1981 in film
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Contents |
[edit] Events
- January 19 - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer acquires beleaguered concurrent United Artists. UA was humiliated by the astronomical losses on the $40,000,000 movie Heaven's Gate, a major factor in the decision of owner Transamerica to sell it.
- November 29 - Off Santa Catalina Island, 43-year old actress Natalie Wood drowns during a boating accident.
- Tom Cruise makes his acting debut.
[edit] Top grossing films
- North America
- Raiders of the Lost Ark, starring Harrison Ford
- Superman II, starring Gene Hackman and Christopher Reeve
- Stir Crazy, starring Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder
- Nine to Five, starring Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton
- Stripes, starring Bill Murray and Warren Oates
- Any Which Way You Can , starring Clint Eastwood
- Arthur, starring Dudley Moore
- The Cannonball Run, starring Burt Reynolds and Roger Moore
- The Four Seasons, starring Alan Alda
- For Your Eyes Only, starring Roger Moore
[edit] Awards
- Best Picture: Chariots of Fire - Enigma, The Ladd Company/Warner Bros.
- Best Director: Warren Beatty - Reds
- Best Actor: Henry Fonda - On Golden Pond
- Best Actress: Katharine Hepburn - On Golden Pond
- Best Supporting Actor: John Gielgud - Arthur
- Best Supporting Actress: Maureen Stapleton - Reds
- Best Foreign Language Film: Mephisto, directed by Istvan Szabo, Hungary
- Drama:
- Best Picture: On Golden Pond
- Best Actor: Henry Fonda - On Golden Pond
- Best Actress: Meryl Streep - The French Lieutenant's Woman
- Musical or comedy:
- Best Picture: Arthur
- Best Actor: Dudley Moore - Arthur
- Best Actress: Bernadette Peters - Pennies from Heaven
- Other
- Best Director: Warren Beatty - Reds
- Best Foreign Film: Chariots of Fire, United Kingdom
Palme d'Or (Cannes Film Festival):
- Man of Iron (Człowiek z żelaza), directed by Andrzej Wajda, Poland
Golden Lion (Venice Film Festival):
- Marianne and Juliane (Die Bleierne Zeit), directed by Margarethe von Trotta, W. Germany
Golden Bear (Berlin Film Festival):
- Faster, Faster (Deprisa, deprisa / Vivre vite), directed by Carlos Saura, Spain / France
[edit] Films released in 1981
- Absence of Malice
- An American Werewolf in London
- Arthur
- Blow Out
- The Boat Is Full
- Bustin' Loose
- The Cannonball Run
- Clash of the Titans, starring Laurence Olivier and Maggie Smith
- Come on, Granpa's!
- Chariots of Fire
- Das Boot (1982 US release)
- Deadly Blessing starring Sharon Stone
- Deprisa, Deprisa!, Golden Bear winner
- Escape from New York, starring Kurt Russell
- Excalibur
- For Your Eyes Only
- Fort Apache the Bronx
- The Four Seasons
- The Fox and the Hound
- The French Lieutenant's Woman
- Friday the 13th Part 2
- Full Moon High
- The German Sisters, Golden Lion winner
- The Great Muppet Caper
- Halloween II, starring Jamie Lee Curtis
- The Hand, starring Michael Caine, directed by Oliver Stone
- Hardly Working, starring Jerry Lewis
- History of the World: Part 1
- The Howling
- The Land of Hunger
- [[The Legend of the Lone Ranger {1981 film)|The Legend of the Lone Ranger]]
- Lola, a German film
- Looker
- Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (a)
- Man of Iron, Palme d'Or winner
- Mephisto
- Mommie Dearest, starring Faye Dunaway, Diana Scarwid
- My Dinner with Andre
- Omen III: The Final Conflict, starring Sam Neill, Rossano Brazzi
- On Golden Pond, starring Katharine Hepburn, Henry Fonda, and Jane Fonda
- Only When I Laugh
- Outland
- Pennies From Heaven, starring Steve Martin, based on the 1978 BBC Television serial by Dennis Potter.
- Pixote
- Quest for Fire also called La Guerre du feu
- Ragtime
- Raiders of the Lost Ark
- Reds
- Rich And Famous
- Sogni d'oro
- Stripes
- Sweet & Sour Cops
- The Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie
- The Tale of Today, Tomorrow, and the Day After
- Taps starring George C. Scott and Timothy Hutton
- Tarzan, the Ape Man
- They Don't Wear Black Tie
- Time Bandits
- Wolfen
- Women We Salute You!
- Zoot Suit, starring Edward James Olmos
[edit] Births
- January 28 – Elijah Wood, actor
- April 19 - Hayden Christensen , actor
- June 9 - Natalie Portman (Natalie Herschlag), actress
- September 12 - Jennifer Hudson, singer and actress
[edit] Deaths
- January 1 - Beulah Bondi, actress
- January 10 - Richard Boone, actor
- January 16 - Bernard Lee, actor
- February 1 - Wanda Hendrix, actress
- July 27 - William Wyler, director
- August 4 - Melvyn Douglas, actor
- August 18 - Anita Loos, writer
- September 27 - Robert Montgomery, actor
- October 24 - Edith Head, costume designer
- November 12 - William Holden, actor
- November 27 - Lotte Lenya, actress
- November 29 - Natalie Wood, actress
- December 28 - Allan Dwan, pioneer film director
