I have selected "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid" and "High Anxiety" for
discussion. These comedies contain both numerous satirical references
to specific films and also broader allusions to Hollywood clichés and
conventions.
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"Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid," a 1982 film directed by Carl Reiner,
derives its laughs almost entirely from satirical references to
earlier films.
Internet Movie Database: Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0083798
The film is set in the 1940s, and it is filmed in moody black and
white, in a perfect duplication of the style of the typical "film
noir" of a '40s flick. The protagonist is Private Investigator Rigby
Reardon, played by Steve Martin. The plot (which exists only as a
framework upon which to hang gags based upon other films) concerns the
mysterious death of Dr. John Hay Forrest, a noted scientist,
philanthropist, and cheesemaker. Dr Forrest's daughter, Juliet (Rachel
Ward) hires Rigby Reardon to investigate the details of her father's
death.
Reardon begins to find lists containing the names of people whom the
murderers of Dr. Forrest are planning to kill. Reardon decides to
catch the criminals by dressing as a woman, and by obtaining
information from his assistant, "Marlowe" (Humphrey Bogart, inserted
into the film by the magic of technology.)
In the course of the investigation, Reardon re-enacts a scene from
"Double Indemnity." The sight of Steve Martin -- rigged up with
shoulder pads, a curvaceously plumped-up sweater, and a
platinum-blonde pageboy wig -- portraying Barbara Stanwyck must be
seen to be believed. Although the cross-dressing aspect is funny in
its own right, this scene is best appreciated by those who have seen
"Double Indemnity."
In addition to "Double Indemnity," the film also inserts Steve Martin
into actual scenes from "The Big Sleep" (featuring Humphrey Bogart,)
"White Heat" (with James Cagney,) "Notorious" (with Ingrid Bergman,)
"Suspicion" (with Cary Grant,) and films starring Kirk Douglas, Bette
Davis, Joan Crawford, and many others. Although the film can be
enjoyed without the viewer's "catching" these film sources, the
experience of watching "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid" is greatly enriched
if one recognizes the sources of this parody/homage.
The references are not exclusively on the visual level: throughout
"Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid," we hear the insistent, emotional
soundtrack music of Miklós Rózsa, the composer of such classic film
scores as "Spellbound," "The Lost Weekend," and "The Killers" during
Hollywood's golden age in the 1940s.
In the spectacular climax, the killer of Dr. Forrest is revealed to be
Vincent Price (in an extended excerpt from Price's melodramatic
thriller "The Bribe.")
"Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid" is one of the most reference-intensive
movies of all time. I would estimate that about one-fourth of its
total footage is taken up by clips from earlier films, altered by the
inclusion of Steve Martin in each scene. Director Carl Reiner even
tips his hat to Alfred Hitchcock by including himself in a minor rôle
(Reiner plays a villainous character whose name is "Field Marshal Von
Kluck.") In addition to being beautifully written and directed, this
film is also a masterpiece of editing. To integrate dozens of segments
from various sources into a coherent (well, almost coherent) whole is
no easy task, but "Dead Men Wear Plaid" succeeds in being one of the
best cinematic pastiches of all time.
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"High Anxiety," a 1978 film directed by Mel Brooks, is so filled with
references to the films of Alfred Hitchcock that it may be largely
unintelligible to someone who has never seen a Hitchcock movie.
Internet Movie Database: High Anxiety
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0076141
The plot of "High Anxiety" concerns Dr. Richard Harpo Thorndyke
(played by Mel Brooks,) a psychiatrist who has been newly-appointed as
the "head shrink" of "The Psychoneurotic Institute for the Very, Very
Nervous." Dr. Thorndyke sets out to determine why the hospital's
patient recovery rate is so poor, while dealing with his own phobia of
heights. The plot is interspersed with parodies of many Alfred
Hitchcock films (and several references to "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's
Nest.")
Here are a few of the Hitchcock classics that are spoofed in "High
Anxiety":
"Spellbound": The general plot outline of "High Anxiety" resembles the
plotline of "Spellbound," which concerns a psychiatrist who is newly
appointed as head of psychiatric asylum; the doctor turns out to be an
amnesiac and a paranoiac himself.
Vertigo: Dr. Thorndyke's fear of heights resembles that of James
Stewart's character in "Vertigo." Two highly-recognizable locations
from "Vertigo" are used in "High Anxiety": the location at the edge of
San Francisco Bay, and the bell tower that was the focus of the
climactic scene of "Vertigo."
"Psycho": Hitchcock's famous shower scene is virtually duplicated,
shot-for-shot, in "High Anxiety."
"The Birds": When Dr. Thorndyke is seated on a park bench near a
jungle gym, a large number of pigeons begin to land on it, reminiscent
of the ominous school playground scene in "The Birds."
In addition, there are filmic references to Hitchcock's "The 39
Steps," "Notorious," "Suspicion," "Dial M for Murder," North by
Northwest," and "Frenzy."
By any standard, "High Anxiety" is surely one of the most richly
Hollywood-referential films of all time. It is difficult to imagine
that anyone who is unfamiliar with Hitchcock would be able to enjoy
"High Anxiety," since most of the movie's humor depends upon the
audience's recognition of scenes from old Hitchcock thrillers.
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