Jacqueline Susann's Once Is Not Enough (1975)

Director:

Guy Green

Writers:

Julius J. Epstein (writer)
Jacqueline Susann (novel)

Release Date:

20 June 1975 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

The Husband for sale - bought for $3 million. The Daughter - a virgin eager to make up for lost time. The Novelist who couldn't live the fantasies he wrote about.

Plot:

An over-the-hill movie producer (Kirk Douglas) marries a wealthy, spiteful woman and closeted lesbian...

Plot Keywords:

Bisexual | Book | Male Female Relationship | Older Man Younger Woman | Affection

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win

Cast

Kirk Douglas	...	Mike Wayne
Alexis Smith	...	Deidre Milford Granger
David Janssen	...	Tom Colt
George Hamilton	...	David Milford
Melina Mercouri	...	Karla
Gary Conway	...	Hugh Robertson
Brenda Vaccaro	...	Linda Riggs
Deborah Raffin	...	January
Lillian Randolph	...	Mabel
Renata Vanni	...	Maria
Mark Roberts	...	Rheingold
John Roper	...	Franco
Leonard Sachs	...	Dr. Peterson
Jim Boles	...	Scotty
Ann Marie Moelders	...	Girl at El Morocco

Also Known As:

Once Is Not Enough

Runtime:

121 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:R (Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Finland:K-16 | Netherlands:18 | USA:R | West Germany:16

Company:

Aries Productions

Trivia:

The title of the Jacqueline Susann novel and film "Once Is Not Enough" derives from a conversation Susann had with her old friend, comedian Joe E. Lewis, on his deathbed. Trying to perk up his spirits, she supposedly said, "Come on, Joe. Didn't you always say 'you only go around once, but if you play your cards right, once is enough'? Lewis responded, "I was wrong, Jackie. Once is not enough."

Quotes:

Linda Riggs: I don't intend to die. There's no future in it.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Isn't She Great (2000)

Camp trash mini-classic!

If you happen to catch this movie, it could easily be mistaken for the pilot episode of an 80's prime-time soap. How the producers thought that anyone would seriously pay good money to watch this midday made-for-TV movie at the theater is incredibly hilarious.

Kirk Douglas surprisingly headlines this incestuous melodrama where his daughter January (Deborah Raffin) harbors some sort of daddy-complex since the day she was born. I would have loved to have sat through a theater screening of this and observed the faces of the audience around me. I don't know if I would have seen smirks or looks of discomfort, like someone shouldn't have eaten those bad tacos for lunch.

The movie is very outdated. It's lifted right from a Jacqueline Susann novel (or basically take your pick from any Harlequin read) and plays out just like it on the small screen. Most of the close-ups are shot through a filter, the soundtrack is hijacked by Henry Mancini's orchestrated strings, and all the actresses parade themselves with such high camp you'll find it hard not to fall in love with this atrocity.

Most hilarious is January's attraction to David Janssen's character. Talk about taking the daddy-complex to the next level! Brenda Vaccaro who received an Oscar nomination(!!!) for her portrayal of a man-hungry sex-starved magazine editor is absolutely stunning. She delivered plain awful dialog with perfect snap, "He laid me, and then he fired me!" and also managing to keep a straight face at the same time, she definitely deserved the nomination.

The best line comes out of the mouth of Douglas' long-suffering housekeeper, Mabel (Lillian Randolph), "For twelve years, it's just been a parade of poon-tang!", as she boards the bus to Santa Monica.

Throw in a closeted lesbian millionaire engaging in a secret relationship with a reclusive Hispanic actress (where else could you view an interracial middle-aged lesbian sex scene!!), gratuitous shots of Gary Conway (portraying an astronaut LOL!) running in short shorts on a beach and Deborah Raffin staring blankly into the camera as if she were doped on percosets, and you have the ultimate camp classic of 1975.

There was a scene with Raffin's character walking blankly across the road (nearly getting run over by a taxi) after she is devastated by Janssen's character, and yet I still could not determine any difference in her acting from that scene to the entire film.

Vaccaro is definitely the one thing that holds this movie together, although her character isn't necessary to the story. She seemed to express more personality than all of the other characters combined that it was a joy to watch her self-diagnosing, "Sleeping with men makes me feel better!" It made me feel better too.