Main Cast: Marlon Brando, David Niven, Shirley Jones, Dody Goodman, Aram Stephan
Release Year: 1963
Country: US
Run Time: 99 minutes
Plot
An exercise in "black humor" bordering on the tasteless, Bedtime Story stars Marlon Brando and David Niven as a pair of womanizing confidence tricksters, operating up and down the Riviera. Pooling their talents, Brando and Niven pull off several scams, many of these requiring Brando to pose as a mental or physical defective. Their current "mark" is soap heiress Shirley Jones, who isn't quite as gullible as she seems. The film's highlights-or low points, depending on one's point of view-feature Brando pretending to be a mentally challenged man with a Napoleon complex, and a paraplegic who is "cured" by Jones' love (remember that this is the same actor who so sensitively portrayed a genuine paraplegic in The Men). Created by the same folks who brought you such TV favorites as Green Acres and Beverly Hillbillies, Bedtime Story was remade in 1988 as Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, with Steve Martin, Michael Caine, and Glenne Headley in the roles originally filled by Brando, Niven and Jones. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Bedtime Story works because leads David Niven, Marlon Brando, and Shirley Jones treat the material as though it were an erudite satire rather than a sitcom-level formula. Their characters seem oblivious to the story's more absurd elements, allowing the humor to flow naturally from the situations rather than from the forced farce. Of course, this is not to say that Brando doesn't occasionally mug for the camera, but at least in Bedtime Story -- as opposed to, say, 1976's The Missouri Breaks -- his scenery chewing is consistent with his character's personality and the context of the story. Veteran television director Ralph Levy seems to allow the performers room to determine each scene's tone. Fortunately, the performers look like they're having a good time, and, while the story sometimes veers into tastelessness, it never does so at the expense of belly laughs. ~ Richard Gilliam, All Movie Guide
In his first comedic role, Marlon Brando joins David Niven to portray two charming scoundrels who prey on wealthy single women in this lighthearted romantic comedy set on the French Riviera.
While masquerading as a deposed Middle European prince, Niven's plans to oust his competitor backfire when the brash Brando portrays Niven's dim-witted brother. Brando's zany antics prevent several women from tying the knot with Niven.
When Shirley Jones appears as an American soap queen, both men compete for her affections, agreeing that loser leaves town, until they discover her true financial situation.
