Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982)

Director:

Carl Reiner

Writers:

Carl Reiner (written by) &
George Gipe (written by) ...
(more)

Release Date:

21 May 1982 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

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

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Parody | Murder | Deadpan | Femme Fatale | Dead Father

Cast

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)
Kirk Douglas	...	(in "I Walk Alone") (archive footage)
Fred MacMurray	...	(in "Double Indemnity") (archive footage)
James Cagney	...	(in "White Heat") (archive footage)
Joan Crawford	...	(in "Humoresque") (archive footage)
Reni Santoni	...	Carlos Rodriguez
Charles Laughton	...	(in "The Bribe") (archive footage)
Vincent Price	...	(in "The Bribe") (archive footage)
George Gaynes	...	Dr. Forrest
Francis X. McCarthy	...	Waiter (as Frank McCarthy)
Adrian Ricard	...	Mildred
Charlie Picerni	...	Hood (as Charles Picerni)
Gene LeBell	...	Hood (as Gene Labell)
George Sawaya	...	Hood
Britt Nilsson	...	Puppy Secretary
Jean Beaudine	...	Duty Secretary
John Easton Stuart	...	German Henchman (as John 'Easton' Stuart)
Ronald Spivey	...	German Henchman
Bob Hevelone	...	German Henchman
Dieter Curt	...	German Henchman
Phillip Kearns	...	German Henchman (as Phil Kearns)
Kent Deigaard	...	German Henchman
Eugene Brezany	...	German Henchman
Brad Baird	...	German Henchman
William Conrad	...	(in "The Killers") (archive footage)
Charles McGraw	...	in The Killers (archive footage)
Jeff Corey	...	(in "The Killers") (archive footage)
John Miljan	...	(in "The Killers") (archive footage)
Brian Donlevy	...	(in "The Glass Key") (archive footage)
Norma Varden	...	(in "The Glass Key") (archive footage)
Edmond O'Brien	...	(in "White Heat") (archive footage)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Wally Brown	...	(archive footage) (uncredited)
Cheryl Smith	...	Veronica Lake (uncredited)

Directed by
Carl Reiner

Writing credits
Carl Reiner		(written by) &
George Gipe		(written by) &
Steve Martin		(written by)

Produced by
William E. McEuen	....	producer
Richard McWhorter	....	associate producer (as Richard F. McWhorter)
David V. Picker	....	producer

Original Music by
Miklós Rózsa		(as Miklos Rozsa)

Cinematography by
Michael Chapman		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Bud Molin

Casting by
Penny Perry

Production Design by
John DeCuir

Set Decoration by
Richard C. Goddard		(as Richard Goddard)

Costume Design by
Edith Head

Makeup Department
Kathryn Blondell	....	hair stylist (as Kathy Blondell)
E. Thomas Case	....	makeup artist (as Tom Case)
Ric Sagliani	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Richard McWhorter	....	unit production manager (as Richard F. McWhorter)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Newt Arnold	....	first assistant director (as Newton Arnold)
Mitchell Bock	....	second assistant director

Art Department
William Belt	....	assistant property master (as Bill Belt)
Christopher Gilman	....	props
Sam Moore	....	property master
Donald L. Nobles	....	construction coordinator (as Don Nobles)
Paul Small	....	assistant property master
Sig Tingloff	....	set designer
Jack Torpin	....	construction foreman
Robert Wittenberg	....	paint foreman (as Bob Wittenberg)

Sound Department
Bud Alper	....	sound mixer
Gene Ashbrook	....	boom operator
Brydon Baker III	....	cable person (as Beau Baker)
James J. Klinger	....	supervising sound editor
Jas. Klinger	....	assistant sound editor
Skip MacDonald	....	assistant sound editor (as Skip Macdonald)
Steve Maslow	....	sound re-recording mixer
Kevin O'Connell	....	sound re-recording mixer
Bill Varney	....	sound re-recording mixer

Special Effects by
Glen Robinson	....	special effects
Wayne Beauchamp	....	special effects (uncredited)
Bruno Van Zeebroeck	....	special effects (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Bill Hansard	....	process coordinator
James F. Liles	....	plates (as Jim Liles)
Thomas Baker	....	main title graphics (uncredited)

Stunts
Ernie F. Orsatti	....	stunt coordinator (as Ernie Orsatti)
Charlie Picerni	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Eric D. Andersen	....	camera operator (as Eric Anderson)
George Dunagan	....	best boy
Michael Genne	....	first assistant camera
Dan Greer	....	second assistant camera
Cary Griffith	....	key grip (as Carey Griffith)
John McCoy	....	vtr operator
Don Stott	....	gaffer
Stephen Vaughan	....	still photographer

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Ron Archer	....	costumer: men
Michele Dittrick	....	costumer: women
Dennis Schoonderwoerd	....	costumer

Editorial Department
Donah Bassett	....	negative cutter (as Donah J. Bassett)
John Haggar	....	assistant film editor

Music Department
Else Blangsted	....	music editor
Lee Holdridge	....	conductor: orchestra

Transportation Department
Craig Pinkard	....	transportation coordinator
'Bud' Williams	....	driver captain (as Bud Williams)

Other crew
Amy Alexander	....	researcher
Jo Compton	....	production coordinator
Dan Curry	....	titles
Betty Glickman	....	assistant: Mr. Picker (as Betty Glickman Serafin)
Cathy Jung	....	assistant: Mr. Martin
Timothy McWhorter	....	production assistant
Judy Nagi	....	assistant: Mr. Reiner (as Judi Nagy)
Ramon Pahoyo	....	craft service
Lucas Reiner	....	film trainee
Mark Steen	....	production assistant
Bernice Sutton	....	first aid
Bridget Terry	....	publicist
Marvin Weldon	....	script supervisor
Bernard A. Widin	....	production accountant (as Bernie Widin)
Devron Conrad	....	stand-in: Steve Martin (uncredited)
Michael Neale	....	location manager (uncredited)

Thanks
Edith Head	....	this motion picture is affectionately dedicated to
Jim Henry	....	the producers wish to thank
Jill Jaress	....	the producers wish to thank
Matthew Laurance	....	the producers wish to thank

Production Companies

• Aspen Film Society
• Universal Pictures

Distributors

• Universal Pictures (1982) (USA) (theatrical)
• Coline (1982) (France) (theatrical)
• LMD (1982) (France) (theatrical)
• Océanic Films (1982) (France) (theatrical)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (1982) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• MCA Home Video (1982) (USA) (VHS)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1985) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures (Spain) (2002) (Spain) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures Nordic (2002) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Universal Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• CIC Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Universal Home Video (????) (Brazil) (DVD)

Other Companies

• B.D. Fox & Friends  titles
• Laird International Studios  filmed at (as Kings Point Corporation Laird International Studios)
• Modern Film Effects  titles
• Pfizer  Barbasol commercial used with permission of the owner
• Technicolor  prints by (as Technicolor®)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | West Germany:12 | Spain:7 | Singapore:PG | Iceland:12 | Portugal:M/12 | Brazil:Livre | USA:PG (#26624) | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Aspen Film Society

Trivia:

When Carlos Rodriguez asks Rigby Reardon where he's staying, Reardon replies, "Hotel Guano". "Guano" is Spanish for "dung", specifically the dung of sea birds and cave-dwelling bats.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: 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.

Quotes:

Cary Grant:You don't smoke, do you?
Rigby Reardon:No, I have tuberculosis.
Cary Grant:Oh, thank heaven for that.

Movie Connections:

Spoofs To Have and Have Not (1944)

Soundtrack:

Dead Men's Bolero

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.