Better Late Then Never

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

The tag line is "The World's Richest Playboy", Arthur Bach (Moore), is a dipsomaniacal millionaire in NYC, who squanders money on drinks and female companions at the drop of a hat, only his dissolute bachelor days are numbered because he is arranged to walk down the isle with Susan Johnson (Eikenberry), a girl from a well-minted family but he doesn't love, otherwise he will be cut off from his gazillion inheritance, and just at that crunch, he meets the girl of his dream, Linda Marolla (Minnelli), a waitress from Queens, and the rest of the story is not difficult to conjecture, it is a choice between love and money, if Arthur has to relinquish one, what will he choose? ARTHUR is director/writer Steve Gordon's only feature film, who prematurely died of a heart attack in 1982, it is a box office sensation and also incredibly, a victorious Oscar contender, broad comedies embraced by the academy has become more and more like gold dust as time goes by, Sir John Gielgud, won an Oscar for his prudent, sophisticated impersonation of Hobson, Arthur's devout butler and indeed, a father figure to him, whose mordant elocution and snobbish/avuncular poise is the perfect antidote of Arthur's excessive jests when he is plastered, also his bowing out denouement tactfully renders the film its well-earned moment of poignancy. Another Oscar is awarded to its theme song, BEST THAT YOU CAN DO, a timeless ear-worm penned by Burt Bacharach and co. and performed by a clear-voiced belter Christopher Cross. Dudley Moore, reaps his sole Oscar nomination with this unrivalled comedy tour-de-force (graced with his accomplished piano bravura), it is really at a premium that a comedian can tips the emotional scale of his viewers apropos of a character that initially smacks of crudeness, intemperance and gaucheness. A pint-size dynamo, Mr. Moore injects an honest-t0-goodness likability once we knows Arthur better, he is a none-too-objectionable man-child and devoid of any wiles awash in the adult society, cocooned in his money-gilded bubble since his birth, but eventually he braves himself to face an impending sea change when he falls in love for the very first time, and Arthur's transmogrification doesn't, as one might habitually dread, comes off as overly mawkish or unduly therapeutic, there is a bracing message in this tall-tale: Arthur doesn't have to better himself to get the girl, instead, he is still the old self when the film reaches its coda, his drinking problem is hard to peter away, so is his compulsive joke-cracking under the influence one might surmise, the only thing has changed is that he experiences love and loss, and is not afraid of getting out of his comfort zone (although the ending lets rip a knowing whiff of jubilation, actually you can have your cake and eat it too!), and lucky enough to find someone who can reciprocate his feelings because who he is, not what he is bestowed (here I mean Linda, not Hobson).On the petticoat front, Ms. Minnelli's puckish moxie is a good match of Arthur's benign wackiness, and Irish veteran Geraldine Fitzgerald evidently have a field day as Arthur's savvy grandmother Martha, everyone must behave on her say-so. By and large, it is a nicely surprising finding that this ostensibly crass comedy actually has wits in the hearts of its hackneyed story and perkily runs rings around most of its contemporaneous light entertainment from an infertile industry.

I really wanted to like this movie, and it was OK, but it was not as good as O remember.Plot in A Paragraph: Arthur (Dudley Moore) is a happy drunk with no ambition in life. He is also the heir to a vast fortune which he is told will only be his, if he marries Susan. He does not love Susan, but his family expects she will make something of him. Arthur does as he's told and proposes, but then meets a girl (Liza Minelli) with no money who he could easily fall in love with.Dudley Moore's drunk act had me cringing, and found it annoying, yet his sober Arthur was more watchable. Liza Minelli is a joy (as always) as Linda Marolla, as is Geraldine Fitzgerald as Martha (Arthur's Grandmother) but it is John Geilgud as Hobson that steals the show (and rightfully took home the Oscar) that steals the show. He is brilliant. This movie also features one of my favourite songs of all time 'Arthur's theme' by Christian Cross

The first time I happened to see this was on my honeymoon, it was the in flight movie as we were flying home from a wonderful trip. It was a absolutely perfect movie to enjoy at such a time, along with numerous glasses of champagne. Of course you missed quite a bit viewing in-flight movies back then but I've caught up with "Arthur" many times since via cable or rentals and I never fail to laugh. Just a wonderful script and direction by Steve Gordon, it's a shame he passed away shortly after this. While John Gielgud's superb performance as Hobson gained an Oscar, this film was going to either soar or crash on Dudley Moore's performance as Arthur. It's not easy to make a spoiled and perpetually sloshed playboy into a lovable character, but Dudley pulls it off. I've never been a big fan of Liza Minnelli. but she is also terrific as Linda, the waitress from Queens that Arthur falls in love with. Some other fine performances, such as Ted Ross as Bittermann, Arthur's chauffeur and Anne De Salvo, who has a hilarious bit as a hooker who Arthur entertains at a ritzy NYC restaurant.To those who dislike this because it makes alcoholism seem funny and cute...lighten up, it's only a movie. Hollywood has a tradition in making drunks seem lovable. Just as they do with prostitutes. As a PS, still married to the lovely lady 33 years later. Best that you can do is fall in love.

now that i am taking acting classes, even though i have been a movie extra in movies before, i have gotten my 1st speaking part ( as a drunk ) and my instructor keeps telling me 'not to put to much into it & make it believable' so i keep watching Dudley Moore in Arthur... he was AWESOME !! what acting !!!., i tried to notice like in the movie when he had not had a drink yet in the course of a day, at what points did he start acting drunk ?? he is one of the greatest actors of all time. ! i wonder did he take a drink or two for real to play drunk ? and how could he not laugh in some of those scenes ?? but maybe the director did have some out takes...i wish there was someone out there that worked in this movie that i could talk to (to get some tips) does anyone know any one ?