Arthur (1981)
Directed by Steve Gordon

Film Review

Arthur is the kind of film that could only have been made in the 1930s or the 1980s.  In the '30s, feel-good comedies in which obscenely wealthy playboys fall for poor working class girls were all the rage, offering a welcome escape from the misery of the Great Depression.  In the 1980s, money was king and so the kind of money-obsessed storyline that might be considered distasteful in any other decade was acceptable to a mainstream cinema audience.  Whilst the plot now feels painfully dated, the film overall has retained much of its charm, on account of its polished production values and the warmth and good humour that the leads Dudley Moore (Blame It on the Bellboy) and Liza Minnelli (Cabaret) bring to it.

John Gielgud received an Oscar for his performance (one of the most amusing of his entire career) and very nearly steals the show as Moore's snooty but amiable butler.  Arthur won a second Academy Award for its music (supplied by Burt Bacharach) and was also nominated in the categories of Best Screenplay and Best Leading Actor (Moore).  The film's success at the box office (it grossed 96 million worldwide) provided a very welcome boost to the careers of both Moore and Minnelli, but its sequel Arthur 2: On the Rocks (1988) proved to be a dismal failure.  The original film was remade by Jason Winer in 2011, with the actor-comedian Russell Brand in the lead role.

Film Synopsis

Arthur Bach is a millionaire playboy who spends most of his time cruising New York in his chauffeur-driven limousine, tanking up on hard liquor at any bar he comes across.  His father wants him to marry the upper crust heiress Susan Johnson, but he knows that he cannot love her and so carries on his hedonistic lifestyle regardless.  One day, Arthur meets Linda Marolla, a poor waitress who has to resort to shoplifting to make ends meet.  Even though they inhabit completely different worlds, Arthur and Linda are drawn to one another, much to the disapproval of Arthur's longstanding manservant Hobson.  When his father threatens to cut him out of his will unless he marries Susan, Arthur has no choice but to end his affair with Linda...