*** (out of ****)
Comedy legend Carl Reiner died Monday, June 29th at the age of 98.
To pay tribute to this master comedian, I wanted to write a final review. Deciding to take a cue from Reiner himself, I chose his favorite movie that he directed, "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid" (1982), a send-up of 1940s American film noir. Given that my blog is dedicated to classic cinema, it seems like a perfect choice.
Born in the Bronx in 1922, Carl Reiner had his first taste of fame in the 1950s appearing with Sid Caesar on the classic sketch comedy shows, "Your Show of Shows" (1950 - 1954) and "Caesar's Hour" (1954 - 1957). Reiner also helped write the shows, which at one time or another included writers like Mel Brooks, Neil Simon and Larry Gelbart.
His success continued into the 1960s when he and Mel Brooks collaborated on what would become an iconic comedy album, The 2000 Year Old Man. Reiner took on the role of the straight man (something he did often opposite Sid Caesar) as the interviewer and Brooks as the title character. In 1961, Reiner created "The Dick Van Dyke Show", based on his days of writing for Caesar. Originally titled "Head of the Family", it was supposed to be as a star vehicle for Reiner, but in the end went to Dick Van Dyke. Reiner recast himself as the star of the show within the show, Alan Brady. The series ran until 1966.
Starting in the 1960s and through the late 1990s, Reiner began directing films. His feature film debut was "Enter Laughing" (1967), based on his 1958 autobiographical novel of the same title (adapted for the stage in 1963). In the 1970s, he directed the cult classic, "Where's Poppa?" (1970) starring George Segal and Ruth Gordon. As well as more mainstream movies like "Oh, God!" (1977) starring comedy legend George Burns. The Oscar nominated screenplay was written by Reiner's old co-writer from his Sid Caesar days, Larry Gelbart. The decade ended with Reiner starting a new collaboration with bright new stand-up comic, Steve Martin. In total, the two men would work together on four movies. Their first effort was "The Jerk" (1979) and was followed by "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid".
I suppose of the 15 comedies Carl Reiner directed, "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid" would be near the top of my list as his best movie. What makes it so special are the technical aspects of the filmmaking. Long before it was done in "Forrest Gump" (1994) and slightly beating out "Zelig" (1983), directed by Woody Allen (who also wrote for Sid Caesar in the 1950s), "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid" uses classic movie scenes seamlessly incorporated into a modern day story.
Steve Martin stars as his own 1940s private detective, Rigby Reardon. He is hired by Juliet Forrest (Rachel Ward) to investigate the death of her father, a noted scientist, philanthropist and cheesemaker, John Hay Forrest, whom she believes was murdered. Rigby's investigation requires him to interact with Alan Ladd, Ray Milland, Barbara Stanwyck, Humphrey Bogart, Veronica Lake, Kirk Douglas, Cary Grant and Joan Crawford among others.
This was accomplished by taking scenes from famous movies featuring these actors. A total of 18 movies were chosen including such classics as "Sorry, Wrong Number" (1948), "The Big Sleep" (1946), "Notorious" (1946), "The Postman Always Rings Twice" (1946), "Double Indemnity" (1944) and "White Heat" (1949). Then the lighting crew, the cinematographer, costume and production designers had to match the look of those movies, creating continuity so that Martin appears to be in the same scene exchanging dialogue.
Obviously a movie like this requires a lot of research. According to Reiner, he, Martin and co-writer George Gipe had a vague idea of the plot and then watched countless movies looking for moments they could use. The original scenes had to be over the shoulder shots that couldn't contain dialogue too specific to the particular movie, and it needed to help advance their story. In "The Bribe" (1949), Charles Laughton addresses a character named Rigby (played by Robert Taylor), and because of that Reiner knew their character would also need to be named Rigby. In fact much of "Dead Men" takes its cues from "The Bribe".
The plot doesn't make much sense and isn't altogether compelling, a complaint Siskel & Ebert had for the movie in their thumbs down review, but that kind of misses the point and it is not the real appeal of "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid". It is a one-joke movie that would be most appreciated by truly devoted movie lovers. They will take pleasure in being able to guess which movie clips are being used, and their smooth integration into the plot will cause those viewers to smile and acknowledge the craft that went into making the movie.
This makes the real star of the movie not Steve Martin or Rachel Ward but cinematographer Michael Chapman. Although Chapman worked again with Reiner on his next comedy, "The Man With Two Brains" (1983), Reiner's third Steve Martin collaboration, Chapman may be best known for his Oscar nominated work on Martin Scorsese's "Raging Bull" (1980), also shot in black and white. His other credits include "Taxi Driver" (1976), "The Last Detail" (1973), "Personal Best" (1982), "The Fugitive" (1993) and "The Story of Us" (1999) directed by Carl's son, Rob Reiner.
