schutd

Im a HUGE Film Noir fan. The one true American-invented film style. This includes everything from westerns to Private dick movies. I didnt know how to choose from the list of my fave Raymond Chandler novel adapted films, and then this popped into my mind. How bout a film that builds its plot around scenes and one liners from several of my faves?! Brilliant.

Directed by Carl Reiner and starring Steve Martin, Dead Men DOnt Wear Plaid spoofs the film noir genre by telling the story of Private Dick Rigby Reardon as he is hired to uncover some sinister plot. The great thing is, the story isn't so important in this film. Its great becasue honestly, the story itself isnt all that good. Its the manner in which it's told however, thats important. Reiner uses lines from other film noiurs and seamlessly splices them in with his own film to make the story, and it is done wonderfully. You get to watch Steve "acting" with former Hollywood heavyweights like Bogie, Bacall, Cagney, Joan Crawford. And he uses their lines from these old films as the setups for many of his jokes.

The film is shot in black and white, and the lighting is excellent which lends itself to increased believeability that this is actually one single film. Not dozens of them patched together.

I found some quotes from the film on the IMDB.

Rigby Reardon: All dames are alike: they reach down your throat and they can grab your heart, pull it out and they throw it on the floor, step on it with their high heels, spit on it, shove it in the oven and cook the **** out of it. Then they slice it into little pieces, slam it on a hunk of toast, and serve it to you and then expect you to say, "Thanks, honey, it was delicious."

Rigby Reardon: Carlotta was the kind of town where they spell trouble T-R-U-B-I-L, and if you try to correct them, they kill you.

Rigby Reardon: I hadn't seen a body put together like that since I solved the case of the Murdered Girl with the Big Tits.

Now COME ON! If you havent seen this film at least 6 times, go out and rent it again, or rent it for the first time, and check it out.

Chaplin

One of my favorite comedies ever.

I love the brilliance in the editing, especially the use of a bunch of different Humphrey Bogart movies. And using the scenes, they have some of the actors playing against type--especially Bogart, who they make out to be a drunken buffoon. I thought that was brilliant considering Bogart is everything but a buffoon.

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"I don't flop. I don't complain. I beat you." - Shaquille O'Neal

mdamien13

Never seen it, but it sounds really good. I'll have to check it out!

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The Lonely Ones - available on DVD at all online retailers and Fry's Electronics everywhere! Check out the film's MySpace page for reviews and interviews with the cast and crew!