In 1981,
Palau became an independent nation;
The Iranian hostage crisis ended;
Dick Beardsley and Inge Simonsen tied in the inaugural London Marathon;
Bobby Sands began a fatal hunger strike;
Ronald Reagan was shot by John Hinckley Jr,;
Sandra Day O’Connor became the first female Justice of the Supreme Court;
Donkey Kong was released;
Ric Flair won his first World Heavyweight Championship;
Danger Mouse premiered on UK television;
Luke and Laura married on General Hospital;
Eli Manning, Jared Kushner, Pitbull, Beverly Mitchell, Carrie Coon, Elijah Wood, Justin Timberlake, Tom Hiddleston, Uzo Aduba, Kelly Rowland, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Paris Hilton, Josh Gad, Josh Groban, Bryce Dallas Howard, Julia Stiles, Taylor Kitsch, Hayden Christensen, Troy Polamalu, Jessica Alba, Stephen Amell, Rami Malek, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Amy Schumer, T.J. Miller, Natalie Portman, Chris Evans, Alisan Porter, Summer Glau, Leslie Odom Jr., Roger Federer, Clinton Portis. Beyonce, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Dylan Klebold, Jennifer Hudson, Ben Schwartz, Alexis Bledel, Nicole Richie, Serena Williams, Tila Tequila, Noah Galloway, Ivanka Trump, Susan Kelechi Watson, Allison Tolman, Nasim Pedrad, Barbara Pierce Bush, Jenna Bush Hager, Britney Spears, Michelle Dockery, Emille de Ravin, Sienna Miller were born;
While Beluah Bondi, Bill Haley, Bosley Crowther, Rene Clair, John S. McCain Jr., Norman Taurog, Omar Bradley, Arthur O’Connell, Carl Vinson, Allen Ludden, Terry Fox, Harry Chapin, William Wyler, Paddy Chayefsky, Melvyn Douglas, Anita Loos, Albert Speer, Christy Brown, Jacques Lacan, Chief Dan George, Robert Montgomery, Anwar Sadat, Edith Head, Abel Gance, Jean Eustache, Jack Albertson, Natalie Wood, and Hoagy Carmichael died.
The following is a list of my ten favorite movies released in 1981:
10) History of the World Part I
Mel Brooks turns his talents towards skewering historical events and eras: the invention of fire, the Ten Commandments, the Roman Empire, the Spanish Inquisition, the French Revolution. In a blistering 90 minutes, Brooks throws as much material as he can at the audience.
The cast is a who’s who of mid twentieth century comedy: Dom DeLuise, Madeline Kahn, Spike Milligan, Bea Arthur, Sid Caesar, Harvey Korman, and Chloris Leachman. Sadly Richard Pryor left the film after burning himself and was replaced by Gregory Hines (in his film debut).
This is not at the same level as Brooks earlier efforts, and, in retrospect, it’s clearly indicative of his subsequent decline to mediocrity. This film flat in places, but the jokes that land are hysterical.
Megan Carter (Sally Field) is an ambitious reporter who will stop at nothing to get the next scoop. Federal prosecutor Elliot Rosen (Bob Balaban) uses her ambition to plant a false story about Michael Gallagher (Paul Newman) in a prominent newspaper.
Newman’s roguish charm is well matched with Field’s irresistibility. Bob Balaban is criminally underrated, and Wilfred Brimley is wonderful in a small, crucial role as an assistant US attorney.
Sidney Pollack’s movie embraces ambiguity. Gallagher is not guilty of the things he’s accused of, but he’s a low character with a temper. Carter is a good reporter willing to cut corners regardless of ethical implications. Rosen is determined to take down the bad guys and doesn’t care if he has to ruin some innocent people along the way.
It’s a great exploration of journalistic responsibility, reminding us hypothetical examples have real world analogs.
As elderly couple Norman (Henry Fonda) and Ethel Thayer (Katharine Hepburn) settle in for another summer at their house on Golden Pond, their adult daughter Chelsea (Jane Fonda) visits with her soon to be husband, Bill Ray (Dabney Coleman) and his son Billy.
