Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid

A consistently hilarious parody of the noir and detective genres, expertly blending classic archival footage with the action. Read full review

The vintage footage is seamlessly integrated into the action, and the end result is both very funny and very true to the conventions of the detective movie. Read full review

Martin's inner giddiness makes Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid a classic. This loose film is more than a spoof of the hard-boiled noir of the Forties and Fifties; it is a tribute to the wonderful memories these films created in a generation. Read full review

A genial, gently mocking, brilliantly executed spoof that may offend the purists but which should delight the buffs. Read full review

The technique used here to plonk Martin in classic movies seems out of place given the kind of sophisticated effects we have on tap today, but there is a real sense of fun at work nonetheless. Read full review

Film is most engaging in its romantic sparring between Martin and his gorgeous client, Ward. Read full review

Some amusement is derived from watching a film that so obviously had to be worked out backwards. The bits in between feature likeable Martin as a keen but clumsy detective - with all the good lines, which is no bad thing because he's the best part of this fairly amusing, clever exercise in editing. Read full review

A one joke movie? Perhaps, but it's such an engaging joke that anyone who loves old movies will find it irresistible. And anyone who loves Steve Martin will be fascinated by his sly performance, which is pitched exactly between the low comedy of The Jerk and the highbrow Brechtianisms of Pennies From Heaven. [24 May 1982, p.85]

Carl Reiner comedy whose technical execution (Michael Chapman's cinematography is masterful) is better than its script. Read full review

Unfortunately, the technical hullabaloo gets stale about three-quarters of the way through and we want something to cling to. It's a case of the missing plot, unless you count what writers Reiner (who also directed), Martin and George Gipe weave round the clips to string them together. [21 May 1982, p.13]

Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid thus has considerable appeal to movie buffs for whom the black-and-white semi-classics of an earlier era are familiar treasures. For the rest of us, it is a senior thesis -- variations on a single theme, executed carefully but always to the same effect. [21 May 1982, p.D2]

A curiously overextended spoof of the cliche's of Hollywood's hard-boiled mystery melodramas of the 1940s. [21 May 1982, p.B4]

Martin has a few good silly gags, but you may find yourself fighting to stay awake and losing.