1988 film by Frank Oz
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
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Theatrical release poster
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Directed by
| Frank Oz
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Screenplay by
| |
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Based on
| Bedtime Story
by Stanley Shapiro
Paul Henning
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Produced by
| Bernard Williams
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Starring
| |
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Cinematography
| Michael Ballhaus
|
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Edited by
| |
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Music by
| Miles Goodman
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Distributed by
| Orion Pictures
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Release dates
|
- December 5, 1988
(
1988-12-05
)
(
LACMA
)
- December 14, 1988
(
1988-12-14
)
(United States)
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Running time
| 110 minutes
[1]
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Country
| United States
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Language
| English
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Box office
| $42 million
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Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
is a 1988 American
comedy film
directed by
Frank Oz
. It is a remake of the 1964 film
Bedtime Story
, whose co-writers
Stanley Shapiro
and
Paul Henning
received screen credit for
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
, along with writer
Dale Launer
. Set on the
French Riviera
, the film stars
Steve Martin
and
Michael Caine
as two
con men
competing to swindle an heiress (
Glenne Headly
) out of $50,000.
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
was released in theaters on December 14, 1988 to positive reviews from critics, and went on to gross $42 million at the U.S. box office.
Plot
[
edit
]
Lawrence Jamieson is a sophisticated and affluent British
con artist
operating in the town of Beaumont-sur-Mer on the
French Riviera
. Aided by his manservant Arthur and amoral police official Andre, Lawrence seduces wealthy women and cons them for high-value sums by posing as an exiled prince raising money for his country's freedom fighters. While returning from a trip to Zurich, Lawrence encounters Freddy Benson, an unsophisticated American hustler who brags of conning women out of relatively meager amounts with stories of his sick grandmother.
After Freddy inadvertently interferes with Lawrence's latest target, Lawrence tricks him into leaving town. However, after meeting one of Lawrence's former victims and realizing Lawrence is a fellow con artist, Freddy returns and blackmails Lawrence into training him. Lawrence teaches Freddy his refined style of deception?with limited success?and develops a new con in which Freddy portrays his mentally disabled brother to drive away women once Lawrence has their money. Freddy quits after Lawrence refuses to pay him a share of the ill-gotten gains. Unwilling to share his territory with Freddy, the pair agree to a bet: the first to con $50,000 from a selected victim wins and the other leaves town. They choose newly-arrived tourist, the naive "United States Soap Queen" Janet Colgate.
Lawrence attempts his usual con but Freddy intervenes, posing as a U.S. Navy veteran and
psychosomatic
parapalegic who needs $50,000 for treatment from
psychiatrist
Dr. Emil Schaffhausen. In response, Lawrence poses as Schaffhausen and agrees to treat Freddy if Janet pays him $50,000 directly. The pair compete for Janet's attention, with Lawrence tormenting Freddy under the guise of treatment, and Freddy manipulating her with a fake suicide attempt. One night, in a club, Lawrence dances with Janet and taunts Freddy which upsets some nearby British sailors. Freddy convinces them that Lawrence stole Janet from him and the sailors agree to help. Later, Lawrence learns that Janet is not wealthy?having won her holiday and title in a soap company competition?yet has liquidated all of her assets to help Freddy. Touched by her genuine kindness and generosity, and adhering to his personal code of never taking advantage of the poor or virtuous, Lawrence calls off the bet. Freddy counters with a new bet: the first to seduce Janet wins. Lawrence refuses to participate but agrees that if Freddy succeeds, he wins.
After Lawrence is abducted by the sailors, Freddy returns to Janet's hotel room and demonstrates his "love" for her by walking. Lawrence, who is also in the room, declares Freddy cured, having appeased the sailors by revealing his status as a
Royal Naval Reserve
officer. He leaves Freddy with the sailors who haze him until the morning while Lawrence puts Janet on an airplane home. However, Janet returns to her hotel room to find Freddy waiting and declares her love for him. Andre informs Lawrence who prepares to accept his defeat until Janet arrives at Lawrence's villa in tears, revealing that Freddy stole the $50,000 she had collected for him. Lawrence gifts her a bag containing $50,000 of his own money and returns her to the airport, instructing Andre to arrest Freddy. Before her plane departs, Janet returns the bag to Lawrence, saying she cannot accept it. Andre arrives with Freddy who claims that Janet stole his wallet and clothes. Lawrence opens the bag and finds the money replaced with a note revealing that Janet is the Jackal, a prominent American con artist. Freddy is furious but Lawrence takes delight in having been so skillfully deceived.
A week later, Freddy and Lawrence contemplate their loss at Lawrence's villa. A group of wealthy tourists arrive led by Janet, who is posing as a high-value real estate agent. While the tourists head to the villa, Janet tells Lawrence and Freddy that while she made millions in the last year, taking their money was the most fun. Lawrence and Freddy assume their roles in Janet's plot as the trio prepares to scam their latest victims.
Cast
[
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]
Production
[
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]
Pre-production
[
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]
The 1988 version underwent casting changes. It started as a possible vehicle for
Mick Jagger
and
David Bowie
, who approached
Dale Launer
to write a screenplay for them. Launer suggested a remake of
Bedtime Story
. Launer acquired the rights for the remake, but Bowie and Jagger dropped out to do a movie with
Martin Scorsese
. According to Bowie, they were "a bit tweezed that we lost out on a script that could have been reasonably good."
[2]
According to
Splitsider
,
Eddie Murphy
was considered for the role of Freddy Benson.
[3]
John Cleese
was also approached for the role of Jamieson, but declined. He admitted in a 2008 interview that he regretted doing so.
