A fresh perspective on several old movies (Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, 1982, rewatch)

Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, 1982, directed by Carl Reiner, Kino Lorber blu-ray (2021), 3.5 stars.

They just don't make 'em like this anymore. As a matter of fact, they never even made 'em like this before. What a refreshingly unique concept. Carl Reiner and screenwriter George Gipe spent months culling short clips from old movies. With Steve Martin, they outlined a plot and a lot of jokes and sight gags around all those old clips.

The result was this black-and-white film noir parody in which Martin plays scenes with people like Cary Grant, Vincent Price, Bette Davis, James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart et. al. It's really clever and pretty funny in that Steve Martin way. This movie definitely keeps you on your toes -- you don't want to tune out at any point so as not to miss something.

I had a good time with it. If you're a big fan of those old noir films (which I am not), I'm certain you'd love this. I did not appreciate this much when I first saw it on a rented VHS sometime in the mid-1980s. But with a better point of reference four decades later, I did quite enjoy it.

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