I love this Carl Reiner film because it intersperses old movie scenes and actors with this Steve Martin private eye comedy flick.
Does anyone know if there are other films that have used this technique?
As an aside: One of my favorite lines from this film was when Steve (Rigby Reardon) asked one of the interspersed characters,
“Well, can I use her panties to make soup?”
Thanks
Quasi
is this movie still out of print due to lawsuits?
I remember an episode of Tales from the Crypt where it was first person, but when you saw reflections and what not, it was Bogey.
And lots of B-Movies use old photage, usually of special effects
“There’s a boatload of Ethel Mermans arriving…”
There was an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine that featured the characters accidently sent back in time and getting mixed in with the action (and footage) of the TOS episode “Trouble With Tribbles”. This was a far more impressive conceptual and technical accomplishment than DMDWP.
Tars, really? I didn’t know that. I just rented it through Netflix. Can you give me a cite? I’d be interested in reading about that.
Thanks
Quasi
Agreed, Bryan. I saw that episode and it was far more technically advanced than DMDWP. But then you have to take into consideration that Reiner was working in a black and white medium and had to match the original film with the older scenes, right? It worked for me, but then I may not be as knowledgable about films as you are.
Q
the video store i rented it from claimed that (what a good cite!!)
but Google is turning up nothing (except some crazy guy who is complaining that all horror films are plagerised from him and he has some scripts worth billions at the box office but no one will listen to him because of his past at a secret government prison).
My new guess is they got the movie confused with something else…
I’m obliged to point out that DMDWP is among the final films of both composer Miklos Rozsa and costume designer Edith Head, both of whom were icons from the era which is lovingly referenced from the old clips.
Haven’t seen it in ages but a fun film, especially if you’re familiar with the assorted classic movies included.
best line, imho, is “you know how to call don’t you? you put your finger in the hole and slowly turn circles.” 
mc
Similar concepts were used in Woody Allen’s Zelig and Forrest Gump with newsreel footage.
In the Chuck Jones cartoon, “Rabbit Hood,” a shot of Errol Flynn from “The Adventures of Robin Hood” is included, though Bugs only sees him and doesn’t interact.
There’s also the obscure Marty Feldman vehicle, The Last Remake of Beau Geste, wherein Marty co-stars with Gary Cooper.
If it is, someone needs to turn in Amazon to the feds. They’ve got it in both VHS and DVD formats…
I agree that the DS9 episode was well done technically, but really there was no plot to most of it. It was pretty much just the DS9 characters digitally placed into the scenes from the original series.
What makes DMDWP cooler is that it was done before computer editing. Steve Martin interacted with the old stars via careful editing and recreating the sets and lighting from the original movies.
Hmm, I haven’t seen that one in years. I’ll have to add it to my list of movies to watch…
Eric
“I’m sorry, but I’m a butler, not a catcher.”
“You don’t deserve a puppy.”
“I’m adjusting your breasts.”
“At least we got Terra Haute, Indiana.”
“And they just got a new public library, too.”
“Senor! Your pyjamas!”
I love this movie.
CLEANING WOMAN?
“FOC? What’s that?”
“It’s a slang word…when a man and a woman are in love, the man-”
“No, I mean what’s F-O-C?”
“Oh - Friends of Carlotta.”
“Oh, man, this is never gonna heal…”
I use that line all the time.
i haven’t seen DMDWP ages! Thanks to this thread, I will rent it tonight!
soo funny!