Amazon.com essential video: This is one of the best parodies of the '40s hardboiled detective genre, with a very clever conceit: weaving the plot and production design around memorable movie clips (The Killers, The Big Sleep, Double Indemnity, The Lost Weekend, White Heat, This Gun for Hire, Sorry, Wrong Number, Notorious). Steve Martin plays the cool Rigby Reardon, who tries solving an incomprehensible mystery with the assistance of Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, Burt Lancaster, Fred MacMurray, Ingrid Bergman, and Ray Milland, among others. It's all silly hokum with Rachel Ward as the pretty moll and director-cowriter Carl Reiner as the nefarious villain. Miklos Rozsa takes us back to yesteryear with his lush score, and, fittingly, Edith Head handles the period costumes in her final production. --Bill Desowitz
It stars: Ingrid Bergman, Humphrey Bogart, Kirk Douglas, Ava Gardner, Cary Grant, Wally Brown, James Cagney, William Conrad, Jeff Corey, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Brian Donlevy, Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, Burt Lancaster, Charles Laughton, Charles McGraw, Fred MacMurray, John Miljan, Ray Milland, Edmund O'Brien, Vincent Price, Barbara Stanwyck, Lana Turner, Edward Arnold, and Norma Varden.
Steve Martin is in the leading role as detective Rigby Reardon supported by Carl Reiner(also the director), Rachel Ward, and Reni Santoni.
I picked up this movie not knowing this stellar cast. I was out hunting for VCDs that were marked down from the original price and bought this one at full price on a hunch - I am happy with my luck. I never had heard of this movie and I took a chance on Steve Martin knowing his work never lets me down.
The story starts with a murder. A beautiful gal comes to detective Rigby's office and hires him for USD 10 a day to find out who is the killer as she suspects her father's death isn't just a car accident. From here on, the story goes through awesome spins and characters portrayed fabulously by the incredible cast of actors who were huge in the 40s and 50s.
When the titles rolled at the beginning I was amused to see black and white images; then when the movie started Steve Martin in black and white surprised me. It made me wonder how old this actor is to have made a comedy movie lacking colour technology. Then came the superstars! Rigby (Steve) hires detective Marlowe, played well by Humphrey Bogart, to help him in his investigations.
Well I will stop messing with your head and let you in on their secret. The cast of these superstars is made possible through an incredible editing of footage from old movies merged in with the newly shot black and white scenes starring Steve Martin.
This is homage to the noir films and a parody of them as well. It also ends with a dedication to Costume Designer Edith Head since it's her final film. Composer Miklós Rózsa had to rescore the music of some films he did back in 40s for this film, his last movie as well. With the end credits you get to see the stellar cast and the names of their movies from which the scenes were taken.
This is not a collage; it is a complete movie with a storyline and a goofy, sincere plot. All those of you who don't recognise the names of the cast I mentioned in the first paragraph won't even blink; the movie is that well directed and edited. Even though the old movies had film that ran at a different speed, you won't even be able to point it out here.
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Enjoy !!!
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid My five stars for Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid are primarily for Miklos Rozsa's beautiful and serious musical score, which stands alone by itself.
Review of Dead Men Dont Wear Plaid This is a great movie. It is so so so clever and well done in bringing cuts of old classic movies into the film. and funny of course like most Steve Martin movies
Uneventful and Boring. Could not watch the whole movie. Senseless, simply intolerable. Probably of interest for Steve Martin's fans only.
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid This is one of the most overlooked and under-appreciated films of all-time. Brilliantly edited and hysterically funny, it would be enjoyed by film-lovers of all types. A spot-on parody of film-noir, definitely Steve Martin's best film.
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