By Alex P. Vidal
“Some memories are unforgettable, remaining ever vivid and heartwarming!”— Joseph B. Wirthlin
WHILE in a hurry racing against the wrath of the deadly arctic blast that barreled through the Northeast (thank God the dangerously cold temperature lasted early morning on February 5), I made a “shortcut” walk from the East 67th Street and Park Avenue to the East 51st Street in Manhattan early morning on February 3.
Reaching on corner East 51st Street and 325 Park Avenue, I saw a very familiar structure: St. Bartholomew’s Church, commonly called St. Bart’s.
I paused for a while and took some pictures using my mobile phone. Then I raided my memory.
“Why is this church looks so familiar to me?” I muttered under my breath as I dropped my backpack to rest for a while amid the chill.
“Eureka, this is the church where the aborted wedding of Dudley Moore and Jill Eikenberry in the 1981 romantic comedy film, Arthur, took place,” I quickly recalled.
I watched the film sometime in September 1981 at Iloilo City’s Cinema Theater (now converted into a shopping store when I last saw it 12 years ago).
I so love the film that until now it enthralls me when I remember it especially when I hear the nerve-tingling song, “Arthur’s Theme (The Best That You Can Do)”, which won the Oscar for Best Original Song in 1981.
The most beautiful things are not associated with money; they are memories and moments. If you don’t celebrate those, they can pass you by, Alek Wek once said.
-o0o-
Here’s part of the song: Once in your life, you find her
Someone that turns your heart around
The next thing you know, you’re closing down the town
Wake up and it’s still with you
Even though you left her way across town
Wondering to yourself, “Hey, what’ve I found?”
When you get caught between the Moon and New York City
I know it’s crazy, but it’s true
If you get caught between the Moon and New York City
The best that you can do
The best that you can do is fall in love
Arthur he does as he pleases
All of his life, he’s masked his choice and
Deep in his heart, he’s just, he’s just a boy
Living his life one day at a time
And showing himself a really good time
Laughing about the way they want him to be
When you get caught between the Moon and New York City
I know it’s crazy, but it’s true
If you get caught between the Moon and New York City
The best that you can do (the best that you can do)
The best that you can do is fall in love
-o0o-
It was performed and co-written by American singer-songwriter Christopher Cross, which was the main movie’s theme starring Moore as Arthur Bach and Liza Minnelli as Linda Marolla.
Nothing has changed in the church façade and color since the 1981 filming until today. The St. Bartholomew’s Church and Community House complex was designated a National Historic Landmark, for its significance as an important example of early 20th-century ecclesiastical architecture designed by Bertram Goodhue on October 31, 2016.
In the film, Moore as Arthur Bach, a drunken New York City millionaire was on the brink of an arranged marriage to a wealthy heiress Eikenberry as Susan Johnson but ends up falling for a common working-class girl from Queens, Minnelli as Linda Marolla.
Arthur, Toosie, a 1982 satirical romantic comedy starring Dustin Hoffman as Michael Dorsey; Jaws, a 1975 American thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg; Grease, a 1978 American musical romantic comedy film based on the 1971 musical of the same name starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, Rocky (1976), Rocky II (1979), Rocky III (1982) starring Silvester Stallone; Orca (also known as Orca: The Killer Whale), a 1977 American thriller film; The Deer Hunter, a 1978 war drama film starring Robert De Niro were some of the many famous Hollywood films I watched in the Cinema Theater for free in the late 70s and early 80s because my classmate in the Iloilo Central Commercial High School (now Huasiong College of Iloilo) was the “relative” of the Chusuey family that owns almost all the theaters in downtown Iloilo City.
(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)
