Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
(1982)
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Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid is a 1982 comedy-mystery film directed by Carl Reiner. Starring Steve Martin and Rachel Ward, the film is both a parody of, and an homage to, film noir and the pulp detective movies of the 1940s. Edited by Bud Molin, Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid is a collage film incorporating clips from 18 different vintage films. They are combined with more recent footage of Martin and other actors similarly shot in black-and-white, with the result that the original dialogue and acting of the classic films have now become part of a completely different story. Among the actors who appear from classic films are Ingrid Bergman, Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Brian Donlevy, Kirk Douglas, Ava Gardner, Cary Grant, Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, Burt Lancaster, Charles Laughton, Fred MacMurray, Ray Milland, Edmund O'Brien, Vincent Price, Barbara Stanwyck, and Lana Turner. This was the last film for both costume designer Edith Head and composer Miklós Rózsa.