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Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid

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Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid

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Summary

Comedy homage to 1940s film noir, starring Steve Martin and Rachel Ward. A private eye is approached by the sultry Juliet Forrest, who wants him to investigate the death of her scientist father. The search for clues leads to some very interesting suspects.

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Review

A star rating of 4 out of 5.

John Ferguson

The box-office hits came later, but Steve Martin's early collaborations with director and co-writer Carl Reiner, from The Jerk to All of Me, still rank among his best. This ingenious spoof finds Martin as a hard-boiled private eye with a dangerous phobia about cleaning women, who gets involved in a supremely silly story involving a cheese professor and sinister Nazis. However, the story provides the slenderest of excuses for Martin to be spliced into an array of classic movies and swap dumb dialogue with stars such as Bette Davis, Burt Lancaster, Barbara Stanwyck, Ray Milland and the like in some of their most famous roles. The antics eventually run out of steam, but there are some wonderful moments for film buffs, Martin is on inspired form and Rachel Ward is a revelation in a rare comic role. Look out, too, for Reiner himself (incidentally, he's also When Harry Met Sally... director Rob Reiner's dad) in a cameo.

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6.8/10

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Credits

Cast

rolenameRigby ReardonSteve MartinJuliet ForrestRachel WardField Marshal Von KluckCarl ReinerCarlos RodriguezReni SantoniDr ForrestGeorge GaynesWaiterFrank McCarthyMildredAdrian RicardHoodCharles PicerniHoodGene LabellHoodGeorge SawayaPuppy secretaryMaj-Britt NilssonDuty secretaryJean BeaudineGerman henchmanJohn "Easton" Stuart

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Crew

rolenameDirectorCarl Reiner

Details

Theatrical distributor

U.I.P. (UK)

Released on

1982-06-18

Languages

English

Guidance

Contains swearing.

Available on

video and DVD

Formats

Black and white

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