Bedtime Story (1964) User Reviews (38)

As it may be better known to some modern filmgoers...

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 18 March 2016]

...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.

The dirty rotten caper

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 25 May 2020]

1964's 'Bedtime Story' is not to be confused with the 1941 film of the same name with Fredric March and Loretta Young, an enjoyable film in its own right despite March's uneven performance. Inevitable comparisons have been made with this film and its remake 'Dirty Rotten Scoundrels', haven't seen that film in years but do remember enjoying it and intend to re-watch it when possible. Have liked all three leads in other things, with Marlon Brando especially having some iconic performances in his career.

Found 'Bedtime Story' to be a very enjoyable film, lots of fun with the leads on top form. Don't be fooled by the film's pretty cutesy and child friendly-like title ('Dirty Rotten Scoundrels' even would have been a much more apt title) that makes you think that it is going to be another film entirely. It is a long way from cutesy and very much adult-oriented, much funnier and wittier than one might think looking at that title which does the film no favours, and quite a bit better than its mixed critical reception at the time suggests.

'Bedtime Story's' script is not perfect, it could have done with some tightening up here and there as not everything felt necessary here and as a consequence the script is not as lean as ought. Meaning that the film sometimes drags and can get on the repetitive side. While the slang was interesting, it is very of the time and dates the film a bit.

Was a little more mixed on Brando, leaning towards liked but had problems with his character. Brando has great charisma, great energy and some nice comic timing, extracting as much as he can out of the material and giving it juice, often amusingly oily. He does suffer from his character being too coarse and too much of a bully, so a near-irredeemable character that is difficult to get behind, and he can play the role too heavily and broadly at times. So a mostly fun if at times uneven performance in an unlikeable and quite odd role.

David Niven, coming onto the numerous good things, has a character tailor-made for him, a character with characteristics that he was no stranger to and he is typically lively, sophisticated and charming. He and Brando have dynamite conflicting chemistry together that really gives 'Bedtime Story' sparkle, his smoothness contrasting beautifully with the broader acting style of Brando. Shirley Jones' character is not near as interesting but she is radiant, has a natural charm and appeals. The script isn't perfect, but has a wonderfully biting wit frequently and the broadness that it has doesn't get too nasty in my view. The story is not probable and the pace isn't perfect, but is enlivened by some genuinely funny set pieces and the dynamite character interactions.

It wholly succeeds as lightweight fun and is generally crisp in pace. It is a lavish looking film, especially the colourful art direction beautifully photographed, love the attention to detail that some of the camera angles have. The music score is colourful and has a lot of personality and Ralph Levy's direction avoids being too wild, not always exciting but always expertly and never bland.

All in all, uneven but good fun. 7/10

Brando had a nice comic touch

[bjshoes · 8/10 · 28 January 2007]

Between this and Guys and Dolls and the Godfather parody w/ Mathew Broderick, Marlon showed that he could be very funny. Sort of like Errol Flynn, I wish he had been given more opportunities.

I have looked in vain for this on DVD it was supposed to have been released a couple of years ago, I'm not sure what happened.

As noted many will be familiar with the remake (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels), though I prefer the original. There is a priceless scene where Marlon (as Freddy)is caught with his pants off after seducing the burgomeister's daughter in a German town. He explains that he is part of the new Exercise instruction program and he begins doing calisthenics as he makes his exit.

I also liked when David Niven and Brando first meet and realize that they are competing in the same line of work albeit at different levels.

Highly recommended.

'shoes

A nifty, underrated comedy

[NeelyO · 12 October 1999]

This was one of those movies whose presence on TV would guarantee my entire family's viewing, even if it came on in the middle of the night. David Niven is a suave fleecer of gullible women, who tries to teach novice Marlon Brando a thing or two. Ultimately, both set their sights on soap heiress Shirley Jones, and the games begin.

Brando's brief impersonation of Niven is worth the price of admission (or rental, or whatever). Superior to the pretty-good remake, "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels."

Simple, but pretty funny--apparently Brando felt so, too

[SnorrSm1989 · 7/10 · 24 May 2006]

Lawrence Jameson (David Niven) lives in a castle in France, and may be best described as the quintessential rotten womanizer. He systematically seduces wealthy women to his wealthy home, whereupon the victims are persuaded, in one way or another, to give him large amounts of their fortunes. While Jameson is certainly an unsympathetic fellow when it comes down to it, he is very able to fool nearly anyone with his apparent charm. It turns out that he has a rival, however; Freddy Benson (Marlon Brando) lives by the same sort of principles. The two swindlers eventually meet, and as the result of an argument they agree to engage in a bet. The first of them to successfully get 25 000 dollars out of the pocket of Janet Walker (Shirley Jones), the gentle and pretty daughter of a wealthy business man, should be declared as the true king of womanizers. While Freddy pretends to be paralyzed due to a sad love story, in order to evoke empathy from Mrs. Walker, Jameson--unpredicted by Freddy--turns up in the role as his rival's supposed psychiatrist!

