Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

United States

1988

110 Min

Color

1.37:1

English

Currently 3.3/5 Stars.
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SCR Dale Launer, Stanley Shapiro, Paul Henning

CAST Steve Martin, Michael Caine, Glenne Headly, Anton Rodgers, Barbara Harris, Ian McDiarmid, Meagen Fay, Frances Conroy

ED Stephen A. Rotter, William S. Scharf

Freddy Benson, a con(fidence) man, lives off women by waking their compassion with shocking stories about his fake fate. One day in beautiful Beaumont sur Mer, he meets Lawrence Jamieson, who shares the same passion, works the rich ladies with the same scheme, but in quite a different league. With the knowledge of his profession, Freddy forces Lawrence to teach him high-society behaviour, so that he himself can earn a major living. When time comes to say goodbye, Freddy decides to stay a little longer. As there is no way two con men can work a town that small at the same time, Lawrence and Freddy agree on a settlement: The first one to extract $50.000 from a young female target wins, the other leaves town. The sum is no match for Lawrence, the age of the lady no match for Freddy. Let the games begin! –IMDb

Director

Frank Oz

Born in Hereford, England, Frank Oz (born Frank Oznowicz) graduated from California’s Oakland City College during 1962 and joined the humans behind Jim Henson’s fledgling Muppet group as a puppeteer the following year. He was part of the first-season cast of Saturday Night Live as the Mighty Favag and appeared in The Blues Brothers with John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd. After The Muppet Show went on the air in 1976, Oz became vice president of the Henson organization, and was responsible for the portrayals of Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, and Animal, among other characters, earning three Emmy Awards for his work on the show. He later served as a producer for The Great Muppet Caper (1980), directed by Henson, with whom he co-directed The Dark Crystal a year later. He later directed The Muppets Take Manhattan in 1984. Two years later, with Henson in the director’s chair, Oz was one of the voices in Labyrinth. Moving outside of Henson’s orbit, Oz directed the screen version of the musical Little… read more

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Obient

21Oct12

Steve Martin learned from Michael Caine before 'The Spanish Prisoner'. Hillarious con-film.

Danny Bailey

10Sep12

Frank Oz is not only a great puppeteer and voice artist but a wonderful director. The relationship amongst Caine, Martin, and Headley reminds me of a sophisticated version of a Muppet picture. This film is criminally underappreciated and should be recognized as a comedic masterpiece.

House of Leaves likes this

Mysterious F.

27Jun11

Funny and well-acted, but too long.

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Christopher Smith

29Jan10

Michael Caine and Steve Martin both hit a great comic stride in this otherwise uneven comedy from director Frank Oz. The material is a little flat until the always engaging Glenne Headly joins the picture, then there are a number of finely-crafted comic moments. Funny, but not quite the comedy classic it's been described as.