"Ten laughs a page, instead of one laugh every ten pages!" That was Dudley Moore's enthusiastic assessment of writer-director Steve Gordon's script for Arthur (1981), in which Oscar-nominated Moore created the funniest drunk of the 1980s. As impishly played by Moore, the incredibly wealthy and irresponsible Arthur Bach redeems his alcoholic inclinations with his merry wit, rollicking laugh and childlike ways. This Manhattan millionaire's credo: "I race cars, I play tennis, I fondle women - but I have weekends off and I am my own boss!"

Gordon's Oscar-nominated screenplay, which he said was inspired by such 1930s screwball comedies as My Man Godfrey (1936) and It Happened One Night (1934), has Arthur pursuing a warm-hearted waitress from Queens (Liza Minnelli) despite his family's threat that he will forfeit a $750 million inheritance unless he marries a well-connected debutante (Jill Eikenberry). Stealing scenes throughout Arthur's escapades is his impeccably acerbic butler, Hobson, played by Sir John Gielgud with a comic precision that brought him an Oscar as Best Supporting Actor.

Although it seems in retrospect that Arthur must have been created with Moore in mind, the original plan was to cast an American actor. Such stars as James Caan, Richard Dreyfuss, Jack Nicholson and Al Pacino were considered before Moore signed on. The very English actor nixed the idea of an American accent, explaining that would mean spending "half the time trying to get my vowels right." It was Moore who suggested that Gielgud be cast as Hobson - a role for which Gordon had previously considered Sir Alec Guinness and David Niven.

The combined chemistry of Moore, Minnelli and Gielgud turned Arthur into the top-grossing comedy of its year, with worldwide grosses of more than $77 million. The movie also earned glowing notices, with the New York Times' Vincent Canby describing Moore's character as "a satyr, a sprite, an over-age waif and a consistently endearing showoff. His timing is magical." Sheila Benson wrote in the Los Angeles Times that "The combination of wit, taste, charm, timing, both elegant and lowdown humor, and this miraculous cast is irresistible." Arthur also won an Oscar for Best Song, the lilting "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)," by Burt Bacharach, Carole Bayer Sager, Christopher Cross and Minnelli's ex-husband Peter Allen.

Producer: Robert Greenhut, Charles H. Joffe (Executive)
Director/Screenplay: Steve Gordon
Production Design: Stephen Hendrickson
Cinematography: Fred Schuler
Costume Design: Jane Greenwood
Film Editing: Susan E. Morse
Original Music: Peter Allen, Burt Bacharach, Carole Bayer Sager, Christopher Cross
Cast: Dudley Moore (Arthur Bach), Liza Minnelli (Linda Marolla), John Gielgud (Hobson), Geraldine Fitzgerald (Martha Bach), Jill Eikenberry (Susan Johnson), Stephen Elliott (Burt Johnson), Ted Ross (Bitterman), Barney Martin (Ralph Marolla)
C-97m.

by Roger Fristoe