Initially intended as another vehicle for Rock Hudson and Doris Day (as well as Cary Grant), BEDTIME STORY instead turned out to provide David Niven with yet another opportunity to perform the kind of role for which he is probably best-remembered today. He is essentially rather similar here to "The Phantom" in the first PINK PANTHER-movie, to just name one example. Even so, he is definitely hilarious; his facial expressions alone are sometimes able to make me laugh out loud. The film does also offer a quite convincing demonstration of Marlon Brando's talent as a comic performer, and furthermore that his capabilities as such has been unjustly under-appreciated. While often praised as the greatest dramatic actor ever seen on the screen, the humorous performances of Brando are rarely given more than passing mention. It may be true that all of Brando's most memorable performances are of the dramatic kind; Stanley Kowalski in A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE and Terry Malloy in ON THE WATERFRONT being two obvious examples. However, I do not accept this as a valid reason to entirely neglect his attempts at other kinds of roles. Brando himself may have felt that he couldn't do comedy well; but he did admit, in his autobiography 30 years later, that he found making BEDTIME STORY a delight, possibly the only time he truly enjoyed working in a film. He claimed to have laughed so hard during certain scenes that he often had to leave the room, but even then it was hard for the performers to ignore his howls of laughter.

BEDTIME STORY is an entirely undemanding piece of entertainment, a very light comedy indeed, but also a very enjoyable one, if you are in that kind of mood and just wants to laugh after a stressful day.

Similar enough to keep me entertained, different enough to keep me interested

[cricketbat · 7/10 · 10 May 2019]

I think the reason I found Bedtime Story so entertaining was because it was surreal to hear the lines from Dirty Rotten Scoundrels delivered by different people in a different movie. I never would have imagined Marlon Brando as Ruprecht and David Niven fits the role of Lawrence Jameson perfectly. This movie features enough similarities to keep me entertained, and enough differences to keep me interested.

Conmen On a Train

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 23 September 2008]

For David Niven, Bedtime Story was the kind of part he could play in his sleep although he's quite wide awake here. But for Marlon Brando this was his second foray into comedy, he would not do another until the Nineties when he was accepting roles for money to pay his son's lawyers. Brando does quite well in Bedtime Story as the sleazy GI conman.

We meet both of them separately at the beginning, Niven in his guise as a prince living in a palace on the French Riviera, fleecing money from rich tourists trying to free his country from the rebels, presumably Communists. And Brando manages to con his commanding officer Parley Baer more worried about getting his promotion to general than in dealing out justice to the guy who disgraced his daughter into an early discharge with a private separation package.

Brando as civilian meets with Niven on board a train heading to the Riviera and brags about his exploits and talks about trying his luck on the rich babes there. Niven not wanting any competition arranges a small frame up with the cooperation of the police chief Aram Stephen. Of course when Brando gets wise to it, they're forced into a partnership of sorts.

Niven sort of glides right into a part that he's done on many occasions, in this case not even having to rely solely on his considerable charm to carry a weak film. Brando had done comedy on screen before in Teahouse of the August Moon, but the role of Freddy Benson, GI Conman extraordinary fits him far better than Sakini in Teahouse.

If Paul Henning and Stanley Shapiro on hiatus from their rural franchise at CBS had really wanted to make this a better film, they would have invested a surprise in Shirley Jones traditional good girl character. Remember she won an Oscar for playing against type in Elmer Gantry as a prostitute. Think of the ending in the John Wayne film The Train Robbers and think how it would have really fit here.

Still Bedtime Story is not a bad film and it even got remade as the Steve Martin classic, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. And hats off everyone to Dody Goodman, the legendary Fanny of Omaha.

