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twittercomfrnklin2001-blog · 2 years

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Jacqueline Susann's Once Is Not Enough

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS: When I was in graduate school, I saw the end of Guy Green’s JACQUELINE SUSANN’S ONCE IS NOT ENOUGH (1975, Criterion) — a title that would make even Andrew Sarris hate the auteur theory — stayed for the second feature and walked out shortly after ONCE IS NOT ENOUGH resumed, thereby proving that, at least for me, once was more than enough. I do not regret walking out on it then, nor do I regret watching it all the way through now. It’s an interesting study: the Hollywood version of ‘70s culture. Considering how far behind the times Hollywood is, it’s really more their version of ‘60s culture. Virginal January (Deborah Raffin) returns to the states after three years of surgery and rehabilitation following the screen’s funniest motorcycle accident. To her chagrin, she discovers her father (Kirk Douglas), a once-great film producer, has married a wealthy woman (Alexis Smith) to get out of hock (and possibly pay the hefty bills from that Swiss clinic she was in). While working through her daddy issues, she loses her virginity to her stepmother’s cousin (George Hamilton), goes to work for an oversexed old friend (Brenda Vaccaro) and falls for an impotent, alcoholic novelist (David Janssen). None of these people are human beings. The script, by Julius J. Epstein, makes of them a series of figures out a morality play on the dangers of the Electra complex. The cast does their best to bring life to the proceedings. Raffin is charming, Smith surprisingly nuanced (she clearly learned to act in the years since she wafted through all those Warner Bros. movies), Vaccaro hilarious, and Melina Mercouri, as a reclusive lesbian actress, underused. Janssen looks quite believably trapped by Raffin’s love for him, though at times you can’t help wondering if he didn’t just feel trapped in that wretched script. His scenes seem to go on forever, and it’s hard to blame him. His scenes seem to drag on forever, no matter how hard he tries. It all needs to be ratcheted up a bit, maybe by having Patty Duke run through every now and then screaming “Neely O’Hara! Neely O’Hara!” Much has been made of the role daddy love plays in Susann’s work, but from a modern vantage, this film really could be seen as her version of A DOLL’S HOUSE. Raffin starts out as her father’s doll. She’s even paralyzed when first we see her. When she comes home, Douglas and Smith try to run her life. Then she hooks up with Janssen, who expects her to drop everything to go to Hollywood with him, tells her he’ll leave her if she speaks to her father and finally dumps her because he just can’t do commitment. Then The Mancini Singers break forth with the title tune to make us think maybe that isn’t such a bad thing. As if we needed to be told.

#bad movies #kirk douglas #david jannsen #brenda vacarro #alexis smith #melina mercouri #jacqueline susann

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gangstertogangster · 3 years

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Finally saw ‘What’s a Nice Girl Like You...?’

It was so bad

Also it was blurry and on YouTube so

Idk if I love or hate Brenda Vacarro’s voice

Vincent Price and Roddy McDowall arguing back and forth was the highlight

They should have been paired up more often in movies

Also Roddy’s Columbo perm

Also this plot seems to have influenced Dead of Winter or something