How the film "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" was filmed: footage from filming and 16 interesting facts about the film (20 photos)

The comedy about the adventures of two swindlers plying their trade in a wealthy French resort, where wealthy ladies come, literally blew up the cinematic world. The audience was simply writhing on the floor with laughter, and the dialogues of the main characters turned into jokes.





1. Surprisingly, the film “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” essentially appeared thanks to famous rock musicians Mick Jagger and David Bowie. In 1985, their joint video for the song “Dancing in the street” was released, which created a real sensation.



Mick Jagger and David Bowie

The musicians decided that after that success they simply had to play together in some film. Moreover, this was not a passing thought, because David Bowie turned to screenwriter Dale Launer, who had previously written the script for such famous films as “Ruthless People” and “Blind Date”.





Dale Launer

David Lohner was interested in this proposal and began looking for ideas for the film. As a result, he decides to take as a basis the famous film “Bedtime Stories” (1964) with David Navin and Marlon Brando.

Yes, yes, if you didn’t know, the film “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” is a remake of the film “Bedtime Stories.”



Still from the film "Bedtime Stories"

2. Already during the writing of the script, many problems and disputes arose. Mick Jagger and David Bowie did not want to be buffoons, but wanted to play in a more serious film. And the producers continually demanded edits and cuts of scenes that Dale Launer himself considered amazing.

But the icing on the cake was the refusal of Universal Studios to sell the rights to the film Bedtime Stories for a remake. Then the project had to be closed, and the musicians gave up on it.



Steve Martin and Michael Caine

3. A little later, when Eddie Murphy watched the film “Bedtime Stories” (1964), he instructed the producers to buy the rights to this film at all costs, especially since Launer had a ready-made script for a remake. The screenwriter himself was only offered to rewrite the role of Freddie under Eddie Murphy.



But even here the Universal company did not make concessions. Then Dale Launer decided to personally find out why the company refused to sell the rights to the film. But by that time, the rights to “Bedtime Stories” were already owned by the original scriptwriter, Stanley Shapiro. Lohner managed to find a common language with Shapiro, as a result of which they finalized a deal to create a remake.



4. After the rights to film the remake were obtained, Dale Launer sent the script to Paramount Pictures. But the company refused to purchase this script. Moreover, by that time Eddie Murphy himself was already burned out on the idea of ​​starring in a remake of the film “Bedtime Stories”.



Frank Oz (director) and Steve Martin

But this script attracted the interest of the film company "Orion Pictures", after which the work on personnel selection finally began to boil.

5. Frank Oz, who had just recently directed the film Little Shop of Horrors, was put in the director's chair. By the way, for those who didn’t know, it was Frank Oz who created the Master Yoda doll for the film “Star Wars”. By the way, he voiced him in all the films of the Star Wars saga, including in the film Star Wars IX. The Rise of Skywalker (2019).



Frank Oz

Also, actors were selected for the main roles. Steve Martin was supposed to play... no, not Freddy, but Lawrence Jamieson, while the role of Freddy was offered to Bill Murray.



After some thought, Bill Murray turned down the role. Also, screenwriter Dale Launer felt that Steve Martin was not suitable for the role of the intellectual Lawrence Jamison, so he offered Steve Martin the role of the crazy Freddy Benson, to which Steve agreed without any problems.



Michael Caine, Glenn Headley, STEVE MARTIN

6. Many actors auditioned for the role of Lawrence, including Rowan Atkinson and Leslie Nielsen. But in the end the role went to Michael Caine. True, Kane himself had one small condition. After filming was completed, the very Villa that belonged to his character was to be given to him for three months. Well, as you already understand, the studio agreed to these conditions.



7. The film "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" was released in two versions: for Americans and for Europeans. The differences were minor, but there was still one scene that was dramatically different depending on the version. For the American version, the girl on the beach taking photos with Freddie was filmed in a swimsuit, while for the European version she was filmed without a bra.



8. As we learn from the ending of the film, the same swindler nicknamed “Jackal” turned out to be the main character, Janet Colgate. As it turned out, the filmmakers gave a hint to the audience by encoding this nickname in the heroine’s first and last name, because if you add the first two letters of the girl’s first name and the first three letters of the girl’s last name, you get JA COL (Janet Colgate), which is to some extent consonant with the word " Jackal".



By the way, in the original (in the film "Bedtime Stories") the heroine's name is Janet Walker. And this is the only heroine whose last name does not correspond to the original.

9. Many scenes in the films were improvised by Steve Martin and Michael Caine. For example, the very scene where Freddie tries to remember Lawrence's name while in prison was completely improvised by Martin.



10. In one of the episodes, Michael Caine's eldest daughter, Dominique, briefly appeared.

11. A separate scene was shot specifically for the trailer, where Lawrence and Freddie walk along the embankment. At one point, Freddie pushes the old woman into the water just for fun. How surprised the audience was when they didn’t see this moment in the film itself.



Still from the trailer for the film "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels"

12. Unfortunately. I could not find information about the film's budget in open sources. It is only known that the film “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” grossed $42 million at the box office.

13. After the film's release, Michael Caine said that Dirty Rotten Scoundrels was the funniest film he had ever made. Moreover, he said that the success of a comedy can be predicted during filming. According to him, if crew members laugh during filming, then the film will not be funny, and vice versa.



Michael Caine considers his favorite moment in the film to be the scene where his character hits the legs of Freddie, who is pretending to be disabled, with a rod.

14. In the CIS, the film was translated as “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” although in the original it was called “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” which translates as “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.” Well, yes, our localization looks more interesting.



By the way, remember such a famous group of the 90s “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels”? They owe their name to this film.

15. According to Dale Launer's script, the ending should have been different. According to his idea, Lawrence should have known that Janet was the “Jackal”, and in the end he would fall in love with her. But this ending did not suit director Frank Oz and he decided to make a different, in my opinion, more interesting ending.



16. In 2019, a female remake of the film called “Dirty Rotten Fraudsters” (originally “The hustle”, that is, “Vanity”) was released. starring Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson. But despite the fact that the film performed well at the box office, it did not become a hit. And he owes his success rather to the 1998 film.



Still from the movie "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels"

By the way, it’s interesting that in essence the film “Inveterate Fraudsters” is a remake of a remake.