While this movie isn't a classic by any stretch, it is very entertaining as I remember it. I saw it about 15 years ago on HBO and loved the movie. It was written by the same guy that wrote and directed "Arthur" and though it isn't as funny as that movie, it does show the potential that Steve Gordon reached with "Arthur".
The One and Only
1978
Action / Comedy / Romance
The One and Only
1978
Action / Comedy / Romance
Plot summary
1951: Andy Schmidt is in his last year of college. Taking life easy and always a saucy joke on his lips, he manages to win fellow student Mary's heart, although she's already otherwise engaged. But getting a job after college turns out much harder than expected; most directors take offense at his free interpretation of his roles. Desperate, he tries in wrestling. To avoid getting beaten up he stages the fights - and incidentally invents show-wrestling.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
June 28, 2018 at 04:14 AM
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Not as bad as it's rating suggests
Caustic comedy with leering, mean-spirited asides...
Two years before he wrote and directed "Arthur", Steve Gordon had a minor hit with his screenplay for this crackpot comedic vehicle for Henry Winkler, then-star of TV's "Happy Days" as the Fonz. A 1950s college thespian (and all-around jerk) woos a co-ed and gets married without any employment prospects on the horizon; to make ends meet, he turns to the flamboyant world of wrestling, eventually becoming a "Gorgeous George"-like celebrity. Turning likable Winkler into an obnoxious goof-off probably sounded like an interesting idea at the time (and a sure way to separate him from his television alter-ego), but the jokes and situations are often wrong-headed and mean, staged rather sloppily by director Carl Reiner. Particularly crude is a wincing bit involving Hervé Villechaize (of "Fantasy Island") putting the moves on Polly Holliday (Flo from "Alice"). As Henry's beloved, Kim Darby looks a little out of her element--particularly when surrounded by all these TV hams--rendering the romance aspect of the script inconsequential. *1/2 from ****
Disappointing!
Despite the wacky promise of its earlier scenes (Winkler disrupting the amateur play) and Saks' breezily crude performance, plus the presence of the dwarf from James Bond, the script soon reverts to the usual domestic misunderstandings, underscored by Carl Reiner's stiflingly uninventive close-up after close-up direction.
Even the climax is disappointing, forcing Winkler to eke out a weak script by gross overacting. And why is the movie set in 1951? To show off the producer's old TV set? There's certainly no other sense of period involved. True, the movie does garner a few laughs here and there, but it would undoubtedly be twice as funny with careful trimming.