Carl Reiner double feature

Friday, March 6 - 7:30 PM

Director Carl Reiner In-Person! Double Feature:

THE MAN WITH TWO BRAINS, 1983, Warner Bros., 93 min. Dir. Carl Reiner. Brain surgeon Steve Martin is saddled with a horrible wife (Kathleen Turner), until he comes up with the perfect solution: transplanting the brain of a sweet, romantic woman into his nasty spouse’s gorgeous body. Outrageous gags and typically witty Reiner-Martin wordplay ensue in one of the funniest films of the 1980s. More

DEAD MEN DON'T WEAR PLAID, 1982, Universal, 88 min. Dir. Carl Reiner. Steve Martin is a private eye who manages to interact with Humphrey Bogart, Barbara Stanwyck, and Alan Ladd thanks to gorgeous black-and-white cinematography (courtesy of RAGING BULL director of photography Michael Chapman) and some extremely creative editing. This merging of classic 1940s film noir clips and new footage directed by Reiner is a movie buff’s dream, and a hilarious comedy regardless of how familiar one is with the classics being referenced. Discussion following with director Carl Reiner.

Carl opened with a nice rant against Ronald Reagan and then reflected on the films we just watched...with great stories about Steve Martin, Bette Davis and the back of Paul Heinreid's head.












Here, Carl discusses his 1st act and the importance of talking to yourself...




I saw DEAD MEN in the theater back in the day, I made Dad take me even though he wondered whether I'd like it or not. I think he asked the same thing when I wanted to see the rerelease of REAR WINDOW. I loved them both for the record.

I loved DEAD MEN too, more so than the extended version on TV, with Steve in drag as Gloria Grahame fighting it out with Bogie. At the Q&A Carl mentioned how expensive it was to use the footage, I wonder if that had to do with the cuts from the theatrical?

Anyway, I was already a big Bogart fan (Steve Martin too) when this came out and now, Steve was playing my favorite of all professions, the private eye. Silly and rapid fire gags galore, with the crushy Rachel Ward and Carl himself as the baddie. MAN WITH TWO BRAINS is familiar from TV viewings by the dozen, but with a laughing crowd loving it, it felt to me like a bizarre fever dream of lunacy. Complete with an Elevator Killer (who never did turn himself in, as Carl told us), and Kathleen Turner wearing nothing but nightgowns...what's not to love?
Grades: A

CP