Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
Juliet Forrest is convinced that the reported death of her father in a mountain car crash was no accident. Her father was a prominent cheese scientist working on a secret recipe. To prove it was murder, she enlists the services of private eye Rigby Reardon. He finds a slip of paper containing a list of people who are 'The Friends and Enemies of Carlotta'.
Critics Sentiment
Juliet sucks out the bullet from Rigby's arm after he's shot
Rigby is drugged by Kitty and wakes up being choked by Rice
The film drops from the entertaining bullet-sucking gag (8.2) to the convoluted Rice confrontation (5.8), a swing of 2.4 points as the plot becomes too complex to follow.
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid starts strong with critics praising its clever concept and seamless integration of classic film footage, peaking with memorable recurring gags like the bullet-sucking scenes. However, sentiment gradually declines through the middle as the plot becomes increasingly convoluted and hard to follow, though it recovers somewhat with a fun finale that embraces its own silliness.
Full cast
Showing 20 of 34
Steve Martin
Rigby Reardon
Rachel Ward
Juliet Forrest
Alan Ladd
(in "This Gun For Hire") (archive footage)
Carl Reiner
Juliet's Butler / Field Marshal Wilfried von Kluck
Barbara Stanwyck
(in "Sorry - Wrong Number") (archive footage)
Ray Milland
(in "The Lost Weekend") (archive footage)
Ava Gardner
(in "The Killers" / "The Bribe") (archive footage)
Burt Lancaster
(in "The Killers") (archive footage)
Humphrey Bogart
(in "The Big Sleep" / "In a Lonely Place" / "Dark Passage") (archive footage)
Cary Grant
(in "Suspicion") (archive footage)
Ingrid Bergman
(in "Notorious") (archive footage)
Veronica Lake
(in "The Glass Key") (archive footage)
Bette Davis
(in "Deception") (archive footage)
Lana Turner
(in "Johnny Eager" / "The Postman Always Rings Twice") (archive footage)
Edward Arnold
(in "Johnny Eager") (archive footage)
Kirk Douglas
(in "I Walk Alone") (archive footage)
Fred MacMurray
(in "Double Indemnity") (archive footage)
James Cagney
(in "White Heat") (archive footage)
Joan Crawford
(in "Humoresque") (archive footage)
Reni Santoni
Carlos Rodriguez
Crew
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