Retro Look - Christmas Movies of 1981

Now on to the final article of my retro look at Christmas movie releases. For this article I will take a look at the movie releases from the holiday season of 1981.

1981 was a very weak year for its holiday movies. There were thirteen movies released that December. Many of them were not well regarded. Many of them flopped at the box office. None of them were smash hits though some did make money. Interestingly not a single film was made for kids though one was aimed more for kids than adults. Four of the films were remembered at Academy Awards time and only one of them was nominated for Best Picture.

Before we begin I would just like to take a moment to thank my followers, family, friends and strangers for their continued support and kind words offered me for articles like this. Sure they are trivial but they are supposed to be. I enjoy looking back and appreciate those of you who have enjoyed looking back with me. While this is the last of the retro (both summer and Christmas) releases I will continue to write film columns and hope that you will enjoy those as much as I enjoy researching and writing them.

As always I hope these films either bring back some memories of your movie going experiences from thirty years ago and I further hope that you find a title or two of interest on this list and seek them out. Should you I would love to hear from you to tell me your thoughts.

To all of you out there I wish a very Happy New Year.

Here are the holiday releases from 1981 listed in alphabetical order.

ABSENCE OF MALICE (Columbia; Director - Sydney Pollack) This newspaper drama stars a miscast Sally Field as a reporter who begins to investigate a liquor warehouse owner (well played by Paul Newman) in the murder of a union head. What could have been a compelling, thought provoking mystery and investigative narrative is done in by some huge story flaws involving the Field character and her actions as she pursues the story. Still the film is interesting at times and Newman is a pleasure to watch. Melinda Dillon is unforgettable in a supporting role as Newman's troubled sister and Wilford Brimley has one scene near the end of the film that almost makes it worth watching the whole movie. Critical reaction was mixed but the film was a solid hit making $19.7 million. It would be nominated for three Academy Awards for Best Actor (Newman), Supporting Actress (Dillon) and Original Screenplay. It failed to win any awards.

BUDDY, BUDDY (MGM; Director - Billy Wilder) On paper people had to believe this was going to be the smash hit of Christmas. Veteran director Wilder and his longtime screenwriting collaborator I.A.L. Diamond re-teaming for the third time with the great team of Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. The story about a hit man who checks into a hotel to kill a gangster set to testify against the mob only to get interference from his neighbor, a man who has checked into the hotel to commit suicide. It had the ear marks of a classic. So what went wrong? In a word - everything. The script is hackneyed, clichéd, ridiculous and downright stupid. Matthau looks like he is phoning it in (and this is coming from someone who calls Matthau his favorite actor) and Lemmon seems to just be playing Felix Ungar all over again. Wilder's direction is lazy. He takes no chances by playing it by the book. This film contains not one single big laugh and I would have thought that impossible with the talent involved. Not surprisingly the film was lambasted by critics and it was a box office bomb making $3 million.

GHOST STORY (Universal; Director - John Irvin) This is a stylish and atmospheric tale of four elderly men (beautifully cast with Fred Astaire, Melvyn Douglas, John Houseman and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.) whose past secrets start to catch up with them with the appearance of a mysterious woman in their town. Craig Wasson adds strong support playing a dual role as the twin sons of Fairbanks, both of whom have had dealings with the same mysterious woman. Fans of the book were not taken with the loose adaptation and many movie fans were not thrilled to be….more thrilled. The film is spooky, not scary. It's a joy to watch the four veteran actors at work (Douglas died before the film was released) and its snowy setting makes the film even more stylish and eerie. Critical reaction was mixed but it did gross a mild $12 million.

HEARTBEEPS (Universal; Director - Allan Arkush) The biggest dud of the holiday season was this bizarre comedy about two household robots that start to develop feelings for one another and devise a plot to escape from the home they work in and go off to start a family of their own. It's even worse than it sounds. This was supposed to be a launching pad for the film career of comedian Andy Kaufman but turned out to be his only leading role (and last film appearance). Bernadette Peters co-starred. The film's budget was over $10 million but its gross barely registered. After one week in theaters it was double billed with The Great Muppet Caper and by the end of the second week the film had disappeared altogether and has been little seen since then.

