MartinHafer "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.

bobthomp Great movie. Is this public domain? Who owns the rights? There must be a reason this never made it to DVD. The DVD that's out there was made from a VHS tape. But the movie shows Brando could do comedy. Of course if you are familiar with Niven you know he had a natural comedic gift. Please, someone put this out in high def. I think I actually bought the paperback book that came out when this movie first came out. I'll have to check my bookshelf. I was watching Send Me No Flowers the other night. I know it was remade but I think it's time for another version. Rock Hudson was great. And also another remake of My Favorite Wife. Didn't like the 60's remake.

dbdumonteil Very funny comedy .The repetitive side ("My granny is sick...She needs an operation...Alas I've not got enough money! Poor dear") is no problem.On the contrary,it becomes funnier and funnier as the movie progresses."Bedtime story" hints at fairy tales characters ,particularly the Little Red Riding Hood and Prince Charming (David Niven may be a fake shrink ,but he is a true prince short of the readies,a prince going as far as to "create" an evil prince in his château).But the most successful gags are provided by the spoof on all the Freudian works which were thriving since the forties (their heyday with such directors as Siodmak,Hitchcock,Lang ,Tourneur ..).Brando about to faint and pretending he is suffering each time he sees lovers dance is a nod to all these movies in which the hero(ine) couldn't stand a certain thing,because in his/her past something bad happened.I even suspect the writers of having borrowed the scene in which Shirley Jones and Brando are on the beach (You can do it on my legs too)from the famous scene on the boat when Marilyn Monroe tries to arouse Tony Curtis's desire .A treat for big babies.

[email protected] 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.