I had heard quite a bit about this comedy film noir, I wasn't expecting it to be the funniest film ever, I was just looking to seeing how many classic stars would be sliced into the film. Basically private eye detective Rigby Reardon (Steve Martin), who has a dangerous phobia of cleaning women, is hired by Juliet Forrest (Rachel Ward) who believes the death of her cheese scientist father, with a secret recipe, was no accident. So begins his investigation, finding a list of "The Friends and Enemies of Carlotta", and he is now trying to find this Carlotta. In his search he encounters assorted low-lifes, and a few people on the good side, all of which are famous actors in some of their most famous roles of 30's and 40's films. Of course during his investigation he is slowly falling for Juliet, and in the end he finds out the villain is Field Marshall VonKluck (Carl Reiner), who wanted the cheese recipe for himself. To be honest, the story isn't the most important thing about this film, it is all the classic film clips placed in with the great array of classic stars. Stars placed in the film include Ingrid Bergman (Notorious), Humphrey Bogart (The Big Sleep, In a Lonely Place and Dark Passage), James Cagney (White Heat), Joan Crawford (Humoresque), Bette Davis (Deception), Kirk Douglas (I Walk Alone), Ava Gardner (The Killers and The Bribe), Cary Grant (Suspicion), Veronica Lake (The Glass Key), Fred MacMurray (Double Indemnity), Ray Milland (The Lost Weekend), Burt Lancaster (The Killers), Charles Laughton (The Bribe), Vincent Price (The Bribe), Barbara Stanwyck (Sorry, Wrong Number) and Lana Turner (Johnny Eager and The Postman Always Rings Twice). There is some funny dialogue and tiny moments of slapstick, even if you haven't seen the films placed in, this spoof is still one for the film buffs. Very good!
Review of Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
