Bedtime Story (1964)

Marlon Brando proves he has quite the comic touch as serial seducer "Benson" who encounters the suave sophisticated David Niven "Jameson" - a man after his own heart - who poses as an exiled Prince on the French Riviera to fleece a wealthier clientele. Together they join forces with considerable success until Shirley Jones ("Janet Walker") arrives on the scene and soon the two men are at loggerheads determined to be "King of the Mountain". Niven is in his element here, and the three gel well on screen with good pace and plenty of witty one-liners as Jones craftily manipulates both men. The production is polished, and although the humour is a little too slapstick at times (never my favourite) this is an enjoyable little comedy that spawned many a successor - none, in my view, as good as this original.