Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid

Private investigator Rigby Reardon is hired by Juliet Forrest, who refuses to accept that her father's death in a mountain car crash was accidental. A wealthy cheese scientist, her father was involved in work he kept secret, and Juliet believes he was murdered. Reardon's investigation turns up a slip of paper listing the Friends and Enemies of Carlotta, setting him on a trail of clues that leads toward a neo-Nazi group holding her father captive.

Directed by Carl Reiner, the film mixes its contemporary detective story with footage from classic 1940s film noir, editing stars of that era into the action so that Reardon appears to share scenes with them. Steve Martin plays Reardon and co-wrote the screenplay with Reiner and George Gipe, and Rachel Ward plays Juliet, with Reiner himself appearing as her butler. The film came in the middle of a run of comedies Reiner directed, following Oh, God! and The Jerk and preceding The Man with Two Brains and All of Me.

Released in 1982, the film had a budget of nine million dollars and grossed eighteen million worldwide, roughly doubling its production cost. On IMDb it holds a rating of 6.8 from around twenty-six thousand votes, and on TMDB 6.6 from several hundred votes. A critics' rating of 6.4 from twenty-six reviews places it slightly below the audience scores on both sites.