BEDTIME STORY (Ralph Levy, 1964) ***

[Bunuel1976 · 7/10 · 22 December 2007]

Before tackling the film proper, I'd like to point out some fascinating trivia first: originally, this was planned with Cary Grant and Rock Hudson in mind who were to compete for Doris Day and, allegedly, it was almost revived as a starring vehicle for (brace yourselves) David Bowie and Mick Jagger (!!)…before saner minds prevailed and we got DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS (1988) – with Michael Caine and Steve Martin replacing David Niven and Marlon Brando respectively – instead. Anyway, the premise was quite original at the time – rival con-men decide to collaborate but clash over fleecing a woman who turns out to be poor – and the film itself was actually better than I was expecting: in any case, "The most vulgar and embarrassing film of the year" – as The Daily Express had deemed the film on its release – it certainly wasn't!

Given that BEDTIME STORY was one of Brando's efforts from his lean period (and, uncharacteristically, a comedy at that), I didn't have high hopes for it initially – especially since some of the other "comedies" I had seen Brando in had been pretty desperate attempts: A COUNTESS FROM HONG KONG (1967) and CANDY (1968; see above). Still, that the Method actor was capable of handling lighter material than the brooding dramas he was best-known for, was already evident early on in his career with GUYS AND DOLLS (1955) and THE TEAHOUSE OF THE AUGUST MOON (1956), but this is perhaps his most engaging performance in this field; that said, it's rather disquieting to see him mugging like a Jerry Lewis wannabe (when posing as Niven's half-wit brother)! His co-star isn't particularly taxed by his role – having often played the roué, it's one he could have done in his sleep – but he's always good value in this type of light entertainment; ditto Shirley Jones, who plays it more or less straight.

The delightful opening, lending fairy-tale connotations to the narrative (hence the title) and the various schemes by which the two male stars attempt to outwit one another in order to obtain Jones' favors (and, in the process, her money) constitute the film's highlights; these include the famous scene in which Brando poses as a paraplegic – recalling his celebrated debut performance in Fred Zinnemann's powerful social drama THE MEN (1950) – as a result of which Jones arranges for him to be "cured" by renowned shrink Niven!

I watched the film via the R2 DVD from Orbit Media, presenting the Universal film in a full-screen format; I haven't been able to ascertain what the original aspect ratio was, but I didn't find the compositions overly compromised; for the record, BEDTIME STORY is still unavailable on R1 DVD and one wonders what held it from being included in Universal's four-film 2-Disc Set of "The Marlon Brando Franchise Collection"...

FYI - A little history on Bedtime Story and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

[[e-mail] · 10/10 · 7 July 2007]

I saw it in the late '60's on TV when I was home from school. Years later I became a screenwriter and got a call from David Bowie's production company. He and Mick jagger wanted to do a movie together and hoped I would write it. I suggested doing a remake of Bedtime Story with Bowie as Lawrence Jamison and Mick as Freddy.

They were both interested, the studio (UA) was interested, but the movie had been made at Universal and there was no way they could get the rights. A number of other studios were interested, but couldn't wrestle the right away from Universal.

Turns out no had bothered to do a copyright search. I did. Turns out the rights had reverted back to the original writer/producer Stanley Shapiro. We met at the Pink Turtle (a coffee shop at what was the Beverly Wilshire) and did a deal on a napkin.

The original title was King of Hill. Since Stanley was the man behind the Doris Day/Rock Hudson/Cary Grant movies - he decided to write (with Maurice Richlin - who went on to pen the original Pink Panther) a movie where Cary Grant and Rock Hudson would compete for Doris Day.

Apparently, Cary had asked Rock to do a movie with him, but Rock had turned him down. So Cary didn't want to do a movie with Rock. And Doris wouldn't do the movie without the both of them. Hence it was re-cast with Niven, Brando and Shirley Jones.

Stanely said this movie didn't do all that well in its original run. He felt that the movie fell flat in the south because of Brando championing civil rights.

Thought I do prefer my ending, but this is nevertheless a very charming movie. Which is why I tried to preserve as much as the original as possible. Hey, if ain't broke, don't fix it. And certainly don't change it.

Funny, but dated and sometimes borderline comedy

[SimonJack · 7/10 · 12 October 2017]

"Bedtime Story" is a very funny film, but it might leave some with an off taste in their mouth. That's in the subtlety and delivery of some of the comedy. Since its remake in 1988, "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels," it's only natural to compare the two films. I don't know if there's any hard data, but Hollywood has a mixed record of successes and failures in movie remakes. My guess is that three out of four don't pan out, or certainly don't exceed the original film. Some that have been highly successful have had two or more remakes. In this case, though, the remake, "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" of 1988 far surpasses this original. And, this original is quite good.

