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Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982)

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Top Critics

Average Rating: 6.5/10
Reviews Counted: 22
Fresh: 17 | Rotten: 5

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Release Date: May 21, 1982 Wide

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Average Rating: 3.4/5
User Ratings: 9,324

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Movie Info

In this post-modernist exercise, star/writer Steve Martin and director Carl Reiner spoof the film noir yarns of the '40s with Martin playing gumshoe Rigby Reardon, who interacts with a legion of Hollywood greats -- including Humphrey Bogart, Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster, Edward Arnold, Barbara Stanwyck, Ingrid Bergman, Veronica Lake, Bette Davis, Lana Turner and Joan Crawford -- in a succession of intercut clips from seventeen vintage Hollywood films. Rigby is a low-rent detective (his fee is

PG, 1 hr. 29 min.

Mystery & Suspense, Comedy

Directed By: Carl Reiner

Written By: George Gipe, Steve Martin

In Theaters: May 21, 1982 Wide

On DVD: Mar 16, 1999

Universal Pictures

Cast

Steve Martin
Rigby Reardon
Rachel Ward
Juliet Forrest
Reni Santoni
Carlos Rodriguez
Carl Reiner
Field Marshall Von Kluc...
George Gaynes
Dr. Forrest
Frank McCarthy
Waiter
Adrian Ricard
Mildred
Gene Labell
Hood
George Sawava
Hood
Britt Nilsson
Poppy Secretary
Ron Spivey
Charlie Picerni
Hood
Alan Ladd
Barbara Stanwyck

Critic Reviews for Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid

All Critics (26) | Top Critics (2) | Fresh (17) | Rotten (5) | DVD (1)

A parlor trick, but the kind -- an inquiring jester making his way through the ghosts of cinema's past -- that gets Godard at the Moviola to layer Histoire(s) together

September 6, 2009 Full Review Source: CinePassion

| Comment

Fernando F. Croce

CinePassion

Hilarious and seamless!

November 2, 2004 Comment

Kevin Carr

7M Pictures

Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid is a thoroughly entertaining spoof of Hollywood private eye movies.

February 4, 2004 Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice

| Comment

Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

Spirituality and Practice

Too clever for its own good when it should be worried about being funny.

November 24, 2003 Comment

Ken Hanke

Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Mainly for the noir geeks and the Steve Martin fans -- and I'm both.

July 27, 2002 Comment

Scott Weinberg

eFilmCritic.com

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Audience Reviews for Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid

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This film noir spoof takes footage from the old movies and mixes them with scenes of Steve Martin as a detective. It's very interesting to watch, and very funny too.

September 6, 2010