Arthur - Kein Kind von Traurigkeit

Delightful movie. Side splitting laughs at times, heart warming at others. Sir John Gielgud is wonderfully funny and poignant as Hobson, Arthur's butler. My favorite scene is where he goes to Liza Minnelli's house to talk to her, you really sympathize for him and her. Memorable song "The best that you can do", and unforgettable characters make this a feel-good memorable movie. Definitely on my Top 30 of all time. 10/10

Arthur has always been a personal film for me for two reasons. A good friend of mine who worked on the film as an extra and to help out with the horses during the stable scene just recently passed away. If you look fast you can see Frank Graham during the restaurant scene in the background while Dudley Moore and Jill Eikenberry are in conversation. Frank was a champion equestrian and will be missed by all who knew him.

Secondly though, I actually knew a real life Arthur Bach. He was not quite as wealthy as Arthur, but spent 47 years of his life basically as a kid. His parents tightly controlled his purse strings, but his rent and utilities were paid for in a basement apartment in Greenwich Village. He spent a good deal of his time getting himself intoxicated on various spirits and making a public spectacle of himself, just like Dudley Moore does.

The wonder with Arthur is why anyone would bother with him wealth of not. But that's the other half of the equation. My friend was a most charming person when you got to know him. In fact it was almost a compulsion to be charming. He couldn't buy a newspaper or magazine without trying to establish some level of relationship with the vendor. He spent his life being a perfect party guest. The term wastrel which was in common use in the 19th century would apply to him.

And that's what Dudley Moore is, a wastrel. Unlike my friend Moore has John Gielgud to clean up after him. That's a full time job as we see demonstrated in Arthur. My friend also never found a Liza Minnelli, a male Liza Minnelli in fact because he was gay. Still Moore's portrayal of Arthur Bach is deadly accurate and so real for me.

Arthur, 20th century wastrel, is being forced to marry another trust fund baby in Jill Eikenberry. Since he won't work for a living, the threat of being cut off is quite real for him. He only has his butler Hobson played by John Gielgud and chauffeur Bitterman played by Ted Post to pour his troubles out to. We should all have such troubles.

John Gielgud in his nearly century of life certainly did better work than in Arthur on film and in fact Gielgud is more prominently known for his stage performances. Yet 1981 was a year of sentiment at Oscar time. The Academy gave Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn Oscars for On Golden Pond and Gielgud the Best Supporting Actor Award essentially for the work of a lifetime. That man was amazing, still at his craft almost to the end.

So to Frank Graham who worked in the film and to Jackie Weiss, a genuine real life Arthur, I dedicate this review.

From the beginning of this movie it seems apparent that the role of Arthur was meant to be played by a much younger actor. By the end, it's clear that nobody other than Dudley Moore could have done it so well. Looking back, one remembers the sappy Christopher Cross theme song (does anyone remember Christopher Cross?) and oh-so-80's clothing and sets with an unavoidable nostalgia. But the triumvirate of Moore as Arthur, Liza Minnelli as Linda, and Sir Johnny G as the butler Hobson, dripping with sarcasm and at the pinnacle of his considerable talent, make this more than a throw-away farce.

All the best lines belong to Gielgud, and the Academy Award was hardly adequate for such a legendary performance. Moore's lovable drunk would wear thin in later years, but here it is a fresh and delightful tour de force in the most politically incorrect way. Liza is flawless, but one hates to see her in a non-musical role, for fear of squandering such an immense talent. But the chemistry, the synergy between these legends is palpable.

The laughs never get old. It is, however, a tragedy that the DVD is not available in cinematic aspect.

Whenever I remember Arthur, a movie released over 40 years ago, Christopher Cross's theme comes to mind. Anyway, Dudley Moore quite hilarious in Arthur and Liza Minelli gave the soft edge needed to round out the movie.

The sequel was so and so.

The late Dudley Moore had the most famous role of his too-short career in 1981's ARTHUR, a raucously funny and alternately touching tale that generates warm smiles, big belly-laughs, and an occasional tear if you're in the right mood. Moore received a Best Actor Oscar nomination for his performance as Arthur Bach, a drunken playboy who "races cars, plays tennis, fondles women, but he has weekends off and he's his own boss." Arthur is destined to inherit 750 million dollars when he marries a snooty society girl named Susan Johnston (Jill Eikenberry)who is the spoiled daughter of an undercover gangster. Things get sticky when Arthur meets Linda Morolla (Liza Minnelli) a waitress/struggling actress from Queens who steals neckties for her father's birthday. Moore lights up the screen in one of the single funniest performances of the last 50 years. The late Sir John Gielgud won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his flawless turn as Arthur's acid-tongued butler and best friend, Hobson, whose outward disdain for Arthur's behavior covers more paternal feelings. There are other funny contributions by Barney Martin as Linda's father. Stephen Elliott as Susan's father, and Geraldine Fitzgerald as Arthur's demented grandmother. The film was directed with a keen eye for comedy by a first time director named Steve Gordon, who, sadly, died the following the year. There was also a forgettable sequel several years later, but this instant classic is not to be missed.