Film noir parody with a detective uncovering a sinister plot. Characters from real noirs appear as scenes from various films are intercut.
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Title: Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982)
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Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Steve Martin | ... | Rigby Reardon | |
| Rachel Ward | ... | Juliet Forrest | |
| Alan Ladd | ... | The Exterminator (archive footage) | |
| Carl Reiner | ... | Field Marshall VonKluck | |
| Barbara Stanwyck | ... | Leona Hastings-Forrest (archive footage) | |
| Ray Milland | ... | Sam Hastings (in 'Lost Weekend') (archive footage) | |
| Ava Gardner | ... | Kitty Collins (archive footage) | |
| Burt Lancaster | ... | Swede Anderson (archive footage) | |
| Humphrey Bogart | ... | Phillip Marlowe (archive footage) | |
| Cary Grant | ... | 'Handsome' (in 'Suspicion') (archive footage) | |
| Ingrid Bergman | ... | F.X. Huberman (archive footage) | |
| Veronica Lake | ... | Monica Stillpond (archive footage) | |
| Bette Davis | ... | Doris Davermont (archive footage) | |
| Lana Turner | ... | Jimmi-Sue Altfeld (archive footage) | |
| Edward Arnold | ... | Altfeld (archive footage) | |
Edit
Plot Summary
|
Add Synopsis
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. Written by Tony Fontana <tony.fontana@spacebbs.com>, Ed. by Peter Victor <thevictor99@yahoo.com>
Taglines:
Laugh... or I'll blow your lips off!Parents Guide:
View content advisory »
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See more on IMDbPro »
See full technical specs »
Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
21 May 1982 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Dead Men Wear No Plaid See more »Edit
Box Office
Budget:
$9,000,000 (estimated)Opening Weekend USA:
$4,289,601, 23 May 1982Gross USA:
$18,196,170Cumulative Worldwide Gross:
$18,196,170Company Credits
Show more on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
MonoColor:
Black and WhiteAspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1
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See more »
Did You Know?
Trivia
The name of the earlier case that gumshoe Rigby Reardon (Steve Martin) had worked on was "The Case of the Murdered Girl with the Big Tits". See more »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. See more »Quotes
Rigby Reardon: That's one thing I've learned about clients. Dead ones don't pay their bills.See more »
Crazy Credits
There is a spelling mistake with the Composer. In the credits at the beginning he is spelled: Miklos Rosza. In the credits after the end he is spelled correct: Miklos Rozsa. See more »Connections
Referenced in Head of the Class: Dead Men Don't Wear Pocket Protectors: Part 1 (1990) See more »Frequently Asked Questions
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Rigby Reardon, private eye, runs the gauntlet of hoods, femmes fatales and crazed Nazis as he investigates the death of beautiful Juliet Forrest's father. Who are the mysterious "Friends of Carlotta"? And why does Rigby keep dressing in women's clothes? And where did Juliet learn to do that trick with her lips? This celebration of the black and white movies of the 1940's and 50's is a very clever and very amusing film. Extracts from celluloid classics are skilfully spliced into the action (check out the architectural detail on the doorframe in the Alan Ladd sequence). The film is a vehicle for Martin's comic talent and he carries it off beautifully. Rachel Ward as Juliet is terrific: she can hold her own with the screen goddesses who so liberally populate the film (Bergman, Davis, Turner and Crawford all make inserted appearances). A project like this could easily have come a cropper, but thanks to the brisk direction of Carl Reiner (who has a great cameo) and Steve Martin's ability to dominate the screen, the movie is a resounding success. It's also very funny.