MODERN PROBLEMS (20^th Century Fox; Director - Ken Shapiro) After the success of Foul Play in 1978, Chevy Chase went on to star in a string of very bad comedies. This one is arguably the worst. In the film Chase plays an air traffic controller (for no apparent reason other than the screenwriter had to give him some kind of occupation) who is exposed to a liquid that gives him telekinetic powers. For the remainder of the film Chase is able to make things move on their own and we get loads of close-ups of Chase making faces and gestures to signify his mind working on its own. This is a very bad film. Critical response was not surprisingly terrible but the film was a solid hit (signaling just how popular Chase was back then) earning $17 million.

MY DINNER WITH ANDRE (New Yorker Films; Director - Louis Malle) This was the little film that could. The first film to be championed by a few film critics and then would find its audience and become the sleeper hit of the year. Filmed on a budget that barely crossed six figures, My Dinner with Andre is a simple story of two men sitting down in a New York restaurant and having a meal. The entire film consists of their conversation for 110 minutes. This may sound like a boring film but the notion of its audience being a voyeur, actually listening in on their deepest thoughts and sometimes oddball opinions is one of its biggest charms. The film was released with little fanfare and then something odd happened. Chicago film critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert went on their television show and praised the movie like no other before. They did more than urge viewers to seek out this little movie that was playing in just a handful of theaters nationwide. They pleaded with viewers to find the film. And they did. When all was said and done theaters in New York and Chicago played the film for over a year and its box office gross ended up over $5 million. Critical reaction was not unanimous but it seemed that, for the first time, Siskel and Ebert had direct influence on the success of a film.

NEIGHBORS (Columbia; Director - John G. Avildsen) Another very odd film was this black comedy about a suburban man who enjoys a quiet life that is soon disrupted by new neighbors who move into the long empty house next door. Over the next 24 hours one strange event leads to another to another. As a huge fan of black comedy I have always been speechless when it comes to trying to explain why this film failed to connect with me. The film stars John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd in what should have been inspired casting but director Avildsen, with blessings from his leads, decided to cast Belushi as the shy diminutive one and Aykroyd as the loud, raucous new neighbor. I will admit Aykroyd pulls it off but Belushi looks like he is going to fall asleep half the time. The film would have worked much better with their roles reversed and letting Belushi go. Now that would have been a film to watch. Another complaint I have is with the film's musical score. Quite frankly it is one of the worst scores I have ever heard in a movie. It's only purpose seems to be to insinuate how strange the goings on in the film are. It's a distraction and not a small one. For me this was one of the biggest disappointments of the year and it was made all the more so when Belushi would die just three months after its release. Critical reaction was mixed and while the movie did make over $14 million, audience reaction was very mixed as well. With the star power of its two leaders this could have been a smash hit.

PENNIES FROM HEAVEN (MGM; Director - Herbert Ross) Perhaps the most daring film of the holiday season (and the year for that matter) was this musical starring Steve Martin of all people as a depression era sheet music salesman whose bland life at work and home is brightened when he falls in love with a school teacher. Bernadette Peters, appearing in her second holiday film of the season, is absolutely charming as the teacher. The film is filled with great musical numbers and an unforgettable dance sequence with Christopher Walken. Despite the huge popularity of comedian Martin, his fans were unwilling to take the risk of seeing him as a serious song and dance man. Critical reaction was positive but the film was a huge flop. Its budget was $22 million and it grossed just $4.6 million. It would be nominated for three Academy Awards for Best Sound, Costume Design and Adapted Screenplay but failed to win any of them.

