Synopsis
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'.
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Cast
- Steve MartinRigby Reardon
- Rachel WardJuliet Forrest
- Alan Ladd(in "This Gun For Hire") (archive footage)
- Carl ReinerJuliet's Butler / Field Marshal Wilfried von Kluck
- 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)
Recommendations
- 100
TV Guide Magazine
A consistently hilarious parody of the noir and detective genres, expertly blending classic archival footage with the action. - 91
Entertainment Weekly
The vintage footage is seamlessly integrated into the action, and the end result is both very funny and very true to the conventions of the detective movie. - 89
Austin Chronicle
Martin's inner giddiness makes Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid a classic. This loose film is more than a spoof of the hard-boiled noir of the Forties and Fifties; it is a tribute to the wonderful memories these films created in a generation. - 80
The New York Times
A genial, gently mocking, brilliantly executed spoof that may offend the purists but which should delight the buffs. - 80
Empire
The technique used here to plonk Martin in classic movies seems out of place given the kind of sophisticated effects we have on tap today, but there is a real sense of fun at work nonetheless. - 70
Variety
Film is most engaging in its romantic sparring between Martin and his gorgeous client, Ward. - 70
Time Out
Some amusement is derived from watching a film that so obviously had to be worked out backwards. The bits in between feature likeable Martin as a keen but clumsy detective - with all the good lines, which is no bad thing because he's the best part of this fairly amusing, clever exercise in editing. - 60
Chicago Reader
Carl Reiner comedy whose technical execution (Michael Chapman's cinematography is masterful) is better than its script.
