Looking Back at 'Bedtime Story' The Inspiration for Anne and Rebel in 'The Hustle'

Bedtime Story is a relatively forgotten part of Marlon Brando’s filmography. It’s certainly a departure from the Brando of lore, the temperamental method actor, desperately serious about his craft in his early years, and debauched, and disengaged in his later years. Bedtime Story is Marlon Brando with a light comic touch, and it suits him nearly as well as his leather jackets of the 50s, and his Godfather personae of the 70s.

1964s Bedtime Story is the progenitor of both 1988s Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and 2019s The Hustle. It tells the story of a pair of con artists, one a small timer looking to climb up to the big time, and the other a legend of the con-game. David Niven plays the veteran to Brando’s aspiring con, and together they make a surprisingly wicked, and charming duo as they engage in a battle of wits that extends even to their brief time as partners.

Lawrence (Niven) is a veteran con-man who has perfected his pitch as a former Prince of an embattled country, from where he is exiled, and desperate to return, so that he can lead his people back to freedom. Revolution however, costs money, and that’s where the moneyed widows vacationing on the French Riviera come in. Lawrence takes advantage of the classic dream of the Princess in waiting, and the inherent emotional pull of the suffering of little children in war to separate women from their donate-able cash, and other goods.

If Lawrence’s polished pitch is at least gentlemanly, Freddy Bender’s (Brando) pitch is built of low character. Freddy is as equally interested in cash as a prize, as he is in sex, and while Lawrence isn’t above such depravity, he at least respects his marks. Bender is a low life, but a charming one. He’s classically roguish, using his status as a military man, and especially his uniform, as a cover for his villainy.

Lawrence and Freddy meet on a train in Germany as Freddy is fleeing from a flock of frauleins whom he has promised to marry, each and all. Freddy is a talker, and eager to share his con man ways with the seemingly straight-laced Lawrence. When he tells Lawrence that he’s headed to the same spot in the French Riviera that Lawrence considers his territory, the older con sets about discouraging the young man.

Eventually, Lawrence’s ruse is uncovered by Freddy, and the two become friendly. Lawrence begins to mentor the young man as a way of keeping him from fouling the waters of Lawrence’s hunting grounds with his small time cons. The two make quite a team, as they fleece married women of their jewelry with promises of royalty, and marriage. But when Lawrence hesitates in wanting to fully compensate Freddy for their cons, the two split, and set about a competition.

In order to get rid of Freddy, Lawrence risks everything on a wager. Each man will attempt to extract $25,000 from an American heiress, played by Shirley Jones, with the first man to get the cash, winning the bet. The loser has to leave the Riviera for good. This competition portion of the film is part of each version of this story including Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and The Hustle, but Niven and Brando prove to be the best at making this competition work in building their characters, and garnering laughs.

The only aspect where Bedtime Story is exceeded by both Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and The Hustle is in an ending which, in Bedtime Story, feels like a studio mandated compromise. That said, Niven goes a long way to making the ending work with a final line in the movie that is one of the biggest laughs in any one of the versions of this story. Niven is an absolute delight throughout Bedtime Story, but this final moment is among the most memorable of his unique career.

Bedtime Story is not what anyone would call a classic, but it has the kind of durable charm that not many comedies of the 1960s can claim. As demonstrated in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, the gags, and the con man tropes have a timeless quality, and in the right hands, they can be exceptionally entertaining. It says something that all three of these movies contain big laughs, and a great deal of fun, even as they are exceedingly minor as movies, in the scope of history.

Bedtime Story is the ‘Classic’ on this week’s Everyone's a Critic Movie Review Podcast to coincide with the release of The Hustle starring Anne Hathaway in the role originated by David Niven and Rebel Wilson in the Brando role. If that sounds strange, it’s honestly not that odd in the context of the movie, it works; The Hustle is funny, and inconsequential in the same way Bedtime Story and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels also are.

Bedtime is available for free, for the time being, on YouTube.