Tote tragen keine Karos (1982)

Tote tragen keine Karos: Directed by Carl Reiner. With Steve Martin, Rachel Ward, Alan Ladd, Carl Reiner. Film noir parody with a detective uncovering a sinister plot. Characters from real noirs appear as scenes from various films are intercut.

“I first saw this in the theater with my dad, at the age of 13, when it was first released – he was a huge fan of classic movies and usually suffered through the stuff he took me to. Not this one – we were both in hysterics, and Iu0026#39;d have to say I owe my huge love of classic Hollywood (and global) cinema to this film. CITIZEN KANE it may not be but no matter – I dug the humor and the atmosphere at the time, and even then was aware of how much work this must have been. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI still watch this one on occasion, and it is the rare comedy that has held up very well with the passage of time – critics at the time seemed to write it off as a stunt, but Iu0026#39;ve noted that at least a little reevaluation of DEAD MEN DONu0026#39;T WEAR PLAID has occurred over the years. The performances – as both a spoof and a love-letter to film noir – are top notch, with Steve Martin at his best here. The dialog gets deep into Raymond Chandler/Dashiell Hammett hard-boiled private-eye stylishness, serving up gumshoe-with-dame clichés just juiced up enough to give Steve something to run with, while still offering an a solid story. The finale is magnificent, Martin and Carl Reiner jousting their way through an avalanche of every two-bit dime-store whodunnit game-over cliché to ever grace the big screen, cheap alibis falling like drunken angels across the naked city as the big heat descends… Or – ahem -something like that…”