Reviewed By Jason Lockard
Steve Martin in an icon in comedy! From stand-up to Saturday Night Live to movies. Steven Martin has entertained audiences for many many years. And his films still make us laugh all these years later. Some film are indelibly etched in our memories such as The Jerk, Planes, Trains and Automobiles or Roxanne.
Well in 1982 he joined forces with legendary screenwriter and comedian Carl Reiner to bring us a unique film experience in the film noir comedy Dead Men don't wear plaid. Now the great folks at Kino Lorber under the division KL Studio Classics are giving films fans a chance to own this cult classic on Blu-ray.
A famous cheese maker dies in a suspicious manner. This causes his daughter Juliet Forrest (Rachel Ward) to seek out the truth behind his death, believing he was
murdered for his top-secret cheese recipes. So she
hires detective Roy Reardon (Steve Martin) to uncover the truth. On his journey to the truth he will find himself alongside many legendary characters in film history.
This film is so unique as Steve interacts with actors from the past and it is done so well it is almost seamless. Actors used in their original films include; Alan Ladd in This Gun for Hire, Barbara Stanwyck In Sorry, Wrong Number, Ray Milland in Lost Weekend, Ava Gardner in The Killers and The Bribe, Burt Lanchaster in The Killers, Humphrey Bogart in The Big Sleep, In A Lonely Place, Dark Passage, Cary Grant in Suspicion, Ingrid Bergman in Notorious,
Veronica Lake in The Glass Key, Bette Davis in Deception, Lana Turner in Johnny Eager, The Postman always rings twice, Edward Arnold in Johnny Eager, Kirk Douglas in I Walk Alone Fred MacMurray in Double Indemnity, James Cagney in White Heat, Joan Crawford in Humoresque, Charles Laughton in The Bribe and Vincent Price in The Bribe.
First off this is a very entertaining and hilarious film. Than add into the mix classic film noir actors in a modern film, interacting with Steve Martin is some of the craziest ways. For both of these reasons this film is a must watch. But beyond this, the film is historic as it was the final film for both costume designer Edith Head and composer Miklós Rózsa.
Kino Lorber has transferred this film in 1080p in widescreen format in 1.85:1 aspect ratio with a DTS master audio 2.0. This film looks absolutely beautiful in "glorious" black and white. The picture is crisp and the audio is clear. The only time there is some degradation in the picture is in certain clips used from older films, but that is from the original films used not this transfer. There is also English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing.
Now for the special feature Kino Lorber added some really cool bonuses on this disc. Take a look at what is included.
* NEW Audio Commentary by Filmmaker Allan Arkush and Film Historian/Filmmaker Daniel Kremer
* 4 Radio Spots
* 3 TV Spots
* Buttometer Teaser Trailer
* Theatrical Trailer
I am sorely behind on my Steve Martin films. I have been catching up watching many of them. Now I must say after watching this film for the first time this has become one of my favorite Martin films. I am so glad I witnessed this film for the first time on this Kino Lorber Studio Classics Blu-ray.
So if you are a fan of Steven Martin or spoof comedies, I highly recommend this KL Studio Classics Blu-ray of Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid. You can add this Blu-ray to your collection by heading over to Amazon.com and ordering your copy today.
Out of 4 Film Reels (4 Being the Best) KL Studio Classics Blu-ray of Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid receives...
0 Comments