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Dudley Moore, Liza Minnelli, John Gielgud

Arthur is a sweet, somewhat pathetic character whose millions have left him lonely and with no motivation in life. Arthur is on the threshold of an arranged marriage with a simpering socialite, whom h...( read more  read more... )e does not love. Everyone expects Arthur to behave himself, but nobody truly cares for his well-being, with the exception of father-figure butler Hobson and blue-collar shoplifter Linda Marolla. Arthur would prefer to marry the lowly Morolla, but his iron-willed grandmother threatens to pull the plug on his huge inheritance if he doesn''t honor his position in life and go through with his marriage.

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67% liked it

28,137 ratings

Critics

89% liked it

27 critics

PG, 1 hr. 57 min.

Directed by: Steve Gordon

Release Date: July 17, 1981

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DVD Release Date: August 27, 1997

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Dudley Moore as Arthur Bach in Arthur (1981) John Gielgud in Arthur Liza Minnelli in Arthur John Gielgud and Dudley Moore in Arthur John Geilgud in Arthur Arthur Arthur Arthur
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Flixster Reviews (939)

  • SirPant
    September 29, 2009
    SirPant
    A lovely comedy about a rich alcoholic who thinks he?s a child. Sounds wrong doesn?t it. I miss Dudley Moore. Love Christopher Cross's theme tune too!
  • FangsFirst
    February 6, 2009
    FangsFirst
    There's something a bit off in the fact that many of us now reaching (or just past reaching, or whatever you may call it) adulthood often know films more by the parodies and references that followed them (or, often worse, their imitators!) than by the films themselves. I do recal...( read more)l the parody of Arthur that once showed up on The Critic, and having heard of the movie--and after that, I don't recall much about it. Hmm, that sounds a bit alcoholic...I've only written one review tipsy though, and that was shamefully Sideways and not this one. I don't really sit around and drink scotch though, so I suppose it still wouldn't have worked out right either way. What I do recall about this film more than anything, though, is the divide of opinion on it. It's on some top 100 lists of comedies from rather respectable organizations (though I feel that any such lists are inherently disreputable no matter the source, including myself, though I'm reluctant to make them in the first place for that very reason) and in other circles is derided as unfunny and overblown in hype terms. I picked it up when I did simply because it was available and I thought I really ought to see it.

    Arthur Bach (Dudley Moore, in arguably his most famous role, certainly in the arena of film it is just that) is a millionaire playboy, but not quite of the Bruce Wayne variety. He achieves great notoriety for his habit of carousing about town stinking drunk and picking up hookers. He picks one up and stumbles into an upscale restaurant with her, to the chagrin of his chauffeur Bitterman (Ted Ross), and to the annoyance, disgust and amusement of its other guests. He wakes up in bed with her at the morning announcement of his butler Hobson (John Gielgud, who earned an Oscar for this), who brings non-alcoholic drinks, a paper, plans for the prostitute's departure and a thoroughly polished blade of barbed wit. Arthur is to go and see his father Stanford (Thomas Barbour), because he is to marry the daughter of fellow man of wealth Burt Johnson (Stephen Elliott), all against his best wishes. After the family's riches are used to extort agreement from Arthur, his decision to marry Susan (Jill Eikenberry) leaves him irritated with his father. When he and Hobson go out to make endless unnecessary purchases from Bergdorf, he witnesses the "perfect crime": a woman (Liza Minnelli) steals a tie and wanders out with it. Arthur is captivated by this and follows her to the street when a security guard pursues her, and the two con him out of prosecution and Arthur is left with the girl, Linda, to give him her number. Now falling in love with a poor girl from Queens, Arthur has to sort out his immaturities (nevermind his alcoholism) and determine what to do with his life, as choosing Linda will lose his money and choosing Susan will lose him Linda.

