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Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982)
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Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
21 May 1982 (USA) moreTagline:
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. full summary | add synopsisNewsDesk:
(2 articles)
An Open Letter to Steve Martin (From Get The Big Picture. 6 February 2009, 10:36 AM, PST)
Another Awful 'Pink Panther 2' Trailer
(From Get The Big Picture. 25 December 2008, 9:52 PM, PST)
User Comments:
Along with "The Jerk," one of Steve Martin's top two finest films more (83 total)Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| 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) |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parentsRuntime:
88 minCountry:
USALanguage:
EnglishColour:
Black and WhiteAspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 moreSound Mix:
MonoCertification:
Iceland:12 | Portugal:M/12 | Brazil:Livre | USA:PG (#26624) | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | West Germany:12 | Spain:7 | Singapore:PGFun Stuff
Trivia:
When Rigby Reardon (the character played by Steve Martin) finds the "Top Secret" Nazi packet labeled "Final Instructions", the date on the packet is 14 August 1946. Steve Martin's actual birth date is 14 August 1945. moreGoofs:
Anachronisms: When Rigby is talking on Juliet's phone to her sister Leona, the handset and coiled cord to the phone are from the 1960's-80's, and not the straight cloth-covered phone cords in use in the 1940's when the story is taking place. moreQuotes:
Captain Carlos Rodriguez: Are you wearing pajamas? Senor, I'll help you take them off.Rigby Reardon: I don't need help with my pajamas!
Captain Carlos Rodriguez: Stop! Now.
Rigby Reardon: See? Carlos!
Captain Carlos Rodriguez: Don't worry about your pajamas, senor. I'll take care of them.
Captain Carlos Rodriguez: Out of the way! We're chasing a killer! Everybody, stand back! He's with me. Coming through!
Captain Carlos Rodriguez: [mumbling with pajamas in his mouth] Coming through. Coming through.
Captain Carlos Rodriguez: Senor. Cuidado, senor. Cuidado.
Rigby Reardon: Stand back! Cuidado.
Captain Carlos Rodriguez: Senor, your pajamas!
[...]
more
Soundtrack:
Dead Men's Bolero moreFAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (83 total)
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I remember reading reviews in The New York Times and elsewhere in 1983 fawning over Woody Allen's brilliant and wholly original idea of inserting himself into old film footage in "Zelig." They'd not noted, of course, that everyone from Ernie Kovacs to John Zacherle had already done that "brilliant and wholly original idea" on television -- and, most notably, Steve Martin did it in a feature film, "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid," one year prior to "Zelig." While "Zelig" has its moments, it is ultimately tedious, running about twice as long as it's one-note gag treatment can sustain. In sharp contrast is the far more clever, inspired, fully developed, insightful and witty DMDWP, which, as noted. came out one year earlier. As often happens with groundbreakers set somewhere outside the norm, DMDWP was not exactly a box office hit -- a key reason why no sequels were ever made. That's unfortunate, as Martin's character was one of his finest creations and could have sustained more installments in the series. (Steve was never better on film than he is here.) It's good that the people behind "Police Squad" did not give up on it after it failed to fit within the confines of standard TV concepts around the same time. Reborn as "The Naked Gun" series of feature films, the "Police Squad" concept turned into three of the greatest comedy motion pictures of all time. DMDWP deserved a lot better than it got in 1982 as well, and I'm glad to see that it has finally found respect and its audience through television exposure (much like a previous box office bomb, "It's A Wonderful Life"). The kind of creativity Martin, Carl Reiner and the rest of the DMDWP crew put into their project needs to be strongly encouraged -- as it represents excellent comic film-making, as opposed to the witless parade of routine crudities that Hollywood ordinarily churns out.