The difference is in a few things. The first is the jettison in the remake of some of the extraneous material that takes quite some time in the original. The fact of Lawrence Jameson (David Niven) supporting some of the arts as a heroic charity for cultural posterity seems to be to build his character up in the eyes of the 1964 audience as somewhat justifiable for what he does. That minor subplot detracts from the main plot and the humor. The early scenes of Freddy Benson (Marlon Brando) in the Army, running illegal activities on his Army camp in Germany, and seducing German frauleins probably was intended to paint him as the less honorable of the two scoundrels in this film. But those scenes aren't that funny and are a further detraction from the main plot and humor.

Another difference is more subtle. Marlon Brando's Freddy comes close to being a misogynist. He disdains women except to conquer them in bed. His persona seems to have a little meanness about him. Steve Martin's Freddy is out to take the women for their money, and he is attracted to them otherwise. Then, there's the difference in both leads in both films, and their delivery and humor. Brando was a great actor, but only so-so as a comedian. He is too self-assured in his composure and glances in this film. Steve Martin is a good actor and a great comedian. His persona, comedy delivery and character are naturally more funny. David Niven was a very good actor, and he could do comedy well as the straight man and con man (think "Pink Panther"). Michael Caine is a great actor and he's superb at comedy.

Then, there's the overall dialog of Brando's Freddy. It's very dated with the use of slang that the remake has eliminated. He talks to Jameson and repeatedly says, "Oh, dad." When Jameson tells him the name of Sir Walter Raleigh, he says, "That's the goof." He says to Jameson, "Let me put some new colors in your paint box." And later, he says, "Have some gigs." When he outs Jameson on his con operation, he says, "Up my octane, big daddy." Even Jameson gets in the act on the train when he says they have arrived at "Deadsville."

I appreciate the background that screenwriter Dale Launer gives in his review of "Bedtime Story." He collaborated with the original writer, Stanley Shapiro, on the 1988 remake. Shapiro told him this movie "didn't do all that well in its original run." He said it fell flat in the south, possibly because of Brando's civil rights efforts. I think there may have been more than that about the film's mild reception. Most notably, among American servicemen from Germany, and their families and people who were paying attention to the news in Europe. I'm quite familiar with that period because I was stationed in the U. S. Army in (West) Germany from early 1962 to late 1964.

After the Berlin Wall went up in 1961, the U. S. began building up its forces in Germany. Since the end of the occupation forces in May 1955, the American forces (part of NATO) had dwindled to little more than a paper tiger. Studies and news of the time reported that fact. Along with the American forces buildup, German-American relations had been on the decline. A 1961 movie touches on this somewhat - "A Town Without Pity." The subject of that movie - rape of a German girl by American GIs, was not an isolated instance. In 1963, a brutal rape and murder happened near where I was stationed, and it involved a GI from my base. "Overseas Weekly" newspaper (we called it "Oversexed Weekly" for obvious reasons) reported regularly on scandals and local crimes involving American servicemen. I would bet that "Bedtime Story" didn't go over well in West Germany.

So, this movie is about - and should focus on the two scoundrels and their differences, joining of forces, parting of ways and final competition to see who will be king of the mountain. The extraneous stuff before and in between should be minimal, and only used when it adds to the plot and the humor. The remake - also written by Stanley Shapiro (with Dale Launer), cuts the calories and fat from the original and gives us a hearty, wonderful cut of a film that viewers can really enjoy for its non-stop humor. And, while the ending in this film was okay - even good for its day, the surprise ending in the remake is over the top hilarious and brilliant.

Here are some funny lines from the film. Check the Quotes section under this IMDb Web page for more humorous dialog.

Lawrence Jameson, "You do have a sort of brutish appeal to women. You're certainly unprincipled. Lying and cheating come naturally to you. You're completely without moral qualms." Freddy Benson, "There, you see. Everybody's got a good side if you look for it."

Freddy, "Look, daddy, you wanna play 'Robin Hood,' okay. But don't shoot my arrows. There's one thing the archaeologists aren't gonna dig up and that's Freddy's money, 'cause I'm spending it right now. So, hand it over, tax-free."

A rare case where I preferred the remake...

[planktonrules · 4/10 · 21 November 2016]

"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.

Brando said, "The most fun I ever had making a film"!

[mingusblues · 10/10 · 25 July 2010]

I was ten when the movie came out, my dad encouraged me to watch it years later when it played on television. I was hooked...

