rugged private detective rigby reardon ( a splendidly deadpan performance by steve martin ) be hire by the entice juliet forrest ( marvelously essay to sultry perfection by rachel ward ) to investigate the murder of her scientist father . of course and reardon soon find himself neck deep in all kind of trouble a he try to find out what really happen to julie dad . director carl reiner tell the delightfully off the wall story at a constant fast pace and deliver a meticulous recreation of the 40 era ( special kudos be in order for the set and costume ) and and show a genuine affection for vintage 40 noir . it a real treat to watch martin interact with such past star a humphrey bogart and james cagney ( in an especially hilarious scene in which martin dress up in drag a cagney mother so he can talk to cagney in jail . ) and ingrid bergman and veronica lake and ava gardner and charles laughton and ray milland and alan ladd and cary grant and barbara stanwyck and joan crawford and and even vincent price while the editing be seamless and the joke be bright and witty . martin play his role with great aplomb while he receive fine support from ward and reni santoni a zealous police chief carlos rodriguez and and reiner a nefarious nazi villain field marshall von kluck . martin hard boil narration crackle with a lot of choice sharp one liner and the movie boast a nice sense of the ridiculous ( i love the way ward keep remove bullet from martin hide with her teeth . ) . michael chapman gorgeous and moody black and white cinematography perfectly capture that distinctive smoky film noir style . miklos rozsa sweeping and melodramatic score likewise do the trick . a very funny and enjoyable one of a kind comedy hoot .