Movie · 1981 · Comedy, Drama, Romance · 1h 37m · PG · English
Curator score: 4.5/10 (56K ratings)
The most fun money can buy.
Overview
Arthur is a 30-year-old child who will inherit $750 million if he complies with his family's demands and marries the woman of their choosing.
Ratings
Curator score: 4.5/10
IMDb: 6.9/10
Letterboxd: 3.35/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 86%
Metacritic: 69
TMDB: 6.5/10
Director
Steve Gordon
Production
Orion Pictures, Jack Rollins & Charles H. Joffe Productions
Cast
Dudley Moore, Liza Minnelli, John Gielgud, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Jill Eikenberry, Stephen Elliott, Ted Ross, Barney Martin, Thomas Barbour, Anne DeSalvo, Marjorie Barnes, Dillon Evans, Maurice Copeland, Justine Johnston, Paul Vincent, Mary Alan Hokanson, Paul Gleason, Phyllis Somerville, Irving Metzman, Joe Doolan
Curator Review
Verdict
A charming, lightly boozy romantic comedy with a strong central performance and a surprisingly warm heart. Its blend of rich-kid farce, class contrast, and emotional vulnerability still plays well, even if some of the comedy is very much of its era.
Best for
Fans of character-driven romantic comedies
Viewers who like lovable screwups and fish-out-of-water privilege satire
People who enjoy witty supporting performances and old-school studio charm
Anyone in the mood for a breezy but slightly melancholy 80s comedy
Skip if
You want modern pacing or sharper contemporary jokes
You dislike stories centered on alcoholism or immaturity
You prefer romance with more realism and less broad comedy
You are sensitive to dated gender politics or upper-class wish-fulfillment
Overview
Arthur works because it commits fully to its central contradiction: a spoiled, self-destructive millionaire who is somehow still endearing. Dudley Moore makes the character feel impulsive, funny, and oddly fragile, which keeps the film from becoming just another rich-people farce. The movie’s best scenes balance slapstick, melancholy, and genuine romantic longing.
Worth noting
Liza Minnelli gives the story its grounding force, and the class collision between her practical energy and Arthur’s drunken privilege gives the romance real texture. John Gielgud’s butler is the film’s secret weapon, supplying dry authority and some of the sharpest laughs. The movie is polished, easy to watch, and more emotionally generous than its premise suggests.
Bottom line
It is also unmistakably a product of its time, with a few attitudes and comic rhythms that may feel dated now. But if you’re open to an old-school studio comedy that is both silly and sweet, Arthur remains a very watchable example of how star chemistry can carry a high-concept premise.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Jade talks too much🎅🏻🎄 (5★) · 317 likes
“A real woman could stop you from drinking.”
-“It'd have to be a real BIG woman.”🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂
🎩🥴🍸Dudley Moore drunkenly cackling at his own jokes is a mood. Legendary performance👌.
A romcom about a immature drunken millionaire🥃💰shouldn’t work this well but I found the whole thing utterly charming💘. Was so much funnier than I expected.
Barry Daulton (5★) · 265 likes
One of my favorite movies of all time. In my top ten depending on what day you ask me. I can't even use enough adjectives to describe just how much I love this movie and what it means to me. Moore's performance in my opinion is iconic. I've seen many others play drunk, but none as endearing as Moore's Arthur. Gielgud's Oscar winning performance will always put this movie on cinephiles radar, but there is so much more to this… more One of my favorite movies of all time. In my top ten depending on what day you ask me. I can't even use enough adjectives to describe just how much I love this movie and what it means to me. Moore's performance in my opinion is iconic. I've seen many others play drunk, but none as endearing as Moore's Arthur. Gielgud's Oscar winning performance will always put this movie on cinephiles radar, but there is so much more to this… more
oliviathebi (3.5★) · 219 likes
Dudley Moore got an Oscar nomination for this
and he deserved it
Keith 📽🎬🍿 (3★) · 143 likes
”Why don’t you forget the moose, for a moment?”
Is this the only romcom in history where both romantic leads had the same haircut?
📀 Cammmalot 📀 (4★) · 109 likes
Cinematic Time Capsule1981 Marathon - Film #72
”Some of us drink because we’re not poets.”
What a delightfully messed up rom-com. Dudley Moore’s Oscar nominated performance is spot-on as he drunkenly stumbles through life, having the time of his life, while still pondering the little things in life, like….
”Where’s the rest of this moose?”
Forgetting the moose for a moment, what takes this film to the next level is providing him with two outstanding costars to bounce off… more