Brando is uproarious as the American GI in Europe, an egotist, sometimes crude, a hustler, preying on gorgeous woman through sympathy, his good looks and his almost pathetic hilarious charm....David Niven is the slick, cool, rich charming Englishman and yes, he's also as conniving as Brando. Though Niven is a bit smarter than "Freddy" (Brando) - It makes for a weird but funny and brief partnership between Niven and Brando, to seduce & fleece some very rich, sometimes beautiful, but always naive, trusting & very willing women.

And thus begins an even funnier competition between Brando and Niven, as the movie really gets rolling along...as each character underestimates the other in cons and setups, then untimely outwits the other...all the way until the final twist of an ironic and funny ending to the film.

Yes, there are indeed a couple of silly and corny scenes...but overall the movie is a very funny farce, as enjoyable & well written comedy to come out of that early 60's era, (1964) or any era for that matter....Brando is truly terrific - Accept no substitutes, i.e., "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels"!

rare instance of the remake (the 1988 version) being better

[ksf-2 · 6/10 · 29 November 2022]

Brando and niven. Kind of an odd pairing of leads. With shirley jones, a couple years after music man and gantry. And john banner is the mayor, in a small role, just before hogan's heroes. It's very similar to the 1988 version, where they are both con men. But the endings are quite different! And the 1988 version is much more clever. Many of the lines are the same, word for word, but i thought the casting and the script were both much better in the 1988 one. It was kind of strange that in this 1964 version, freddy gets out of the army right at the beginning, and then proceeds to wear his uniform for the rest of the film. A bit odd and un-necessary. It's not bad. Just not as good as the 1988 remake. Directed by ralph levy. Had worked with jack benny and bob newhart, so he must have known how to do comedy.

Masterclass in How Not To Do...

[clivey6 · 3/10 · 23 December 2008]

Having enjoyed Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, the 1980s comedy with Michael Caine and Steve Martin, i was intrigued to learn it was a remake of a 1964 film, Bedtime Story. The story is mostly the same: an elegant English conman on the Riviera is annoyed to find his pitch invaded by an uncouth American huckster. They briefly become partners, then rivals.

In the original, the leads are taken by David Niven and Marlon Brando, of all people. But it's a comedy masterclass - in how not to do comedy. Just about every scene in the remake milks the full comic potential far better.

In DRS, there's a scene where Freddie the Yank conman is thrown into a French jail. Steve Martin has a loud check shirt, a big white Panama hat and big shades, he's the epitome of the loud American abroad and out of his depth as, leaning against the bars,he goes all self- pitying and pleading to the unimpressed French inspector. Watching the original we find that Martin filched the entire performance from Brando, with one crucial difference - Martin is funny. Brando - he just ain't funny...

At one point, Freddie is asked if he has a reliable local character witness. Martin goes through a minute of exasperated tip-of-his-tongue recall, jumping up and down, banging his head until he gets it at last. Brando just gives him the name. Brando seems to be enjoying himself, but Martin has the comic's gleeful sadism/masochism towards his character's plight.

Later you may recall Caine is required to impersonate a German psychotherapist. He has a cold sadistic tone that works well against Martin's horrified incredulity. Niven, who plays the same role, is called upon to impersonate a Swiss doctor. And just plays him as Niven, with the same voice and everything. Critics say Caine is always the same, but Niven though urbane really is shown to be a one-note actor in this.

The comic scenes are generally leaden, though to be fair Martin borrowed Rupret's hulking suspicious demeanor from Brando, except again he's funny and Brando is not. Worst of all, the film ditches the surprise twist of DRS, ending with a real cop out.

They could have cast it with Jerry Lewis as Freddie and maybe Dean Martin as the smooth one, or even as a Hope and Crosby vehicle. But bland Niven and unfunny Brando sink it.

Niven is great, Brando is not such a good choice as Freddie Benson.

[TxMike · 4 December 2003]

'Bedtime Story' is the earlier movie that 'inspired' the more recent 'Dirty, Rotten Scoundrels.' I say inspired because, although most characters are the same, and the predominant story line is the same, including many identical scenes, the two movies end quite differently. Enough so to make them different movies, instead of the latter being a remake.

I enjoyed 'Bedtime Story', but I strongly prefer 'Dirty, Rotten Scoundrels', which has come to be my all-time favorite comedy. I will watch it over and over, but one viewing of 'Bedtime Story' is enough for me. I never liked Brando as an actor, his delivery of lines, which sounds to me like a speech impediment, is distracting. I only liked him in the 'Godfather' movies, where he was the perfect choice.

