...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 humor 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.
David Niven is perfectly cast, bringing his charm and droll humor 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.