Film noir parody with a detective uncovering a sinister plot. Characters from classic noir films appear as scenes from various movies interjected into the story.Film noir parody with a detective uncovering a sinister plot. Characters from classic noir films appear as scenes from various movies interjected into the story.Film noir parody with a detective uncovering a sinister plot. Characters from classic noir films appear as scenes from various movies interjected into the story.
Alan Ladd
- The Exterminator
- (archive footage)
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
- Johnnie Aysgarth
- (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)
Kirk Douglas
- Thug Boss
- (archive footage)
Fred MacMurray
- Walter Neff
- (archive footage)
James Cagney
- Captain Cody Jarrett
- (archive footage)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaFinal film of legendary costume designer Edith Head. There is a tribute to her and the personnel who worked on films from the Golden Age of Hollywood in the closing credits. Head died a short time after production on the movie had wrapped. Fittingly, the film features many of her earlier designs in cleverly edited clips from old movies. According to Carl Reiner, Head had possession of a hat that Ava Gardner had worn and was protective of the prop.
- GoofsEverytime Juliet sucks a bullet off Rigby's arm it comes out with its rounded tip pointed inside Juliet's throat and the bullet's flat base is shown on her teeth. It should have been the other way around.
- Quotes
[In Rigby's office]
Juliet Forrest: If you need me, just call. You know how to dial, don't you? You just put your finger in the hole and make tiny little circles.
- Crazy creditsAfter 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.
- ConnectionsEdited from Suspicion (1941)
Featured review
Mostly fun, but loses its way a bit
DMDWP is a black and white film noir comedy that uses footage from real film noirs from the 40s and 50s and inter cuts them with the plot to make it appears that Steve Martin is really talking to/acting with the likes of Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis, James Cagney etc. The effect is almost seamless but for a movie made in 1982 it's quite impressive.
Martin plays the wonderfully named Rigby Reardon, a typical, gritty private eye who narrates the story with sarcastic observation and gets involved in the usual femme fatal plot and a conspiracy surround the death of a cheese maker. Yes, it's nonsense, and towards the end it becomes a bit hard to follow and the silliness gets out of control. But it's all played straight and for most of the film you could believe you were actually watching a classic film noir.
Steve Martin should have done more of these movies. Rigby Reardon was a great character and could have lasted for a few more movies. The humor is frequently hilarious and he certainly retains a lot of the integrity he has lost in recent years since he went the way of Eddie Murphy and sold himself out to family audiences. Either way, I say you should give this movie a go if you're a fan of his older work.
The DVD is sadly in non-anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen with Dolby 2.0 surround. It still looks quite good for a black and white film and the sound has that limited sound space effect to it to make it fit in with the older footage. A Dolby 5.1 remix would have been totally unnecessary. Some boring extras (trailer, cast bios) are included.
Martin plays the wonderfully named Rigby Reardon, a typical, gritty private eye who narrates the story with sarcastic observation and gets involved in the usual femme fatal plot and a conspiracy surround the death of a cheese maker. Yes, it's nonsense, and towards the end it becomes a bit hard to follow and the silliness gets out of control. But it's all played straight and for most of the film you could believe you were actually watching a classic film noir.
Steve Martin should have done more of these movies. Rigby Reardon was a great character and could have lasted for a few more movies. The humor is frequently hilarious and he certainly retains a lot of the integrity he has lost in recent years since he went the way of Eddie Murphy and sold himself out to family audiences. Either way, I say you should give this movie a go if you're a fan of his older work.
The DVD is sadly in non-anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen with Dolby 2.0 surround. It still looks quite good for a black and white film and the sound has that limited sound space effect to it to make it fit in with the older footage. A Dolby 5.1 remix would have been totally unnecessary. Some boring extras (trailer, cast bios) are included.
helpful•243
- CuriosityKilledShawn
- Apr 13, 2005
- How long is Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Tote tragen keine Karos
- Filming locations
- Pasadena, California, USA(Mayfield Senior School)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $9,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $18,196,170
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $4,289,601
- May 23, 1982
- Gross worldwide
- $18,196,170
- Runtime1 hour 28 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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By what name was Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982) officially released in India in English?
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