I also thought the 'Rupreckt' sub-character was played much better by Steve Martin, who is clearly better than Brando ever could be in this type of role. Niven is perfect here, even better than Michael Caine, and I love Shirley Jones (Janet Walker, not Colgate) in anything, but they are not enough to bring this marginal comedy any higher than '7' of 10.

Plus, 'Bedtime Story' was obviously filmed on a set, with filmed scenes of Germany and southern France shown in the background. In contrast, 'Scoundrels' was filmed in France, which makes it a much more authentic movie.

MAJOR SPOILER FOLLOWS - In 'Bedtime Story' a telegram back to Janet exposes the hoax, but she doesn't know Freddie is involved, so marries him, with Freddie moving back to the States to work in the soap factory, while Niven's character is tracking down a new target. In 'Scoundrels', it turns out that Janet has scammed both of them, disappears, and turns up later, with a group of investors, looking for help from the boys to work this real estate scam.

Brando meets Niven

[JasparLamarCrabb · 7/10 · 20 August 2012]

The oddball pairing of Marlon Brando and David Niven works very well. They're con men on the Riviera who play a very funny game of oneupmanship as they con one rich woman after another. Things gets dicey when Shirley Jones shows up. Niven is great, but it's Brando (very much a stranger to comedy) who is hysterical. He really shows his comic range, whether he's acting like a helpless invalid or as Niven's phony feral brother. Though set in the south of France, this comedy has a very stylized studio feel to it thanks to director Ralph Levy. Levy, a veteran TV director (he worked on a lot of Jack Benny programs) keeps the pace moving and he's very much abetted by a clever script by 1960s high gloss experts Stanley Shapiro and Paul Henning. Dodie Goodman & Marie Windsor pop up as two of the pair's unfortunate victims.

How to make the audience like you in spite of the fact that you're genuinely awful.

[mark.waltz · 7/10 · 3 September 2023]

This first version of a story that had a much more famous remake (which led to a fairly successful Broadway musical) is a sophisticated, witty and unintentionally romantic romp through the bedrooms of the French riviera where wealthy American women gladly give up their jewels to spend the night with phony royalty and a sob story gets them to hand over cash. Marlon Brando and David Niven are delightfully dirty rotten scoundrels, predating Steve Martin and Michael Caine and later on Norbert Leo Butz and John Lithgow.

Both Marie Windsor and Dody Goodman are early victims of Niven, while Brando fools sweet country maidens into a romp, and when they reluctantly join forces, no rich American woman traveling alone is safe, and in the cases shown here, they're fine with that. Shirley Jones doesn't make her entrance until about half way through the film, aiding wheelchair bound Brando and bringing Niven in whom she believes to be a top notch surgeon.

Colorful and classy, even if there's more than a small share of amorality present, this gives its male leads some delicious material to play off of, and lots of gorgeous gowns and jewels for the women to wear. It's different enough from the remake and later stage version to not be a carbon copy. Unlike the later version, Brando only pretends very briefly to be mentally disabled. He has great chemistry with Niven who gets the best lines. The women are all one dimensionally nice, but that's definitely the plot development that moves the con-artist elements along so they'll end up with a good payoff at the end.

Not as good as the remake

[xlars · 7/10 · 12 October 2023]

"Bedtime Story" is a decent film. Good humor is such, but in my viewpoint it cannot be compared to "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels", the remake from 1988. Not leastly because Michael Caine's "Dr. Emil Schauffhausen" is way better than David Niven's role of the same name. Marlon Brando also makes a good role of Freddy Benson.

"Bedtime Story" is quite enjoyable, particularly the ending - although it doesn't stand up to - again "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels".

The script, however, could have been tightened here and there, tgough there are quotes that makes it OK. The prequelpart where Brando is in Germany makes a lot of good, that was lacking in the remake.

All in all it is a light and easy comedy that makes it worth watching - just for that. Still it scores one point short of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

A CLASSIC COMEDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[diegosantti · 10/10 · 11 December 2001]

Marlon Brando is just amazing in this HILARIOUS film.Most people don't understand Brando's career choices during the sixties.But I think that as years go by,they will.His ideas were way ahead of his time.His talent and range is unbelievable.Every actor tries to imitate his intensity (deniro,penn,nolte,.....) with no success.Definitely the king of acting.

True comedy with Brando as an outstandingly funny actor

[szondyg · 9/10 · 27 October 2006]

Forget "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels"! That is a mere imitation and a poor one at that. This is the original and by far one of the most outstanding comedies on film.

There is no foul language, violence, gratuitous sex or any other artifice. Bedtime Story really relies on nothing more than a great script and outstanding actors. I have seen the movie many times since my childhood and I am happy to say that my children (both adults now) also share my views.