    I was a bit put off by the opening scene, wherein Arthur is already smashed and laughing uproariously at every last one of his own comments, noting the funniness of each one. I didn't think, of course, that they were all as funny (or that they were supposed to be as funny) as he thought, but still could see the humour of them zing right past me without stopping for a brief smile or a handshake, going about their business and failing to connect as they went. As soon as Arthur sobered up (or rather, woke up and thus was sober), or maybe just as soon as Hobson entered, the film changed a fair bit. It changed that much more when Linda entered with a more sober sense of humour and it was now a matter of chemistry where two duelling sets of sarcasm did battle that also managed to bring them together. Hobson's acerbic additions to them (such as his surprise at their meeting of Linda, because he would never expect to see her there) compliment and never seem to draw blood no matter how deep they plunge, which is a great effect for the man who we later realize is the (caring) father figure to the endlessly childlike Arthur.

    It's a weird approach to characters and humour, one that I appreciated more as it went than as it started, because it begins by primarily shrugging at Arthur's addiction and showing him as obnoxious but then moves on to show the distaste of everyone around him regarding it. He even shows some shame of his own and even responds to the stimulus of Linda by not drinking. The endless jabs of Hobson are also appreciably consistent, never backing down to show he's actually really a nice guy with an out of character soft comment, but being transplanted to alternate characters to show it instead. His character is thus never betrayed, which is such a relief in a medium that so often feels the need to pull aside the curtain on these things in romantic comedies and forcefully push them into our eyeline. On the same front, Linda's responses are never unfair, even at the inevitable moment of angry hurt when Arthur calls off plans due to engagement, and thus never seem contrived to create the conflict between them. Arthur never makes decisions that supplement the plot in defiance of his character either, so the enjoyment of the whole experience remains high.

    One thing I can't really gloss over is the fact that the DVD released by Warner Bros. in Region 1 is a disgrace. It's in a pan-and-scanned 1.33:1 aspect ratio, which isn't a huge deal, generally speaking, in romantic comedies, but manages to defuse framing of a few scenes--enough that I could tell even having never seen the film before. It instilled a sense of confusion of focus more than once, as it was centered poorly or simply couldn't take in enough information at the edges to capture two elements that ought to have combined to create the correct response. It's shameful and unpleasant--but I suppose no better is to be expected when the Oscars won are for supporting actor and best song (a very catchy bit of soft rock sung by Christopher Cross with a solid Bacharach tune used throughout the movie, the song's writing credited as being by a ridiculous four people--Carol Bayer Sager, Bacharach, Cross and Peter Allen). It's not really about the image, but this just proves that even those films can be hampered. A shame, but not a debilitating one. This is a very fun movie (though my notoriously picky sense of humour didn't find it uproarious in hilarity or anything) and worth seeing--though I also think Liza was pretty cute back then, so I know plenty of people must think I'm quite insane.
  • sanjurosamurai
    November 23, 2007
    sanjurosamurai
    pretty cool flick, dudley moore was up and down but this is one of his better ones
  • thmtsang
    November 10, 2007
    thmtsang
    Dudley Moore comedy as a drunken millionaire. Good movie.
  • wellmeetagain
    August 13, 2007
    wellmeetagain
    Geilgud-Moore chemistry makes this a must see.
  • graveling861
    October 28, 2009
    graveling861
    There is something fake and over the top about Dudley Moore's drunken Arthur. Liza Minnelli was the best thing about it but you didn't really identify with anyone.
  • barbarawalker656
    September 23, 2009
    barbarawalker656
    i LOVED Arthur.. didnt you?
  • fight2dafinish
    August 29, 2009
    fight2dafinish
    It's something about drunk and rich....also my pops favorite movie....
  • samanthaseaotter
    August 6, 2009
    samanthaseaotter
    I hated this movie. I don't think a guy staggering around drunk is funny. If you do, you're an idiot.
  • jakkijelene
    July 14, 2009
    jakkijelene
    Took a long time for me to get around to seeing Arthur, and there were some mildly humorous and charming moments, but not as good as I hoped. No question that the chemistry between Arthur and his butler was the highlight here!

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Critic Reviews

October 23, 2004
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Only someone with a heart of stone could fail to love a drunk like Arthur Bach. full review

View more Arthur reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments

  • jaysgrandmother
    April 1, 2007
    jaysgrandmother
    I think Dudley did his best work as a drunk..I wish he could have made more like this.this is a movie you can watch again and again.
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