Bedtime Story (1964)

Very well executed

I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

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"...

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.

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.

If you saw Stanley Shapiro's other movies you will notice that this is a variation on the same theme. But it's still enjoyable. This movie could be considered very misogynous if it weren't so misanthropic. Unlike previous Shapiro productions, in this one, women are described as the stronger gender, but depicted as almost another species, gullible beyond belief. In previous films women were smooth operators in their own right. But the comparative paleness of one gender in this one, is probably the result of so much time being devoted to tarring and feathering the other gender. Shapiro is the master of compassionate cynicism. Niven's character is just preposterously wonderful: an urbane, slightly world-weary crook who has really "arrived" and whose exquisite taste prompts him to be a patron of the vanishing arts and crafts! Brando's is upstart, uncouth vulgarity personified. There may be geopolitical implications here. The happy ending is of course, obligatorily contrived, something out of "The Tender Trap", to satisfy the censors. This is a most delightful farce for connoisseurs. I haven't seen the remake, but can it be better than this?