Just buy the DVD (freely available from the UK - why not the USA????? Shame, shame).

dirty rotten scoundrels

[catcha22 · 10/10 · 26 August 2002]

Being the basis for "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels," I couldn't help watching this one. I had the bad fortune of seeing the remake first, however, and they are scene-by-scene identical up until the last bits. I think that I liked "Bedtime Story" more, however. Marlon Brando did a much better job than Steve Martin did 25 years later. David Niven played the part better too. "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" twisted the end of the movie and set it up for a sequel, but that never came through. I like it fine, anyway, just how it is.

Classic Comedy, Outdoes Dirty Rotten Scoundrels Remake

[jackdallas · 9/10 · 15 August 2005]

A young trim Brando as Freddie Benson, shows his comedic talent and versatility in this movie classic. David Niven plays the suave sophisticate role better than Michael Cane. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels was a good comedy, Bedtime Story (the original) was even better. BTS was so good someone thought they could do better. It's a shame that the many people I have talked to who love DRS didn't even know it was a remake of this excellent film. Brando's scheme at the beginning of the movie to seduce the beautiful peasant girl by aging a Poloroid picture of her farmhouse claiming it was the home his grandmother lived in gives some insight to his character. The fact that Brando is just in it for the sex and Niven is doing it for big money sets the plot for the rest of the movie. Niven sees this interloper as a threat and we are off to the races for the rest of the plot. Both Michael Cane and Steve Martin did a good job in the remake but the Brando/Niven combination is unforgettable. Too bad it is not available on DVD for the US market. A British PAL version was released in 2004. I hope the US-DVD is not far behind.

One of the funniest films I've ever seen.(possible spoiler in first paragraph)

[the red duchess · 8/10 · 18 December 2000]

This film is a bedtime fairy tale, with princes, wolves and preyed-upon damsels, castles and woods. Fairy tales are often designed to be instructive, or to inculcate a moral. 'Bedtime Story' is instructive - we learn how to cheat, lie, humiliate, plot, bribe, wager, impersonate, amuse; and is cheerfully amoral. Like the traditional fairy tale, it ends in marriage, which is another word for soul-destroying prison, the final trap set by a master conman.

'Story' is one of the few genuinely funny comedies from the 1960s, and I can't understand why it hasn't been acclaimed as such, or developed even a cult following. It may not be very cinematically inventive, but there are sequences here of such audacity, cruelty and gasping hilarity that it puts even the Peter Sellers bits of 'The Pink Panther' movies to shame.

Its influence, furthermore, can be seen in two of the most important films of the last five years. Like 'In the Company of Men', two men coldly wager on winning the affections of an innocent woman. Like 'The Idiots', one of the characters pretends to be disabled to 'subvert' bourgeois normality (in this case, to wring money and jewels from them). Maybe this is why comment on the film is silent, some people confusing a character as morally callous as Freddy Benson, who would impersonate the disabled for his own gain, with a general attitude of mockery towards the disabled. It is true that these scenes are very uncomfortable, which is why they are so eye-poppingly funny; maybe it IS offensive to use being disabled as character short-hand - even though it is a good metaphor for Brando's physicality being paralysed by mental grace, he still gets to walk up again.

I don't know. I loved 'Me Myself and Irene' too. Maybe I'm not a nice person. The film's air of cold bonhomie extends to its structure which operates with a mathematical precision appropriate to its German setting, not only in its three act structure (introduction of characters; working together; final wager), but in the way in introduces its characters, seperately, before putting them together, like a theorem, or a chemical experiment.

The chief joy of this film is the way it plays on their stars' very well-developed personae, both public and private; David Niven is the conman with perfect English elegance and etiquette, with suave, quick, alert movements figuring the practical clockwork in his head, whose sense of morality and decency conveniently gets competition out of the way. His performance plays most obviously on his 'Pink Panther' role, but there is a touch of Phileas Fogg in his Freudian doctor impersonation, which allows him to inflict clinically methodical cruelty, to uproarious results.

