Arthur is a 1981 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Steve Gordon. It stars Dudley Moore as Arthur Bach, a drunken New York City millionaire who is on the brink of an arranged marriage to wealthy heiress Susan Johnson but ends up falling for Linda Marolla, a common working-class young woman from Queens. It was the sole film directed by Gordon, who died in 1982 of a heart attack at age 44.
The film received critical acclaim and earned $95.5 million domestically, making it the fourth highest-grossing film of 1981. Its title song, "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)", won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Co-written by Christopher Cross, Burt Bacharach, Carole Bayer Sager, and Peter Allen, it was performed by Cross. Sir John Gielgud also won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. It was nominated for two other Academy Awards for Best Actor for Moore and Best Original Screenplay for Gordon. The film's success led to a sequel in 1988 and a remake in 2011, neither of which replicated the success of the original film.
Plot
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Arthur Bach is a spoiled, alcoholic man-child in New York City, who likes to be driven in his chauffeured Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith limousine through Central Park. Arthur is heir to a portion of his family's vast fortune, but only if he marries the upper-class Susan Johnson, the daughter of Burt, a business acquaintance of his father Stanford. He does not love Susan, but his family feels that she will make him finally grow up. During a shopping trip in Manhattan, accompanied by his valet, Hobson, Arthur witnesses a young woman, Linda Marolla, shoplifting a necktie. He intercedes with the store security guard on her behalf, and later asks her for a date. Despite his attraction to Linda, Arthur remains pressured by his family to marry Susan.
While visiting his grandmother, Martha, Arthur shares his feelings for Linda, but is warned again that he will be disowned if he does not marry Susan. Hobson, who has been more like a father to him than Stanford has, realizes that Arthur is beginning to grow up, and secretly encourages Linda to attend Arthur's engagement party. Hobson confides in Linda that he senses Arthur loves her. Linda crashes the party, held at Stanford's estate, and she and Arthur eventually spend time alone together, which is tracked by both families. Hobson is later hospitalized, and Arthur rushes to his side, vowing to care for the person who has long cared for him. After several weeks, Hobson dies, and then Arthur, who has been sober the entire time, goes on a drinking binge. On his wedding day, he visits the diner where Linda works and proposes to her. At the church, he jilts Susan, resulting in Burt Johnson attempting to stab Arthur with a cheese knife, though he is prevented by Martha.
A wounded Arthur announces in church there will be no wedding, then passes out soon after. Later, Linda tends to his wounds, and they discuss living a life of poverty. A horrified Martha tells Arthur that he can have his fortune, because no Bach has ever been working class. Arthur declines, but at the last minute, he talks privately to Martha. When he returns to Linda's side, he tells her that he declined again – Martha's dinner invitation, he means – but he did accept $750 million. Arthur's pleased chauffeur Bitterman drives the couple through Central Park.
Cast
Production
Steve Gordon originally wrote the title character Arthur Bach with an American actor in mind. Prior to the casting of Moore, Al Pacino, Jack Nicholson, John Travolta, Richard Dreyfuss and James Caan were all considered for the role. In addition, Alec Guinness and David Niven were considered for the role of Hobson. John Belushi was also considered for Arthur. Initially, Gordon wanted Dudley Moore to perform the role with an American accent, but this proved contentious as Moore had trouble doing so and eventually convinced Gordon to let him use his natural English accent. While some critiques objected to the obvious difference in accent between Arthur and his biological father Stanford (Thomas Barbour), others were quick to catch the deeper implication that Hobson taught Arthur to speak. Debra Winger reportedly turned down the role of Linda Marolla. Goldie Hawn, Diane Keaton, Gilda Radner and Meryl Streep were also considered for the role of Linda.
Although the project was initially in the works at Paramount Pictures, studio executives eventually dropped the project and Orion Pictures stepped in. Cross was asked to compose a song for the film which he did, "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)", which he wrote with Bacharach along with Carole Bayer Sager and Peter Allen. It eventually earned $95.5 million domestically, making it the fourth highest-grossing film of 1981.
The film received critical acclaim upon its release and is considered by many as one of the best films of 1981. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 86% based on 36 reviews, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Dudley Moore brings a boozy charm to Arthur, a coming of age tale for a wayward millionaire that deploys energetic cast chemistry and spiffy humor to jovial effect."
Then-U.S. President Ronald Reagan viewed the film at Camp David on July 25, 1981.
Accolades
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
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! Award
! Category
! Nominee(s)
! Result
!
|-
| rowspan="4"| Academy Awards
| Best Actor
| Dudley Moore
|
| align="center" rowspan="4"|
|-
| Best Supporting Actor
| John Gielgud
|
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| Best Screenplay – Written Directly for the Screen
| Steve Gordon
|
|-
| Best Original Song
| "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" <br> Music by Burt Bacharach; <br> Lyrics by Carole Bayer Sager, Christopher Cross, and Peter Allen
|
|-
| American Movie Awards
| Best Supporting Actor
| John Gielgud
|
| align="center"|
|-
| ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards
| Most Performed Feature Film Standards
| "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" <br> Music by Burt Bacharach; <br> Lyrics by Carole Bayer Sager, Christopher Cross, and Peter Allen
|
| align="center"|
|-
| rowspan="2"| British Academy Film Awards
| Best Supporting Artist
| John Gielgud
|
| align="center" rowspan="2"|
|-
| Best Original Film Music
| Burt Bacharach
|
|-
| rowspan="5"| Golden Globe Awards
| colspan="2"| Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
|
| align="center" rowspan="5"|
|-
| Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
| Dudley Moore
|
|-
| Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
| Liza Minnelli
|
|-
| Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture
| John Gielgud
|
|-
| Best Original Song – Motion Picture
| "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" <br> Music by Burt Bacharach; <br> Lyrics by Carole Bayer Sager, Christopher Cross, and Peter Allen
|
|-
| rowspan="3"| Grammy Awards
| Record of the Year
| "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" <br> Christopher Cross and Michael Omartian
|
| align="center" rowspan="3"|
|-
| Song of the Year
| "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" <br> Peter Allen, Burt Bacharach, Christopher Cross, and Carole Bayer Sager
|
|-
| Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male
| "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" – Christopher Cross
|
|-
| Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards
| Best Supporting Actor
| rowspan="2"| John Gielgud
|
| align="center"|
|-
| rowspan="2"| New York Film Critics Circle Awards
| Best Supporting Actor
|
| align="center" rowspan="2"|
|-
| Best Screenplay
| rowspan="2"| Steve Gordon
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|-
| Writers Guild of America Awards
| Best Comedy – Written Directly for the Screen
|
| align="center"|
|}
Honors
The film was ranked 10 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies".
The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:
- 2000: AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs – No. 53
- 2004: AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs:
- "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" – No. 79
Related films
Sequel
The film was followed by a sequel in 1988, Arthur 2: On the Rocks. Moore, Liza Minnelli and John Gielgud reprised their roles, as well as co-stars Stephen Elliott, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Barney Martin and Ted Ross. The sequel was a critical and financial failure.
Remake
The 2011 version was first reported in 2008 with news that Arthur was to be remade by Warner Bros. Pictures, with Russell Brand in the lead role. Brand confirmed this during his March 10, 2009, appearance on The Howard Stern Show. The remake was an overall critical and financial failure.
In popular culture
The animated series The Critic starring Jon Lovitz has an episode "Eyes on the Prize", which shows a parody of Arthur called "Arthur 3: Revenge of the Liver", where the character of Arthur Bach (voiced by Maurice LaMarche impersonating Dudley Moore) is shown intoxicated and informed that he has cirrhosis of the liver.