I can remember when DEAD MEN DON’T WEAR PLAID was released. The concept was interesting, a film noire mystery combining footage from old movies with current footage filmed in black and white. The technology at the time was new but effective. The end result was hilarious.
Directed by Carl Reiner, written by Reiner, George Gipe and Steve Martin and starring Martin in the lead role offers up some laughs that are as timeless as the movies included in the mix. Martin plays hard boiled private detective Rigby Reardon, a Raymond Chandler style PI who smokes and drinks too much and looks at all women as dames.
Into his office walks the beautiful Juliet Forest (Rachel Ward), the daughter or a famous scientist and cheesemaker, wanting to hire Reardon. She wants him to investigate her father’s death which she thinks was murder. Rigby agrees to take on the case, as much to help her find the guilty party as well as to keep an eye on Juliet.
Various clues lead Rigby to different locations throughout town. He come across two list, one with the heading “Friends of Carlotta” and the other “Enemies of Carlotta”. With these clues he continues on the case until he is shot and wounded by a man who steals the two lists. Rigby makes his way to Juliet’s place where she sucks the bullet out of his wound. That will be the only spoiler of the type of humor I will give you here.
Now angered at what’s transpiring Rigby has a personal beef with the protagonists. As with all detective films this is never a good sign and means that no matter what he will follow through to the end as he unravels more clues in search of who it was that killed Juliet’s father. The trail is long and convoluted but each step of the way provides so many laughs it’s worth sticking through to the very end.
Writing about this movie is difficult because the number of verbal and sight gags included here are numerous and run throughout almost every line of dialogue and shot seen. How does one describe something without ruining the first time viewing enjoying for someone who’s never seen it? So let me just give that much description of the plot and move on.
Steve Martin is a better actor than many give him credit for. He’s been an actor that could handle more serious roles if they were provided but has mainly stayed in the comedy genre. His comedic timing here is perfect. Not only that you can tell that there is a certain amount of fondness for the film noire/detective genres that Martin and his co-writers had for these old films. So many were forgotten but glimpsing them here in bits and pieces makes you want to go back and watch them all again.
Which ones? Clips from THE LOST WEEKEND, THIS GUN FOR HIRE, SORRY WRONG NUMBER, THE KILLER, THE BRIBE, THE BIG SLEEP, IN A LONELY PLACE, DARK PASSAGE, SUSPICION, NOTORIOUS, THE GLASS KEY, DECEPTOIN, JOHNNY EAGER, THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE, I WALK ALONE, DOUBLE INDEMNITY, WHITE HEAT and HUMORESQUE are all seen here. But it’s how they are seen that makes this whole process remarkable.
For example Rigby boards a train and sits down in a private car with…Cary Grant. It doesn’t stop there. They have a back and forth conversation between them with questions and answers flowing as if they were both there on the set having a chat in character. This involves both writing using the scenes and dialogue from the old film and placing it into the story being told. This happens throughout the movie and makes it exceptionally interesting.
The pacing is not rampant here but the story unfolding before our eyes combined with this writing/editing achievement will keep you watching from start to finish. Just keep the remote handy because you’ll want to pause on occasion. One to see who these old stars are and two because you’ll be laughing so hard.
Kino Lorber is releasing this on Blu-ray and it’s one that
fans of comedy will want in their collection.
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