Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
1982 · Movie · PG · 89 min · ★ 6.7 · 72% critics
A woman suspects her father’s fatal car crash was murder and hires a down-on-his-luck private detective to investigate. Following a strange clue tied to “Carlotta,” he chases leads through smoky nightclubs and shady encounters, stumbling into a twisty web of suspects, lists of friends and enemies, and classic noir-style danger.
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Details
- Years
- 1982
- Release date
- 1982-05-21
- Language
- English
- Rated
- PG
- Runtime
- 89 min
- Critic score
- 72/100
- TMDB rating
- 6.7/10 (444 votes)
- Box office
- $18,196,170
- Budget
- $9,000,000
About
You’ll likely enjoy this if you like fast, silly mystery-comedy with a classic noir vibe and lots of old-Hollywood references; Not for you if you want a straightforward, coherent case or dislike black-and-white films like The Return of the Pink Panther.
Pros: clever noir send-up; constant jokes; fun classic cameos | Cons: plot feels messy; gimmick can wear thin; some crude gags
Themes
- father murder
- nostalgia
- parody
- femme fatale
- los angeles, california
- black and white
- private detective
- list
- private eye
- 1940s
- old footage
- nazi underworld
- +6 more
Cast & crew
Steve Martin
as Rigby Reardon
Rachel Ward
as Juliet Forrest
Alan Ladd
as (in "This Gun For Hire") (archive footage)
Carl Reiner
as Juliet's Butler / Field Marshal Wilfried von Kluck
Barbara Stanwyck
as (in "Sorry - Wrong Number") (archive footage)
Ray Milland
as (in "The Lost Weekend") (archive footage)
Ava Gardner
as (in "The Killers" / "The Bribe") (archive footage)
Burt Lancaster
as (in "The Killers") (archive footage)
Humphrey Bogart
as (in "The Big Sleep" / "In a Lonely Place" / "Dark Passage") (archive footage)
Cary Grant
as (in "Suspicion") (archive footage)
Directed by Carl Reiner