The Best Movie You Never Saw: Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Welcome to The Best Movie You NEVER Saw, a column dedicated to examining films that have flown under the radar or gained traction throughout the years, earning them a place as a cult classic or underrated gem that was either before it’s time and/or has aged like a fine wine.

This week we’ll be looking at DEAD MEN DON'T WEAR PLAID!

THE STORY: Rigby Reardon (Steve Martin), a down and out private detective working in Los Angeles circa the late forties, helps an heiress (Rachel Ward) get to the bottom of her father's disappearance.

THE PLAYERS: Starring: Steve Martin, Rachel Ward, Reni Santoni, Carl Reiner. Written by Carl Reiner, George Gipe & Steve Martin. Directed by Carl Reiner.

Goodbye to my greatest mentor in movies and in life. Thank you, dear Carl. – Steve Martin – Twitter

THE HISTORY: Carl Reiner was the first person to believe in Steve Martin as a movie star. Sure, he was wildly popular as a stand-up comic during his "wild and crazy guy" days, but would that translate to the silver screen? Sure enough, it did, with their movie – THE JERK – grossing $100 million on a $4 million budget. Somewhat naively, Martin, who became an A-list movie star overnight, followed it up with a dramatic part in the big-budget PENNIES FROM HEAVEN, and it damaged his career enough that his next two comedies with Reiner were box office flops before the two re-teamed for the fourth and final time in the comedy ALL OF ME, which put Martin firmly back into his rightful spot as a legit movie star.

One has to give Martin and Reiner credit for the fact that after PENNIES FROM HEAVEN, rather than jump into something easy like a sequel to THE JERK, they opted to make DEAD MEN DON'T WEAR PLAID as Martin's big comedy comeback. For those not in the know, DEAD MEN DON'T WEAR PLAID is an affectionate spoof of 1940's film noir with extreme attention to detail, helped by the fact that much of the behind the scenes talent were film noir vets, including costume designer Edith Head and composer Miklos Rozsa.

But, most famously and perhaps most daring of all was Reiner's decision to use old movie footage from the very film noirs he was spoofing to make it seem like Martin was sharing the screen with the likes of Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, Alan Ladd, Burt Lancaster, Barbara Stanwyck, Ava Gardner, and more. The result was a dazzling collage that earned the film some rave reviews, although it was a box office dud, at least compared to THE JERK. It grossed $18 million, far from a disaster, meaning that the movie probably broke even, but it was considered a major disappointment and is relatively obscure as far as Martin's canon goes.

WHY IT’S GREAT: I'm a film noir aficionado and, to me, DEAD MEN DON'T WEAR PLAID almost feels like a legit entry into the genre. Of course, I know it's not a serious movie, with the plot eventually revolving around a plot by a Nazi field marshal, played by Carl Reiner himself, who wants to melt America with industrial cheese. Yet, it has the atmosphere and acting style down cold. Watch Martin in the scenes where he "interacts" with clips of Bogart, Ladd, Lancaster, etc. He's not smug or winking at the audience. He's playing it straight to some degree and the humor comes from Martin being funny, not from him making fun of the legit classics he's interacting with. The same goes for Rachel Ward as his client/love interest, who has a lot of class (she probably would have been a legit noir femme fatale- and in fact was in the neo noirs SHARKY'S MACHINE and AFTER DARK MY SWEET ) and great chemistry with Martin. Again, she's in on the joke but plays the humor just right.

It's the fact that it's such a loving homage that makes DEAD MEN DON'T WEAR PLAID such an effective spoof, and I'd wager the only other person who did these kinds of movies as well as Reiner would be his pal Mel Brooks. This is a lot like YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN in a way as it's obvious Reiner's studied the films from that era closely and is easily able to recreate their style, helped in no small part by his ace cinematographer, the great Michael Chapman (who's shot everything from TAXI DRIVER to THE LOST BOYS) shooting in black & white and evoking the chiaroscuro style of many of the classics.

The editing is particularly brilliant in this with the new scenes and the vintage footage pretty seamlessly integrated. The score by Miklos Rozsa is as memorable as anything he wrote in the forties and goes a long way towards making the film feel legit. And, of course, it's pretty funny too, but in a clever way rather than a crude way, making it a whole lot different from other films of its era (the late Reiner always was a class act). It's not prudish of course, otherwise, we wouldn't get exchanges like this:

Juliette Forrest: But what does "FOC" mean?

Rigby Reardon: It's a slang word. It's when a man and a woman are in love, the man puts his…

Juliette Forrest: No, no. It's written here: "F. O. C."

So yeah, it's funny. But, it's also a great introduction to folks that might be unfamiliar with the genre. Reiner helpfully lists all of the movies he excerpts in the credits, so if you're looking for a good introduction to the genre that'll also make you laugh you could do worse than check out DEAD MEN DON'T WEAR PLAID.

BEST SCENE: There are a lot of good gags in this one, like Martin's reaction to the phrase "cleaning woman", but one of the best is when he makes his "java" for Burt Lancaster, whose scenes are from the noir classic THE KILLERS. If you think this scene is dumb, well, maybe don't watch the movie then…

PARTING SHOT: Truly, we lost a great when Reiner passed away earlier this week, but he leaves behind a terrific body of work, including some films that are celebrated, while others are unjustly overlooked. DEAD MEN DON'T WEAR PLAID is one of them. Check it out!