When Falk is in the scene the movie fires on all cylinders.
When his car runs out of gas on a lonely road his female assistant remarks that she saw a gas station about five miles back.
"I want you to know I'll be waiting for you, Angel."
Rounding out the cast is Peter Sellers as Charlie Chan, David Niven and Maggie Smith as Nick and Nora Charles, Elsa Lanchester as Miss Marple and James Coco as Poirot. All of the cast is on-- and my personal opinon