Brando, meanwhile, is a comic revelation. Like Robert De Niro, his serious, dramatic roles are always laced with a menacing, self-aware humour, but his straight comic vehicles have been humorless mugfests. He is in his element here as the kind of brash, unprincipled, cheating, thieving, blackmailing American the real Brando despises, making fun of the solemn brilliance of his best films, especially 'The Men', with that familiar Brando whine and hurt-baby-face-in-tough-guy-body look. Because this is a film about acting, about two of cinema's greatest performers, from totally different traditions, trying to outskill each other; there is genuine admiration to be seen as each watches the other do his stuff, just as each character's bluff is outbluffed by the other. And this is what gives this marvellous film its depth, the idea of acting in life, of assuming roles, of constructing identities, as a necessary defence against the stolid domesticity to which Brando is apparently condemned. The film seems to have a moral after all - better the settled married man over the aging, 'free' bachelor, which Jameson acknowledges, while mock-sadly making off to indulge that freedom.

Yes, Brando Could Do Comedy

[theowinthrop · 8/10 · 2 August 2006]

This film has a history of name confusion to rival Hitchcock's SECRET AGENT, SABOTAGE, and SABOTEUR, or HERE COMES MR. JORDAN, HEAVEN CAN WAIT, and HEAVEN CAN WAIT. There is a 1941 comedy with Loretta Young and Frederic March called BEDTIME STORY about Broadway theater people. Then this film was created in 1964, and marked the only time David Niven and Marlon Brando co-starred in a comedy. Then the 1964 comedy was remade in 1988 with Michael Caine and Steve Martin in the Niven and Brando film, but was now called DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS. That is the title that shall always be recalled with this story, especially since it has been turned into a successful musical show in London and New York City.

Truth be told, I favor the 1988 version, because the two male leads manage to squeeze more reality out of their characters than Niven and Brando did. Brando had too much intelligence for playing the slovenly conman Freddy Benson, while Steve Martin showed his intellectual limitations far better. Niven got carried away showing Jamieson's intellectual philanthropy (from the proceeds of his swindles), while Caine took the same material and showed it for what it really was - an emotional hobby. That said the 1964 film was good within it's own limits (not notable for nearly a quarter century). The only other alteration was a final surprise which makes the remake much superior.

Lawrence Jamieson has set himself up in a mansion on the gold coast of the Riviera, and attracts wealthy women (with the assistance of the local police chief - who is in his pay). He convinces wealthy women (pretending he is doing it in a noble cause) to give him thousands of dollars for the purpose of freeing his country from the tyrants (it is obvious he is supposed to be a deposed Balkan monarch, fighting the Communists). The con is perfect, and the machinery is well oiled. But along comes Freddy Benson, an American conman, who threatens to ruin the con Jamieson sets up. They try to work together for awhile, but Jamieson sees Freddy as an apprentice (at best a junior partner) and that irks Freddy. So they set up a bet - winner takes over the local Riviera town as his preserve.

They will both go after a new target, and whoever gets $10,000.00 from her first wins. Soon, a young American woman (Shirley Jones) shows up as "the American Soap Queen". Freddy pretends that he is a soldier suffering from some psychological shock that has left him crippled (he is actually spoofing, in part, his serious performance in his first movie THE MEN where he was a crippled war hero). Jamieson pretends he is a famous Vienese psychologist who Freddie claims he has tried to contact. And the film gets into a series of feints and pretenses that both men play on each other (to get them out of the way while they work out their wiles on Jones). Jones is a perfectly decent type, who gradually is very attracted to Brando.

SPOILERS COMING UP.

It turns out that Jones is the winner of a big contest from the American Soap Company, and she is not a millionaire. Niven learns this first and then Brando. But Brando has slowly gotten to like Jones too, so he ends up returning to America with her as her husband. Niven accepts that he must struggle on as a bachelor to the end - and heads back to the glittering life of the Riviera.

That is not how the remake ended. Jones' character turned out to be a very successful female con-artist, who beats Caine and Martin. Caine, of course, fully appreciates the artistry of the woman (Martin's just angry), but she returns, as she sees both men can be useful partners to her schemes (especially the smarter Caine). So the three of them go after their rich prey with glee at the end.

The remake had the better ending...hand's down! It kept the surprises coming up to the conclusion of the film. But the original had some nice moments. Brando playing the silent assistant to Niven as his apprentice has to play a half-wit brother Prince to Niven's exiled King (Prince Rupprecht), who wears "Napoleon" suits. He also, towards the end, does a nice brief imitation of Niven as the art and culture lover, admiring a "Stradavarius violin". The Chief of Police helping Niven also has an interesting plan to get rid of Brando with a gun whose fingerprints will lead to a weird historical dead end (you have to hear the plan to understand it). So I would recommend the film as a worthy comedy, but one that eventually was far improved upon.

Fine comedy and acting

[rsierrao · 10/10 · 16 October 2006]

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.