Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid is a 1982 American neo-noir comedy-mystery film, directed by Carl Reiner and starring Steve Martin, Rachel Ward and Reiner. Co-written by Reiner, Martin & George Gipe, the film is both a parody of and an homage to film noir and the pulp detective films of the 1940s. The title refers to Martin's character telling a story of a woman obsessed with plaid, a scene which was ultimately cut from the film.
Plot
Juliet Forrest, daughter of scientist and cheesemaker John Forrest, asks private investigator Rigby Reardon to investigate her father's death. Searching Dr. Forrest's lab, Rigby finds two lists, "Friends of Carlotta" (FOC) and "Enemies of Carlotta" (EOC), and an autographed photo of singer Kitty Collins, whose name appears on one of the lists. A man shoots Rigby in the arm and takes the lists.
Cast
- Alan Ladd
- Ava Gardner
- Barbara Stanwyck
- Bette Davis
- Brian Donlevy
- Burt Lancaster
- Carl Reiner
- Cary Grant
- Charles Laughton
- Charles McGraw
- Edmond O'Brien
- Edward Arnold
- Francis X. McCarthy
- Fred MacMurray
- George Gaynes
- Humphrey Bogart
- Ingrid Bergman
- James Cagney
- Jeff Corey
- Joan Crawford
- John Miljan
- Kirk Douglas
- Lana Turner
- Norma Varden
- Rachel Ward
- Rainbeaux Smith
- Ray Milland
- Reni Santoni
- Steve Martin
- Veronica Lake
- Vincent Price
- William Conrad
More details
| author | Carl Reiner Steve Martin |
|---|---|
| contentLocation | Los Angeles |
| director | Carl Reiner |
| editor | Bud Molin |
| events | conspiracy criminal investigation film noir romantic love |
| genre | comedy mystery |
| keywords | abduct broken heart capture choke clean cruise ship fbi kill nazi new york times pass peru philip marlowe police investigation private investigator run search the new york times train station unsolved win |
| musicBy | Miklós Rózsa |
| producer | David V. Picker Richard McWhorter William E. McEuen |
| productionCompany | Aspen Film Society |
| publisher | Universal Pictures |
| theme | film noir neo-noir parody |