Chelsea and Bill leave Billy with the Thayers. Cantankerous Norman and Billy bond while fishing for Walter, an infamous fish in the lake. This new relationship thaws the long, difficult relationship between Chelsea and her dad.
Henry Fonda is sublime, and Hepburn adds a final notch to her long illustrious career. Both rightfully won Academy Awards.
The love between Norman and Ethel feels genuine and real, while the film’s central relationship between Chelsea and Norman echoes the relationship between Jane and her dad Henry. It feels like a genuine labor of love and reconciliation between the two.
Retroactively, Henry Fonda’s death less than a year after the film’s premiere adds a poignancy to his character’s realization his time on earth is running out.
7) Body Heat
Semi-inspired by Billy Wilder’s noir classic, Double Indemnity, this version of James Cain’s story features femme fatale Matty Walker (Kathleen Turner) seducing and manipulating incompetent lawyer Ned Racine (William Hurt) into murdering her wealthy husband and taking the blame for it.
While Double Indemnity’s Phyllis Dietrichson is more cunning, Matty’s allure is pure overpowering sex. She doesn’t convince Ned with a silver tongue, but overwhelms him with desire.
Turner’s film debut is phenomenal. Mickey Rourke is good in a small role as an explosives expert who helps Ned stage the murder. Pre-Cheers Ted Danson is great as the assistant prosecutor assigned to the case.
The original film was about a man’s fall from grace, a man manipulated and bullied by a conniving woman. This update is about a woman taking her place in the world, using whatever assets she has at her disposal to get what she wants.
6) Blow Out
Sound technician Jack Terry (John Travolta) is collecting sound effects at the park for a slasher film, when he witnesses a fatal car accident involving the governor. While listening to the recorded audio, he hears a gunshot and is convinced the car accident was a cover for an assassination.
Inspired by Antonioni’s Blow-Up, this is a paranoid film about conspiracy theories and how scraps of information become proof of something nefarious.
John Lithgow can be broad (Dick Solomon), measured (Winston Churchill), be evil (The Trinity Killer), or sympathetic (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes). He’s excellent as Burke, a corrupt political operative.
Nancy Allen, director Brian DePalma’s then wife, is wonderful as Sally, an escort who realizes her unwitting role in the murder then works with Jack to unravel the conspiracy.
Travolta has devolved into self-parody, but he was once a fascinating screen presence. His wonderful performance invites us in to his paranoia, making it seem reasonable, which is key to making the film’s larger than life conspiracy work. We believe the story the film is telling us because we believe Jack Terry is a reasonable man not prone to wild acts of fancy.
DePalma’s films are often more style than substance, but in this film he finds a perfect marriage and the two enhance each other in a provocative way. The end is exceedingly bleak, but serves as a perfect warning: pay no attention to the man behind the curtain; you won’t like what you find.
5) An American Werewolf in London
When American backpackers David Kessler and Jack Goodman venture off the path one night, they’re attacked by a mysterious creature. David is transformed into a werewolf while Jack dies and becomes a ghost. In this film’s mythology, victims of werewolves remain as ghosts until the werewolf who killed them is dead.
John Landis had long wanted to make a werewolf movie, but was only able to secure funding once he had a few hits under his belt (most notably The Blues Brothers).
I love the complex and thoughtful additions to werewolf lore. I love the intoxicating combination of humor and horror. However, the main reason to watch is the incredible special effects work of Rick Baker who won the inaugural Academy Award for Best Makeup. David’s frightening transformation remains one of the most visually striking scenes, and every horror and fantasy film since owes a debt to his groundbreaking work.
The film allegedly so enthralled Michael Jackson, he insisted Landis and Baker collaborate with him on the iconic music video for Thriller.
4) Time Bandits
One night, imaginative eleven-year old Kevin is awakened by an armored knight barreling out of his closet. When six dwarves with a stolen map emerge from the same closet the next night, Kevin joins them on a spectacular adventure through space and time.
