Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Two con men working the Riviera town of Beaumont-sur-mer set a wager to decide which of them should have the rights to the patch. In standard 'odd couple' style, our heroes' credentials are diametrically opposed: Caine is all text-book sophistication, posing as a prince in exile; Martin is a two-bit hustler whose party-piece involves a bedridden granny about to pop her clogs. The wager involves screwing the first available woman for $50,000, although the money becomes secondary as the boys' hearts are set aflame by Headly's physical charms. Since the film's publicity tells you that there's a 'delightful final twist', you'd have to be a bit dippy not to figure out that the lads are themselves being soft-soaped. There's little enough to keep you occupied as Caine and Martin go through their comic set pieces in workaday fashion while the film moves mechanically from one contrived situation to the next. A remake of Bedtime Story, 1946, with Brando and Niven in the leading roles.