Movies of 1988 Bracket Game: Dangerous Liaisons Vs. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

https://lebeauleblog.com/2018/01/02/movies-of-1988-bracket-game-dangerous-liaisons-vs-dirty-rotten-scoundrels/

Readers went for the international caper comedy over the police spoof roughly two-to-one. That moves A Fish Called Wanda into the second round where it will face the winner of today’s match-up.

Dangerous Liaisons was one of the leading competitors at the Oscars in 1988. It was nominated in several major categories including Best Picture, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress. The fact that Stephen Frears was passed over for a Best Director nomination was perhaps a clue that voters weren’t all that serious about giving Oscar gold to Dangerous Liaisons. It did manage to win in some of the lesser categories including Best Adapted Screenplay.

Oscars were never a consideration for a farce like Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. But Michael Caine did get a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a comedy. The movie in which Steve Martin plays a classless American conman who moves in on Caine’s turf fared reasonably well at the box office. It earned over $42 million dollars making it the 24th highest grossing movie of the year. The movie has aged well. It served as the basis for a Broadway musical and a gender-swapped remake is currently in development.

In real life, John Malkovich was married to Dirty Rotten Scoundrel‘s star, Glenne Headly. The two had met during their time in the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago. They had been married for six years when Malkovich started a romantic relationship with his Liaisons costar, Michelle Pfeiffer, who was also married at the time. When word got out about the affair, both marriages ended.

Gossip aside, we have two very different movies dealing with some similar themes. Do you prefer the bodice-ripping of Dangerous Liaisons or the side-splitting comedy of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels?