Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988)

Timing: 1:50 (110 min)

7.1/10
834

7.988/10
58802

7.4/10
86000

All about film

Video 7

Photo 23

Actors and characters

Release date

1988-12-14

Country

United States

Production

Orion Pictures

Genre

Crime, Comedy

Budget

$6 500 000

Revenue

$42 039 085

Website

Director

Frank Oz

Actors

Steve Martin, Michael Caine, Glenne Headly, Anton Rodgers, Barbara Harris, Ian McDiarmid, Dana Ivey, Meagen Fay, Frances Conroy, Nicole Calfan
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Bernard Williams, Charles Hirschhorn, Dale Launer

Operator

Michael Ballhaus

Composer

Miles Goodman

Artist

Audition

John S. Lyons, Donna Isaacson

Editing

William S. Scharf, Stephen A. Rotter
All team (14)

• In the opening credits of the film, after the main actors, instead of the word “In” (in the film…), the word “are” appeared, which can be translated as “Steve Martin and Michael Caine are incorrigible swindlers.”
• The scene in the prison, when Freddy tries to remember Lawrence’s name, was an improvisation conceived by Steve Martin.
• When director Frank Oz invited Michael Caine for a role in the film, he tempted him with a villa in the south of France, which would be at the actor’s complete disposal for the entire duration of filming. Caine agreed, discovering that this villa was conveniently located right between the villas of his friends, actor Roger Moore (1927-2017) and composer Leslie Bricusse.
• In the casino scene, Freddy, dressed in a US Army officer’s uniform, tries to wager one of his medals during a roulette game, but the dealer does not allow it. Medals in the US are made of low-grade brass, not precious metals, specifically to prevent them from being traded.
• Originally, the film was intended to star Mick Jagger and David Bowie (1947-2016) in the lead roles. Studio executives wanted to reunite them on screen after the success of the 1985 music video for “Dancing in the Street.” Following the success of the 1986 comedy “Ruthless People” (Jim Abrahams, David and Jerry Zucker), they turned to screenwriter Dale Launer for ideas. Jagger had previously written a song for “Ruthless People.” Launer suggested a remake of Ralph Levy’s 1964 comedy “A Hard Day’s Night,” which he had once seen on television. He even bought the remake rights from one of the original screenplay’s authors, Stanley Shapiro (1925-1990). Soon, Jagger and Bowie left the project, and Martin and Caine were invited to take their place.
• During filming, Keanu was 55 and Martin was 42, while director Frank Oz needed them to both appear to be roughly the same age – 45-50 years old.
• In the opening credits of the film, after the main actors, the word "are" appeared instead of "In" (in…), which can be translated as "Steve Martin and Michael Caine are outright swindlers."