Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982)

Film noir parody with a detective uncovering a sinister plot. Characters from real noirs appear as scenes from various films are intercut.

Director:

Carl Reiner

Writers:

Carl Reiner, George Gipe,

Stars:

Steve Martin, Rachel Ward, Alan Ladd

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Steve Martin	...	Rigby Reardon
Rachel Ward	...	Juliet Forrest
Alan Ladd	...	(in "This Gun For Hire") (archive footage)
Carl Reiner	...	Field Marshall VonKluck
Barbara Stanwyck	...	(in "Sorry - Wrong Number") (archive footage)
Ray Milland	...	(in "The Lost Weekend") (archive footage)
Ava Gardner	...	(in "The Killers" / "The Bribe") (archive footage)
Burt Lancaster	...	(in "The Killers") (archive footage)
Humphrey Bogart	...	(in "The Big Sleep" / "In a Lonely Place" / "Dark Passage") (archive footage)
Cary Grant	...	(in "Suspicion") (archive footage)
Ingrid Bergman	...	(in "Notorious") (archive footage)
Veronica Lake	...	(in "The Glass Key") (archive footage)
Bette Davis	...	(in "Deception") (archive footage)
Lana Turner	...	(in "Johnny Eager" / "The Postman Always Rings Twice") (archive footage)
Edward Arnold	...	(in "Johnny Eager") (archive footage)

Storyline

Juliet Forrest is convinced that the reported death of her father in a mountain car crash was no accident. Her father was a prominent cheese scientist working on a secret recipe. To prove it was murder, she enlists the services of private eye Rigby Reardon. He finds a slip of paper containing a list of people who are "The Friends and Enemies of Carlotta." Searching for answers, Rigby encounters assorted low-lifes: dangerous men and women who were the hallmarks of the classic detective movies of the 40's and 50's. Filming in black and white allows scenes from old movies to be cut into this film. It is through this process that Rigby's assistant is none other than Philip Marlowe himself.

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Plot Keywords:

parody | murder | deadpan | femme fatale | dead father | 

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Taglines:

Laugh... or I'll blow your lips off!

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 May 1982 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dead Men Wear No Plaid

Filming Locations:

Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$4,289,601 (USA) (21 May 1982)

Gross:

$4,289,601 (USA) (21 May 1982)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Aspen Film Society, Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Rigby Reardon (the character played by Steve Martin) finds the "Top Secret" Nazi packet labeled "Final Instructions", the date on the packet is 14 August 1946. Steve Martin's actual birth date is 14 August 1945.

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Goofs

The newspaper in the opening scene has a large headline saying "Dodgers Lose Again." But that wouldn't have been a big deal for a Los Angeles paper in the 1940s -- the Dodgers didn't move there from Brooklyn until 1958.

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Quotes

Rigby Reardon: That's one thing I've learned about clients. Dead ones don't pay their bills.

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Crazy Credits

After the Cast there comes the dedication: Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid was Edith Head's final film. To her, and to all the brilliant technical and creative people who worked on the films of the 1940's and 1950's, this motion picture is affectionately dedicated.

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Connections

Referenced in Conan: Die Hard 5: Let's Not Die Quite So Hard, I've Got Chronic Back Pain (2012)

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Soundtracks

"Dead Men's Bolero"
Music by Miklós Rózsa (as Miklos Rozsa)
Lyrics by Steve Goodman

User Reviews

Fun For Film Noir Buffs; Otherwise Convoluting

This was a modern-day version of a 1940s narrative gangster film, also known as film noir, but with a different twist. Steve Martin, Rachel Ward and a few others actors are seen talking to many classic stars of the past as director Carl Reiner used clips of those films to fake conversations with the up-to-date real actors of this film . They made it appear that Alan Ladd, Barbara Stanwyck, Humphrey Bogart et al were actually talking to Martin.

Obviously, the more acquainted you are with those film noirs, the more fun this movie will be as you try to recognize what movie those clips came from. (The answers are shown in the ending credits.) That's the fun part of this movie.

The not-so-fun part is simply trying to figure how what is happening in the first place. The plot is not always easy to discern, and it's doubly difficult because of the constant "interruptions" with the classic film scene inserted in the story. You get so captivated watching those old stars that you lose track of the storyline.

That's a big reason I don't think this film ever caught on that much - the story is too convoluted, just too hard to follow.

Ward was great to watch and Martin was annoying after awhile. If Ward doesn't look like the embodiment of a 1940s film goddess, I don't know who does. That, and the razor sharp black-and-white picture with the real actors, is nice to see. But, Martin, who dominates the film, overdoes the stupid comments. I would like to have seen this film played a little straighter, like a real noir. It's a clever film but sometimes too clever for its own good.