Arthur (1981)

Arthur (1981)
I may be in the minority, but I did not think too highly of the 1981 comedy Arthur. Those who know me well knows that I had mixed feelings on screwball comedies. Some are great, but the majority don’t do it for me. This movie plays out as a 1930’s screwball comedy but set in the 1980’s. The movie is energetic and has a fast pace to it, but it did not work well for me. To me, a good movie is all about have likeable characters that you can relate to. The main character in Arthur is not who I aspire to be and it was not fun watching his drunken personality travel all over New York City trying to be the rich womanizer that he is.



Arthur (Dudley Moore) is a permanently-drunk bachelor worth over $750 million dollars. He is always drunk, has no ambition, and is always on an endless quest for love. His daily routine has him waking up every morning, his butler Hobson (John Gielgud) drawing him a bath, drinking a martini, and then travelling around Manhattan in his limousine trying to pick up girls. His controlling father has him set to marry the boring Susan, but that plan is about to change when he meets Linda (Liza Minnelli). He catches her stealing a tie in a Queens store and he helps her escape trouble. They fall in love with each other. The problem is, Arthur’s fortune will be taken away if he doesn’t follow the plan to marry Susan.



For the most part, the performances were decent. Dudley Moore is merely okay as Arthur, mainly because his drunk act was rather cringe-worthy. When he was sober, he does admittedly deliver an effective performance. I was never a big Liza Minnelli fan, but I think she does very well here. That said, the romance between Moore and Minnelli was not believable. The real acting standout goes to John Gielgud as the butler, Hobson. He was not like other English butlers. His dialogue was razor-sharp and he delivers them that way. Despite not liking Arthur’s attitude, Gielgud’s Hobson wanted to see Arthur succeed against his power-hungry father and grandmother. He won an Oscar for his performance and I agree with that assessment. Gielgud is by far the best part of the movie.



The film was written and directed by Steve Gordon. This was his first feature film and sadly his last as he passed away not long after this film’s release. That was a shame because he showed some ability with this film. Before the casting of Moore, he actually had a good list of actors he wanted to portray Arthur such as Al Pacino and Jack Nicholson. Now that is something I would love to see. I also did like the music. The film music was created by Burt Bacharach and he added a NYC musical feeling to the movie.



Overall, I came away disappointed with the movie. It received critical notice and won a few accolades, but I came in the minority. Maybe I have a heart of stone (I don’t think I do), but the laughs were too few. I think John Gielgud single-handedly saved the movie from complete failure. Maybe I wasn’t attracted to the story of a drunk playboy (albeit happy drunk playboy) cruising around the city. That said, this film is gold compared to the sequel and the remake that occurred 30 years later.



My Grade: C

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