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The History of American Cinema: 1981

23/1 -

Francis Ford Coppola presents the screening of the full version of Abel Gance's Napoléon at the Radio City Music Hall in New York.   Coppola’s father, Carmine, composed the music. [ADD]

7/3 -

New York Times Film critic Bosley Crowther dies of heart failure at the age of 75 in Mount Kisco, New York. [ADD]

10/3 -

Francis Ford Coppola encounters problems with his latest project, the studio-bound musical One From the Heart due to escalating costs. [ADD]

10/3 -

The Disney Corp announce the creation of the pay-cable TV channel, Disney Channel. [ADD]

20/3 -

Bob Rafelson’s steamy remake of The Postman Always Rings Twice is released.   Jack Nicholson and Jessica Lange star as the scheming lovers who plot to murder her slob of a husband but who fall out when things start to go wrong. [ADD]

30/3 -

John Hinckley attempts to assassinate President Ronald Reagan in a twisted display of his love for actress Jodie Foster. [ADD]

31/3 -

Robert Redford’s Ordinary People wins the Best Picture Award at the 53rd Annual Academy Awards. [MORE]

29/5 -

John Waters' film Polyester is released.   Audiences receive a scratch ‘n’ sniff card with numbered patches, each of which is to be sniffed when its corresponding number appears in the corner of the screen. [ADD]

12/6 -

In the wake of the box-office failure of Michael Cimino's $40 million Heaven’s Gate, Transamerica sell United Artists and its catalogue of old films to MGM for $370 million. [ADD]

12/6 -

Steven Spielberg’s $22 million Raiders of the Lost Ark, co-produced with George Lucas, is released.   Harrison Ford, in a role originally earmarked for Tom Selleck, plays intrepid archaeologist Indiana Jones in an adventure reminiscent of the Saturday-morning serials enjoyed by Spielberg and Lucas in their childhood. [ADD]

12/6 -

Marvin Davis and family acquire 20^th Century-Fox. [ADD]

1/7 -

Penelope Spheeris’s feature length documentary, The Decline of Western Civilization, featuring West Coast punk bands the Alice Big Band, Black Flag, the Circle Jerks and Catholic Discipline, is released. [ADD]

17/7 -

Steve Gordon’s screwball comedy, Arthur is released.   Dudley Moore plays the eponymous drunken playboy millionaire who falls for Liza Minnelli whom he spies shoplifting in a store, but who is betrothed to a upper class beauty.   John Gielgud steals the picture as Arthur’s upper-class but profane valet. [ADD]

The History of Cinema: 1981