USA, 1982
88m
35mm film, black and white, 1.85:1
mono, English
An American comedy with some fantasy elements directed by Carl Reiner. The film is mostly made up of clips from films noir from the 1940s.
Plot Summary
Juliet Forrest is convinced that the death of her father, a leading cheese scientist, in a car crash was really murder. She hires private eye Rigby Reardon to invstigate and he becomes involved with a group of Nazis hiding on an island off the coast of Peru who are trying to develop an explosive from Dr Forrest’s secret cheese mold.
Credits
Crew
Directed by: Carl Reiner
© MCMLXXXII [1982] by Universal City Studio, Inc.
An Aspen Film Society, William E. McEuen, David V. Picker production. A Carl Reiner film
Produced by: David V. Picker, William E. Mceuen
Associate Producer: Richard F. Mcwhorter
Written by: Carl Reiner, George Gipe, Steve Martin
Director of Photography: Michael Chapman
Edited by: Bud Molin
Music by: Miklós Rózsa
Sound Mixer: Bud Alper
Costumes by: Edith Head
Makeup: Ric Sagliani, Tom Case
Hairstylist: Kathy Blondell
Special Effects: Glen Robinson
Production Design by: John DeCuir
Casting: Penny Perry
Filmed at KIngs Point Corporation Laird International Studios
Cast
Steve Martin (Rigby Reardon)
Rachel Ward (Juliet Forrest)
Reni Santoni (Carlos Rodriguez)
Carl Reiner (Field Marshal VonKluck)
Alan Ladd in This Gun for Hire
Barbara Stanwyck in Sorry, Wrong Number
Ray Milland in Lost Weekend
Ava Gardner in The Killers, The Bribe
Burt Lancaster in The Killers
Humphrey Bogart in The Big Sleep, In a Lonely Place, Dark Passage
Cary Grant in Suspocion
Ingrid Bergman in Notorious
Veronica Lake in The Glass Key
Bette Davis in Deception
Lana Turner in Johnny Eager, The Postman Always Rings Twice
Edward Arnold in Johnny Eager
Kirk Douglas in I Walk Alone
Fred MacMurray in Double Indemnity
James Cagney in White Heat
Joan Crawford in Humoresque
Charles Laughton in The Bribe
Vincent Price in The Bribe
Alternative Titles
Bogart Jr. – Denmark
Bogart Junior – Denmark
Les Cadavres ne portent pas de costard – Canada (French), France
Cliente Morto Não Paga a Conta – Portugal
Cliente Morto Não Paga – Brazil
Cliente muerto no paga – Argentina, Mexico, Spain, Uruguay, Venezuela
Dead Men Wear No Plaid
Döda män klär inte i rutigt – Sweden
Døde menn kler ikke ruter – Norway
Halott férfi nem hord zakót – Hungary
Halottak nem viselnek kockás öltönyt – Hungary (television)
Kuollut mies ei palttoota kaipaa – Finland
Il mistero del cadavere scomparso – Italy
Morţii nu poartă tartan – Romania
Mrtvaci ne nose karirano – Serbia
Ne zaljubljuj se u klijenta – Serbia (television)
Ölü adamlar ekose giymez – Turkey
Suck the Bullet – working title
Three Faces of Steve – working title
Tote tragen keine Karos – West Germany
Umarli nie owijają się pledem – Poland
Umarli nie potrzebują pledu – Poland
Untitled Man – working title
Мертві спідниць не носять – Ukraine
Мёртвые пледов не носят – USSR
スティーブ・マーティンの 四つ数えろ – Japan
Links
Includes extracts from
The Lost Weekend (1945)
Press
Variety 24 March 1982 p. 41
This is a picture with a gimmick, one which works for a time, but wears thin before fadeout. […] Even with a stellar, “stolen”, supporting cast, pic seems thin whenever Martin and Ward aren’t together on screen and never reaches the inspired looney heights that a few of its moments suggest were possible. – from a review by Cart
Films and Filming no.335 (August 1982) pp. 32-33
It sounds good and they’ve tried hard. […] The problem is that the old footage appears far coarser and grainier than the new material, perhaps from lack of access to good negatives, and that spoils the blend. Also, the narrative becomes considerably contorted in order to work in the pre-selected bits and is never interesting in its own right. […] It ultimately makes one yearn to swop it one of the old movies it visits. – from a review by Allen Eyles
Screen International no.371 (27 November 1982) p. 20
Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid is a fun movie to watch; impressive to observe and respect the technological ingenuity which enables Martin to appear to share scenes with the eighteen big names who make this one of the most star studded movies ever. […] But when the delight of seeing so many screen idols woven into the plot has lost its first fine careless rapture, a certain melancholy sets sets in. […] Reiners screenplay is clodhopping jokey, not at all well matched to the economy of style still discernible in the old material. – from a review by Marjorie Bilbow
References
Periodicals
- American Cinematographer vol.63 no.11 (November 1982) pp. 1181-1186 – article (Black and white cinematography for Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid by Dean Goodhill)
- American Classic Screen vol.6 no.3 (May/June 1982) p. 32
- British National Film Catalogue vol.21 (1983)
- Classic Images no.85 (July 1982) p. 22
- Films and Filming no.335 (August 1982) pp. 32-33 – illustrated review (by Allen Eyles)
- The Hollywood Reporter vol.271 no.5 (22 March 1982) p. 4
- The Listener vol.122 no.3145 (21 December 1989) p. 50 – review
- Monthly Film Bulletin vol.49 no.586 (November 1982) pp. 261-262
- Motion Picture Product Digest vol.9 no.25 (2 June 1982) p. 98
- Screen International no.349 (26 June-3 July 1982) p.6 – illustrated article (A blockbusting summer ahead)
- Screen International no.371 (27 November 1982) p. 20 – review (by Marjorie Bilbow)
- Stills vol.1 no.5 (1982) p. 87
- Variety 24 March 1982 p. 41 – review (by Cart)
Books
- The Films of the Eighties by Robert A. Nowlan and Gwendolyn Wright Nowlan p.131 – credits, synopsis
- Horror and Science Fiction Films III by Donald C. Willis pp.61-62
- Looking for a New England: Action, Time, Vision: Music, Film and TV 1975-1986 by Simon Matthews p.151
