This Gun for Hire
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid was a movie first released in 1982. It was directed by Carl Reiner and featured Steve Martin and Rachel Ward. It is both a parody of, and homage to, film noir and the pulp detective movies of the 1940s and 1950s.
The film is a collage effect of old black and white movie clips from films of the 1940s and 1950s, with more recent footage of Martin and other actors (including Carl Reiner, Rachel Ward, and Reni Santoni) similarly shot in black and white. When everything is put together, the original dialogue and acting becomes part of a completely different (and ridiculous) story. This was the last film for both costume designer Edith Head and composer Miklós Rózsa.
Among the actors who appeared from classic films were Edward Arnold, Ingrid Bergman, Humphrey Bogart, Wally Brown, James Cagney, William Conrad, Jeff Corey, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Brian Donlevy, Kirk Douglas, Ava Gardner, Cary Grant, Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, Burt Lancaster, Charles Laughton, Charles McGraw, Fred MacMurray, John Miljan, Ray Milland, Edmund O'Brien, Vincent Price, Barbara Stanwyck, Lana Turner and Norma Varden.
Film editor Bud Molin faced the challenge of linking Film Noir classics and contemporary footage, which ran at different speeds.
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Films used
The following films were used in Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid. Five films were already owned by Universal, and the rest were licensed from other studios. Of the five films owned by Universal, four have been originally owned by Paramount. Note that some of the film license owners have changed since the original release of the films.
Universal
- This Gun for Hire (1942)
- The Glass Key (1942)
- Double Indemnity (1944)
- The Lost Weekend (1945)
- The Killers (1946)
Warner Bros.*
- Deception (1946)
- Humoresque (1946)
- The Big Sleep (1946)
- Dark Passage (1947)
- White Heat (1949)
*At the time of release, United Artists owned these films.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer**
- Johnny Eager (1941)
- Keeper of the Flame (1943) (uncredited)
- The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
- The Bribe (1949)
**These films are now owned by Warner Bros. as a result of their 1996 acquisition of Turner Entertainment Co., who owned the rights since 1986.
RKO Pictures***
*** Suspicion is now owned by Warner Bros. as a result of their 1996 acquisition of Turner Entertainment Co., who owned the rights since 1986. Notorious is now owned by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures as a result of their 1996 acquisition of American Broadcasting Company, who owned the rights to most of the films produced by David O. Selznick.
Paramount Pictures
- I Walk Alone (1947)
- Sorry, Wrong Number (1948)
Columbia Pictures
- In a Lonely Place (1950)
