Arthur Bach (Dudley Moore) is a weak, spineless, noisy little creep, who also happens to be a midget, a millionaire, and an alcoholic, and who cannot be trusted to cross the street without the aid of his butler/babysitter/best friend, Hobson (John Gielgud).
The only hope for Arthur, his family insists, is to marry a rich girl and go to work in her father’s business. Arthur would rather die, but what choice has he got? It’s either knuckle under or surrender a $750 million inheritance.
One day Arthur meets Linda Marolla (Liza Minnelli), a kooky waitress from Queens, while she’s shoplifting at Bergdorf’s.
The rest of this comedy devotes itself to the ways in which Linda nabs Arthur while his billionaire father – a sadistic puppet-master – insists that he marry perfectly boring WASP, Susan (Jill Eikenberry).
Arthur gets to keep the girl and the inheritance, and Hobson gives Arthur the courage to take control of his life before the butler drops dead of cancer.
Tremendous performances from an energetic, impish, Dudley Moore as the hairy, obnoxious Arthur, Liza Minnelli as the practical and thoroughly befuddled Linda, and Geraldine Fitzgerald as Arthur’s ruthlessly eccentric old grandmother.
It is also a smashing performance by Sir John Gielgud, who steals the film as the grouchy, wonderful old snob of a butler. Arthur proves that Sir John is a wicked first-rate comedian.
This sprite, screwball comedy is peppered with zingy, clever one-liners which Moore tosses off with hilarious aplomb.
Dudley Moore died in 2002, suffering from PSP (progressive supranuclear palsy). He was only 66.
Arthur Bach
Dudley Moore Linda Marolla
Liza Minnelli Hobson
John Gielgud Martha Bach
Geraldine Fitzgerald Susan Johnson
Jill Eikenberry Burt Johnson
Stephen Elliott Bitterman
Ted Ross Ralph Marolla
Barney Martin Stanford Bach
Thomas Barbour Gloria
Anne De Salvo Hooker
Marjorie Barnes Uncle Peter
Maurice Copeland Aunt Pearl
Justine Johnston
Director
Steve Gordon
Video
You May Also Like
Nighthawks (1981) Deke DaSilva (Sylvester Stallone) and Matthew Fox (Billy Dee Williams) are two undercover NYPD street cops…
Abigail's Party (1977) The best British television comedy of 1977 was not exactly written. Abigail's Party was the BBC's first full-length…
Pacific Banana (1981) The bawdy adventures of two Australian pilots working for Banana Airlines, a small low-rent South Pacific airline,…
Centrespread (1981) Made on a shoestring budget at the South Australian Film Corporation's studio in Adelaide, this Australian…
