SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Phillida Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

axeldahl Caught this on the french cable a few weeks ago and instantly felt "at home" with this films' characters and story. As I gradually found out, there's a reason for this : The One and Only is a straight retake of Fred Coe's A Thousand Clowns (1964), one of my favorite films ! Two of the original actors were even imported : Gene Saks and William Daniels, the latter having been in the original cast of the Herb Gardner play (if I correctly).The global plot and situations are altered but the result is the same : how to (try to) keep youth spirit in a grim and conventional world... and make it alive ! Not as memorable as the original film (or the play) but just as lovely.

batman_09470 ...I saw this on cable back in the late 1980's as I was a big wrestling fan since 1986. I saw this on VHS in a 'for sale' bin and bought it.In 1998, I started training as a wrestler after the Air Force and would always go back to watching this to see how it was a very accurate portrayal of people that are involved with wrestling ( families and friends that wouldn't understand us, the travel, the heartbreak, etc. ). Henry Winkler is funny and sometimes sad to watch as nobody else can understand what a genius he is creatively. A great way to separate himself The Fonz character he played on Happy Days at the time. Plus, look at the cast...William Daniels ( Knight Rider ), Polly Holiday ( Alice ), and wrestlers Roddy Piper and Chavo Guerrero Sr. If you get a chance, watch it.

lopingbuzzard When this film hit the theaters in 1978, I saw it three times. But when I watched it again recently on video (a video that I BOUGHT), I couldn't believe that I at one time LIKED this movie. Winkler plays a totally unlikable character who never gets any better. Darby plays a dopey girl who, for reasons not addressed in this movie, falls for the obnoxious egocentric jerk. I chuckled maybe twice during the whole movie. The rest of the time I was wondering how anyone could fall in love with someone who cares about no one on earth except themselves and how Carl Reiner got mixed up in this mess. I was embarrassed to it to my wife that in the late 70's I actually paid to sit through this tripe... three times! Foolish youth.

mercuryix Possible Spoilers:I saw One and Only when it first came out; I am a fan of Henry Winkler but this film almost turned me into an ex-fan; Winkler plays an obnoxious, self-absorbed acting student about to graduate with no job prospects. He does things like ruin his college play so his minor character can get a standing ovation, and try to rewrite scripts at auditions. Winkler tries to play the character as "brash", but it comes across as overbearing and obnoxious in the extreme. This movie came early in his career, and I don't think he would make the same acting choices now. He can't seem to get a job acting, and falls into professional wrestling as a way to fame. This is not developed to be as much fun as it sounds. His personality seems to fit the field, but success does not mellow out his character; towards the end he makes a charming statement to his fiance (who he stole with his winning personality from a pipe-smoking "nice guy" - big surprise): "If you don't stop thinking like that you're going to wind up an old single woman with a picture of JESUS on the wall!" said in absolute disgust. Even to an athiest this was an offensive moment in the film; it made one want to pour a bucket of water over this girl's head for being with this ass; and this is supposed to be a love story, with Winkler at the "hero". Creeps like this don't change; and girls keeping falling for them; though that's not the point of the film. If you can find the point, good luck. But there are 99.9% better films at Blockbuster, and all of Winkler's other films are better. Avoid - unless you like watching Herve Vellachez humping furniture. (Don't ask.)Three out of ten stars.