Bedtime Story (1964)

"Bedtime Story" is a very unusual film in that I actually much preferred the remake, "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels"...and I rarely enjoy remakes. I won't bore you with a lot of details--suffice to say that it's pretty much the same plot but the character played by Marlon Brando is very sexist and crude...much more so and much more of a jerk than the character played by Steve Martin. And, therein lies the problem--he plays such an obvious pig that the film loses the audience. You just cannot believe he's a con man...and a successful one at that. Overall, an interesting idea that only is modestly interesting...at best. Stick with the 1988 film...your brain will thank you.

...the original version of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, a 1988 comedy. I just saw the original again for the first time in years and found this tale of two competitive French Riviera con artists fleecing rich women a charming, polished delight.David Niven is perfectly cast, bringing his charm and droll humour to the role of the wealthy, well established con artist, working in collaboration with the corrupt captain of police, to suavely pluck the rich female tourists arriving in his affluent but small Mediterranean town, without their ever knowing that they have been plucked. Along, though, comes a brash American con artist interloper (Marlon Brando), threatening to spoil the pickings for Niven. From there the story takes off.The film looks like parts of it may have been filmed in the Riviera, adding considerably to the sunshine kissed affluent atmosphere of this handsome production. And there is often some rather clever dialogue. At one point Brando, in talking to the French town police officer, says, "She caught me with another woman. You're French. You understand." "To be with another woman, that is French," replies the Frenchman, "To be caught, that is American." That same line of dialogue, by the way, would re-appear in the remake (Stanley Shapiro has writing credit on both films).Niven brings his expected aplomb to his role. Did any actor ever look more at home in a white tuxedo? But Brando is an unexpected pleasure to watch in this film, as well, gleefully leaping into the role of the lower class brash Yankee ready to exploit the gullibility of innocent women. At one point Niven says to him, "By no stretch of the imagination would I associate myself with someone like you. You're crude." "Well, so is oil until you refine it into high octane gasoline," says Brando, wanting to be taught all the tricks of sophisticated film flammery at the hands of an old master like Niven.Both Bedtime Story and its Dirty Rotten Scoundrels remake are well worth viewing. Where the remake has an edge over the original, though, is in the casting of Steve Martin, who has a few sequences of physical comedy brilliance when he poses as "Ruprecht," Niven's brain addled "brother," who acts, at times, like he's almost half monkey. These scenes are hysterically funny, thanks to Martin. Michael Caine plays the Niven role in the remake, and he's more than fine.The real difference - the ending of the original shows the remaining romance of the production code era, that love can flourish even under the most lurid of circumstances. The remake's ending shows all the cynicism that you would expect in a post-Watergate, post-Vietnam world. Both endings work well. I'll let you watch and find out what I mean.

How about that... I never knew that Dirty Rotten Scoundrels was a remake. I enjoyed the remake but was always, ALWAYS disappointed that Steve Martin was supposed to be the 'younger' guy...what a joke. Now, seeing the original i realize my instinct was right on. Casting Michael Caine for David Niven was a good choice... Casting Steve Martin for Marlon Brando??!? While Steve Martin did a good enough job, i can only imagine how much more interesting/funny it would be with someone else doing Freddy. When Steve Martin says towards the middle of the film that he's younger than Michael Caine, all i could think was...by 2 years?! Something that i almost NEVER do, is like the remake as much as the original. In this case, i almost like both equally. The original is still slightly better, mostly because of the quality of actors. The original ending is slightly better as well. While i like the ending of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, the ending in the original is much more satisfying... :D Now, if only i could own both on a high quality DVD/BluRay in Widescreen...

Bedtime Story is a fine comedy with two superb actors. The story, the rhythm of the movie and the acting is characteristic of the best period of the English, American, Italian and French comedy. No special effects, just a good story and good acting. Excellent!. Good comedies in the fifties, sixties and seventies were common, Bedtime Story is one, Prudence and the Pill, The Pink Panther, How to Murder Your Wife, The Statue, The Ladykillers, etc… I do not like re-makes in general, but I hate bad re-makes. The bad news is that the list of re-makes is growing. Is it because they lack creativity and ingenuity? Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is a really bad one. I wonder why Steve Martin keeps trying to show the world how lousy actor and worse comedian he is compared to Brando or Peter Sellers in the Pink Panther. The same for the 2004 version of The Ladykillers, it is awful. So, my recommendation is: stick to the originals.