[4]
Richard Dreyfuss
was also sent a script. Though he was intended for the part of Benson, a misunderstanding resulted in him preparing the part of Jamieson, so
Steve Martin
(who had also been asked to play Jamieson) read Benson's part instead. Oz was excited by Martin's version of Benson, and settled on this choice.
Michael Caine
was eventually chosen to play Jamieson.
Michael Palin
, who had also been considered for the role, wrote in his diary that Caine was "probably the nearest he (Oz) will get in an English actor to the effortless charisma of Niven."
[5]
Filming
[
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]
Production of the film began on June 6, 1988, and lasted through early August, finishing "six days ahead of schedule."
[6]
Filming locations included
Antibes
,
Cannes
,
Beaulieu-sur-Mer
(depicted in the film as "Beaumont-sur-Mer"),
Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat
,
Nice
and
Villefranche-sur-Mer
. The
Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild
was visited by the leading characters in a scene. The estate belonging to Lawrence is a private villa (
Villa Hier
) located at the tip of the
Cap d'Antibes
.
[7]
Release
[
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]
Theatrical
[
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]
Prior to the film's December 14, 1988 theatrical release in the United States, it premiered at the
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
on December 5. The studio held test screenings of the film in early October, one for a
blue-collar
audience and one for "more upscale", with both receiving high marks.
[6]
Home media
[
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]
In a
DVD
extra providing a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film, Frank Oz discusses a
teaser trailer
he directed for the studio, which he wanted to use for promotion before there was enough actual footage to assemble a trailer. An entire day was spent filming a scene (which in the end never made the final cut of the movie) in which Freddy and Lawrence stroll along the promenade, politely moving out of the way of other people, until Freddy casually pushes an elderly woman into the water and Lawrence nonchalantly shoves a little boy's face into his
cotton candy
.
[8]
Reception
[
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]
Box office
[
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]
The film grossed $3.8 million from 1,466 theaters in its opening weekend, finishing fifth at the box office. In total it grossed $42 million in the US.
[9]
Critical response
[
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]
According to the
review aggregator
website
Rotten Tomatoes
, 89% of critics gave the film a positive review based on 44 reviews, with an average rating of 7/10. The site's critics consensus called the movie "buoyant [and] clever" and praised Caine and Martin's chemistry.
[10]
At
Metacritic
, the film has a weighted average score of 68 out of 100 based on 14 critics, indicating generally favorable reviews.
[11]
Audiences polled by
CinemaScore
gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.
[12]
Roger Ebert
of the
Chicago Sun-Times
wrote that while the film was predictable, Martin and Caine's chemistry was enjoyable and "Headly provides a resilient foil."
[13]
Variety
called it "wonderfully crafted" and "absolutely charming" and praised the
editing
and music.
[14]
Echoing other critics,
Vincent Canby
of
The New York Times
commended Caine and Martin's partnership and the film's divergence from "mistimed and misdirected comedies" from that time.
[15]
Musical adaptation
[
edit
]
Remake
[
edit
]
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
produced
The Hustle
in 2019, a remake starring
Rebel Wilson
,
Anne Hathaway
, and
Alex Sharp
.
[16]
[17]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"
DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS
(PG)"
.
British Board of Film Classification
. January 25, 1989
. Retrieved
November 19,
2012
.
- ^
Campbell, Virginia (1992), "Bowie at the Bijou",
Movieline
,
III
(7): 83
- ^
Evans, Bradford (April 7, 2011).
"The Lost Roles of Eddie Murphy"
.
Splitsider
. Archived from
the original
on July 23, 2015
. Retrieved
July 18,
2015
.
- ^
Rabin, Nathan (February 5, 2008).
"John Cleese"
.
The A.V. Club
. Retrieved
April 13,
2016
.
- ^
Palin, Michael (2009).
Michael Palin Diaries 1980-1988 Halfway to Hollywood
. St. Martin's Press. pp.
560?565
.
ISBN
978-0-312-68202-6
.
- ^
a
b
"Catalog - Dirty Rotten Scoundrels"
.
American Film Institute
. Retrieved
April 28,
2022
.
- ^
Bremner, Charles; Bennetts, Marc (November 23, 2017).
"Russian anger as Nice police hold oligarch"
.
The Times
. p. 43
. Retrieved
April 11,
2022
.
- ^
Trailer Chan (June 12, 2017).
"Dirty Rotten Scoundrels 1988 Trailer"
.
Archived
from the original on December 12, 2021 – via YouTube.
- ^
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
at
Box Office Mojo
Amazon.com
- ^
"Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988)"
.
Rotten Tomatoes
.
Fandango
. Retrieved
June 7,
2022
.
- ^
"Dirty Rotten Scoundrels Reviews"
.
Metacritic
.
CBS Interactive
. Retrieved
April 15,
2019
.
- ^
"Find CinemaScore"
(Type "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" in the search box)
.
CinemaScore
. Retrieved
May 9,
2019
.
- ^
Roger Ebert (December 14, 1988).
"Dirty Rotten Scoundrels"
.
Chicago Sun-Times
.
- ^
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Variety
, December 31, 1987
- ^
Canby, Vincent
(December 14, 1988).
"A Way With Wealthy Women"
.
The New York Times
. p. C21.
ISSN
0362-4331
.
OCLC
1645522
.
Archived
from the original on December 22, 2022
. Retrieved
February 14,
2023
.
- ^
Kroll, Justin (August 4, 2016).
"Rebel Wilson to Star in 'Dirty Rotten Scoundrels' Remake (EXCLUSIVE)"
.
Variety
. Retrieved
December 15,
2016
.
- ^
Galuppo, Mike (August 24, 2017).
"Alex Sharp Joins Rebel Wilson in 'Dirty Rotten Scoundrels' Remake"
.
The Hollywood Reporter
. Retrieved
August 24,
2017
.
External links
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]