RAGTIME (Paramount; Director - Milos Forman) For me this extraordinary epic of a film based on the vast novel by E.L. Doctorow was the best film of 1981. Several stories are told in the film set in 1910 in New York but the center story tells the tale of one Coalhouse Walker, Jr. (magnificently played by Howard Rollins, Jr.), a jazz pianist who is harassed by a group of white firefighters. When his brand new car is spoiled he demands retribution against the fire chief and his men but when he receives no cooperation he takes matters into his own hands. From this story there are many others, each just as interesting as the last. The large cast also includes Mandy Patinkin, Elizabeth McGovern, James Olsen, Mary Steenburgen, Brad Dourif and the first screen appearance in 20 years by James Cagney in a supporting role that should have won him an Academy Award nomination. Another worthy note is the absolutely beautiful musical score by Randy Newman. Critical reaction was surprisingly mixed and the film disappointed at the box office making just $9 million. The film would be nominated for 8 Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor (Rollins), Supporting Actress (McGovern), Adapted Screenplay, Art Direction, Cinematography, Costume Design, Score and Song. It lost them all.

REDS (Paramount; Director - Warren Beatty) Beatty's pet project was this epic in size and scale romantic adventure about the life of John Reed (Beatty), a radical journalist circa World War I who falls in love with writer Louise Bryant and covers the 1917 October Revolution in Russia. Despite its epic scale and length (three hours and thirty minutes) the film never feels focused. The film jumps from one story to the next with no cohesive ties to one another other than Reed being there. We learn little about the man save for his politics and love life and the fact that he was the first American buried in the Kremlin wall. Here is the problem with the movie. It never explains why Reed was so highly regarded to have his posthumous honor. The film has its pleasures though. The photography is first rate as is the acting headed by Beatty, Diane Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Gene Hackman, Edward Herrmann, Maureen Stapleton and others. For me this was a major epic film that missed. Critical reaction was mixed and despite making over $21 million at the box office, its budget was over $35 million. The film was nominated for 12 Academy Awards losing for Best Picture, Original Screenplay, Actor (Beatty), Actress (Keaton), Supporting Actor (Nicholson), Art Direction, Costumes, Editing and Sound. It would win 3 awards for Supporting Actress (Stapleton), Cinematography and Director.

ROLLOVER (Warner Bros,; Director - Alan J. Pakula) Another huge disappointment that holiday season was this thriller from the director of some terrific thrillers including Klute, The Parallax View and All The President's Men. Set in the world of high finance and stocks, Jane Fonda stars as an ex-actress whose husband is murdered. In steps Kris Kristofferson who soon romances her while trying to stop a major collapse on the market. That's about as much as I could grasp. The film is hopelessly confusing and convoluted and soon enough I gave up trying to keep up with it. A vast knowledge in stocks and trading couldn't hurt. Two bright spots in the film (other than Fonda looking as sexy as ever) are Hume Cronyn stealing every scene he is in and a thoroughly frightening ending. Critical reaction was poor and the film flopped making just over $5 million.

SHARKY'S MACHINE (Orion; Director - Burt Reynolds) It was highly unusual if a holiday season didn't have a Burt Reynolds or Clint Eastwood movie in those days. In 1981 it was Burt's turn in this action/thriller as a narcotics cop in Atlanta who is demoted after a botched bust in the film's opening scene. Now working in vice, he assembles a team to investigate a prostitution ring that leads to a mob murder with government ties. While doing this he also falls in love with a high class call girl (played by the lovely Rachel Ward). This was a welcome relief from the good ole boy comedies Reynolds had been saddling himself with and reminded us of the screen presence he had. The problem with the film is that it's confusing and unfocused. A better director would have made for a more solid thriller. Still it's fun to see Burt in action and there are some terrific moments. Critical reaction was mixed but Burt's star still shined brightly and the film made over $18 million.

TAPS (20^th Century Fox; Director - Harold Becker) A somewhat odd drama about a group of military cadets who take over their academy when it is announced the academy is to be closed, torn down and replaced by condominiums. A simple demonstration soon turns serious, violent and then deadly. George C. Scott is given top billing as the commander of the cadets but his role is shockingly small. The true star is Timothy Hutton in his first performance after winning the Oscar for Ordinary People. The film is also of note for early performances by Tom Cruise (in an unusually villainous role) and Sean Penn. Critical reaction was mixed but the film was a hit making over $20 million.