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Posted on: Wednesday, January 30, 2002

Now you, too, can be a 'Gosford Park' player

By Susan Wloszczyna
USA Today

"Gosford Park," the award-winning ensemble-cast murder mystery starring Maggie Smith, Helen Mirren and Clive Owen, is now also "Gosford Park" the board game.

USA Films sent the limited-edition souvenir to 5,000 lucky members of the press. However, in this age of instant online auctions, about 10 copies were selling on eBay for up to $28.

"It's sweeping the nation," says Bob Balaban, a "Gosford Park" actor, producer and game character. "Like the Charleston."

Not quite. But it is one of the more clever trinkets dreamed up by USA Films.

The game resembles "Clue." But instead of guessing whodunnit, the goal is to avoid being done in. Get murdered and you lose.

Just like the film, it also is a lesson in England's class system. One can be either a servant or an aristocrat, as determined by a fateful spin.

Balaban, now shooting a guest spot on TV's "The Education of Max Bickford," gave the game to the cast and crew of the series, including star Richard Dreyfuss.

He does have one warning: "At no point should an actual murder be committed during play."