Chased by Evil, they meet Napoleon (Ian Holm), Robin Hood (John Cleese), and Agamemnon (Sean Connery) and sink with the Titanic. All the while, Kevin documents their adventure with a Polaroid camera.
After fighting Evil for control of the map, its original owner, the Supreme Being (Ralph Richardson) reveals the entire ordeal was an elaborate test. Kevin is sent home, but unfortunately, a piece of Evil returns with him.
It’s great to see Kenny Baker outside of his famous R2D2 costume. Connery as Agamemnon is just odd enough to work. Delightfully, Shelley Duvall and Michael Palin have small roles as Vincent and Pansy.
It’s pacing and humor echo director Terry Gilliam’s time in Monty Python’s Flying Circus and several of his collaborators join him on this leg of his journey. A few critics have even argued the six dwarves are representative of the six members of the famed comedy troupe. This was Gilliam’s arrival as a cinematic force and remains a quintessential work from his fertile imagination.
Andre Gregory gave up his job as a successful theatre director to travel the world. While travelling he contributed to several experimental works in Scotland, the Sahara, and Poland. Now back in New York, he meets his friend and fellow actor Wallace Shawn for dinner.
As they discuss their worldviews, Wallace reminds Andre most people can’t live a Bohemian lifestyle, while Andre suggests it’s not living to conform to society’s expectation of what a life should be.
Wallace suggests the simple, everyday things in life are valuable, while Andrew suggests they’re distractions from more important things.
There aren’t enough films like this, which present worldviews alongside their fallacies, hidden hypocrisies, and cracks. No worldview is without its faults, or without a counterview which runs in the opposite direction.
Louis Malle’s film is helped by the blurring of fiction and reality between real life friends Shawn and Gregory, who penned this screenplay about fictionalized versions of themselves.
2) S.O.B.
Producer Felix Farmer’s latest film, Night Wind, is the first flop of his career. Unable to handle the rejection, he attempts suicide, but he’s hilariously inept. During his fourth suicide attempt, he realizes his film’s failure could be mitigated by an infusion of sex.
He decides to turn Night Wind into a soft core pornographic film and convinces his longtime friend director Tim Culley (William Holden) and the film’s star Sally Miles (Julie Andrews) to turn their film about a sexually distant woman into a film about a sexually adventurous one. Miles happens to be Farmer’s wife and is reluctant to appear nude on camera, but does with the help of powerful narcotics.
When the retooled film is a success, the studio tries to usurp the rights. A desperate Farmer steals the negative, but is tragically killed during the attempt.
In a postscript, we learn Miles won an Academy Award.
Inspired by his experiences working on Darling Lili, you can feel the disdain Edwards has for the film industry in every shot of this bitter film. Rare for Edwards, it feels like he has something to say: “I hate this industry, but I love making movies. I love the job, but I hate the business.”
Rarely has the tension between profit margin and artistic inspiration been expressed so well and casting Edwards’ real life wife Andrews adds a layer of pseudo realism. For Andrews (who starred in two of the biggest family movies of all time) to agree to a nude scene in her mid 40s took incredible chutzpah.
Robert Loggia, Shelley Winters, Robert Preston, and Craig Stevens give fine supporting performances, I‘d watch William Holden in anything, and Richard Mulligan (best known for his television work) is brilliant as manic, shallow Felix in this searing, honest look behind the scenes of a film set. The darkest film of Edwards’ career is one of his best.
In 1936, archeologist Indiana Jones is tasked to find the Ark of the Covenant before it falls into the hands of the Nazis.
Buried beneath pulpy adrenaline, the film does have something to say about faith and the supernatural, but interpreting an Indiana Jones film is like riding a roller coaster and focusing on the physics.
This movie is rolling boulders, melting faces, and pits of vipers, not metaphysical pontification.
Few actors create one iconic character in their careers; Harrison Ford did it twice in four years. He never achieved those heights again, but this is partially the result of unfair expectations after his initial, unprecedented success.
George Lucas has become a popular object of derision, but Star Wars and Indiana Jones should be more than enough to secure his legacy; more than making up for the indulgent Howard the Duck and less than stellar prequel films.