Some of "Dead Men's" humor comes from contrasting sensibilities of the 1940s and modern day (1980s). Through various narrations, Rigby kind of, sort of sounds like the detectives from the noir movies using 40s slang, but at the same time parodies it with modern vulgarities, which obviously wouldn't have been allowed in the original movies.
The humorous contrast is further exploited in the overt sexual tone. One example is a running gag where Rigby touches Juliet's breasts when she falls down, and when caught in the act, says he is only adjusting them. Another is when Rigby mentions a prior case, "The Murder Case of the Girl with the Big Tits". There are also not so subtle sexual innuendos. Rigby is shot in the arm multiple times which necessitates Juliet to suck the bullet out of his arm. These scenes begin with a close-up of Juliet's lips. Classic movies had their share of innuendos but nothing as overt as that.
There is a sense of having fun with the integrated clips. In one scene between Rigby and Lana Turner, Rigby apologizes for the last time they were together and leaving her at the corner of Schwab's drugstore. The joke, for the younger people reading this, is that (according to legend) that is where Turner was standing when discovered. In a scene with Charles Laughton, Rigby tells him he looks like the Hunchback of Notre Dame. Because the dialogue can't always line up, sometimes Rigby is called by different names, which he passes off to a character's drunkenness. Finally, Juliet gives us her version of the famous, "you know how to whistle" scene with Lauren Bacall from "To Have and Have Not" (1944).
Similarly to "Young Frankenstein" (1974), what makes "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid" work are the good intentions of those involved. Respecting the original source material and wanting to get as much right as possible, the movie has a score written by the Hungarian film composer Miklos Rozsa, who worked on many of the classic movies used here ("The Bribe", "The Killers" (1946), "The Lost Weekend" (1945) and "Double Indemnity"). The costume designer was Edith Head, who practically worked on every movie made from the 1920s until 1982. This was her last movie and was dedicated to her.
Ironically, Steve Martin revealed that he did not want to watch any of the classic noir movies prior to shooting. He was concerned he would end up doing a Humphrey Bogart impression. Depending on how you look at it, he could be the weakest link in the modern acting ensemble. Because Martin didn't want his performance to be nostalgic and channel actors like Bogart or Robert Mitchum (suspiciously absent) he seems out of place. The contrast in style however is meant to create the humor. Rachel Ward on the other hand could have fit into one of those 1940s movies. She's not doing an impersonation (as far as I could tell) but captures the spirit of the female roles of the time period. Meanwhile Carl Reiner, at one point looking like Erich von Stroheim, gives us the broad 1940s Nazi movie villain.
After Martin and Reiner's collaboration came to an end with "All of Me" (1984) co-starring Lilly Tomlin, it was tough times ahead for Reiner. Nothing he did for the remainder of the 1980s had much of an impact, though I do love the nostalgia of "Bert Rigby, You're a Fool" (1989), an old-fashion 1930s-ish Hollywood musical. In the 1990s, he took a stab at movie parodies (which Caesar's TV shows were known for and celebrated) but "Fatal Instinct" (1993) felt more like an "Airplane" (1980) knockoff than anything else. At age 75, Reiner decided to retire from filmmaking after giving us "That Old Feeling" (1997), a minor effort inspired by the great 1930s screwball comedies.
Reiner however remained creative in the last years of his life. He wrote several autobiographies; I Remember Me (2012), I Just Remembered (2014) and Too Busy to Die (2017). Some younger movie fans may remember him from his acting roles in "Ocean's Eleven" (2001) and its sequels. For me, he was the best thing about those movies. His last feature movie credit will be for his voice-over work in "Toy Story 4" (2019) as Carl Reineroceros.
Unfortunately, unlike his contemporaries Mel Brooks and Woody Allen, as a director Carl Reiner was never celebrated by the public nor critics as a great comedy filmmaker. Believe it or not, he was never nominated for an Academy Award. The Academy didn't even make him a recipient of their lifetime achievement award. None of his movies were nominated for best picture. However, this is not to say that he was not celebrated. He was the winner of 11 Emmy awards either for his writing or acting. He won one Grammy, shared with Mel Brooks, for their comedy album, The 2000 Year Old Man in the Year 2000, and received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.
Perhaps with his death, the general public will take a second look at his movies. Sadly, I didn't do much to help keep his comedies fresh in the public's mind. I only reviewed three of them despite Reiner being an important figure to me and an inspiration. When I was younger, dreaming of becoming a filmmaker, I would say to myself that I want a career like Carl Reiner's.
"Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid" may be a good place to start in the Carl Reiner movie cannon. This is a well made, stylize movie showcasing Reiner's directing ability. Next, move on to the dark comedy, "Where's Poppa?" then "Oh, God!", "All of Me" and "The Jerk". Reiner was a national treasurer who will be sorely missed.
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