1982 - DEAD MEN DON'T WEAR PLAID, spoof of 40's film noir is more silly than funny.

 The second of four silly comedies that Steve Martin and Carl Reiner teamed up on.  Martin usually has a writing credit on these films and Reiner directed.  Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid is a spoof of 1940's detective films with the gimmick being that excerpts from these old films which feature actors such as Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, Fred MacMurry, Barbara Stanwyck and Burt Lancaster to name a few are blended with footage shot by Reiner featuring Steve Martin as private detective Rigby Reardon.

Reardon is trying to solve some confusing series of murders in a takeoff of one of those complicated plots that always seemed part of those old film noir stories.  Rachel Ward is the sexy female lead who Reardon falls in love with.  With her Australian accent and the glamorous film lighting she looks very good.  Ward is essentially the "straight man" for Steve Martin's silly character which she plays very well.

The real stars of this film are the group of old timers that Carl Reiner assembled as part of his production team.  Legendary costume designer Edith Head dressed Ward and Martin in 40's outfits.  John DeCuir was the production designer.  DeCuir had been in the business a long time and had done sets for films as diverse as Cleopatra and The Naked City.  Another  veteran was composer Miklos Rosza who wrote the score, this was Rosza's final film before he passed away.  Mention should also be made of editor Bud Molin and especially cinematographer Michael Chapman who had to blend Reiner's footage with black and white film scenes shot in the 1940's, an impressive achievement.

 

Frankly, the film isn't all that funny.  Martin works hard to find the silliness behind the supposed tough guy private character but a lot of the humor is pretty dumb.  Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid is probably more interesting for movie buffs than the general public.

Written by Carl Reiner, Steve Martin and George Gipe, the running time is 88 minutes.