Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is a 1988 American comedy film directed by Frank Oz and starring Steve Martin, Michael Caine and Glenne Headly. The screenplay was written by Dale Launer, Stanley Shapiro, and Paul Henning. It is a remake of the 1964 Marlon Brando/David Niven film Bedtime Story, also written by Shapiro and Henning, and was later remade in 2019 as The Hustle, starring Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson. The film tells the story of two con men competing to swindle an heiress out of $50,000. Caine plays educated and suave Lawrence Jamieson, who stages elaborate ruses to con rich women, while Martin plays his less refined, small-time rival, Freddy Benson. It takes place on the French Riviera. The film was released on December 14, 1988, and received positive reviews from critics. Plot Lawrence Jamieson is an intelligent and sophisticated British con artist operating in the fictional town of Beaumont-sur-Mer on the French Riviera. With the help of manservant Arthur and amoral police official Andre, he seduces wealthy women and cons them out of money by posing as a prince in exile trying to raise money for his country's "freedom fighters." His only concern is another con artist — an American known as "The Jackal" — who has been reported in the area. While on a train, Lawrence crosses paths with small-time American hustler Freddy Benson, who brags about his meager accomplishments at conning rich women out of money with a sob story about a sick grandmother. Worried that Freddy's inexperienced antics will scare away his prey, Lawrence attempts to trick Freddy into choosing a different destination, then has him arrested and put on a plane out of town. However, after Freddy meets one of Lawrence's former marks, he blackmails Lawrence into taking him on as a pupil.