Une fois ne suffit pas

While nubile daughter Deborah Raffin (as January) recuperates from a motorcycle accident, "Academy Award"-winning movie producer Kirk Douglas (as Mike Wayne) marries super-wealthy Alexis Smith (as Deidre Milford Granger). This is because Mr. Douglas has fallen on hard times and wants to continue living a champagne caviar lifestyle, and Ms. Smith wants a backgammon partner. Smith is having an affair with reclusive movie queen Melina Mercouri (as Karla). Recovering beautifully, Ms. Raffin loses her virginity to stud cousin George Hamilton (as David Milford), who is also seeing Ms. Mercouri...

Raffin eventually falls in love with alcoholic writer David Janssen (as Tom Colt), after he fails to copulate with her best friend, promiscuous "Gloss" magazine editor Brenda Vaccaro (as Linda Riggs). Mr. Janssen thinks Douglas' film version of his "Pulitzer Prize"-winning novel was awful. Douglas disapproves, naturally, of his daughter's affair with Janssen...

The main theme of "Once Is Not Enough" appears to be the borderline incestuous love between Raffin and Douglas. Also, most of the couples have at least one bisexual partner; although there is no overt indication Janssen has any sexual interest in handsome astronaut Gary Conway (as Hugh Robertson), it's difficult to ascertain another reason for his inclusion in the storyline. Apparently, much was cut from Jacqueline Susann's best-selling novel. She and Irving Mansfield began by assembling good production values, but lost control as the story was turned into something hesitating and vacuous.

Some trashy fun remains.

***** Once Is Not Enough (6/18/75) Guy Green ~ Deborah Raffin, Kirk Douglas, David Janssen, Brenda Vaccaro

Ick. I missed this movie when it came out because my summer of 1975 was filled with the excitement of the Boston Red Sox and I paid attention to little else. Now that I've seen it, all I can say is, "Ick." January's unnatural adoration of her father left me feeling queasy. Well, it's probably not unnatural for a young girl to idolize her father. But it seems that her father encouraged it past the little girl stage right into adulthood. She keeps a picture of her father by her bedside and another on her desk. At one point, Tom says to her, "I think you're beautiful." Her answer is, "Thank you. I think you are too. Almost as beautiful as my father."

Mike Wayne (actor Kirk Douglas) is an overindulgent father. His character could have been complicated and interesting. Not here. Kirk Douglas's performance on screen is cringe-worthy. Deborah Raffin as his daughter January was boring. I don't know what's worse, icky or blah.

This was a bad movie until about an hour in when the character Tom Colt shows up. David Janssen is so good as Tom Colt that it's like he's acting in a different movie. He elevates this awful movie. I also enjoyed Brenda Vaccaro as Linda Riggs, January's best friend. She must have had a ball with that character – she plays it so enthusiastically and with such confidence. In comparison, Deborah Raffin as January Wayne was practically lifeless. It's just a bland, unintelligent performance, and she's the center of the movie, so she needed to be more interesting. She also had some awful lines and Raffin wasn't talented enough to make more of those lines. And she showed no emotion in her reactions to events. I neither liked nor disliked her. I felt nothing for her. So I couldn't feel sorry for her at the end.

Tom Colt turns out to be the most interesting character. He's earthy and macho. David Janssen gives this movie depth and the beautiful and funny Brenda Vaccaro gives it lightness. Both characters know who they are and are honest. And I cared about them. Everyone else either sleepwalks through this slow-moving movie or weighs it down with melodrama.

It's sad that 30 years after Casablanca (1942), the screenwriter of that classic film was asked to work on this. I don't think he was the right man for the job.

Jacqueline Susann's glamorous, emotional, highly personal novels always lost something in their translation to the screen. Once Is Not Enough is another prime example. But it doesn't have the unintended hilarity of Valley of the Dolls, nor the compelling sleaziness of The Love Machine. The most outrageous and memorable elements of the book are excised completely, and the result is two hours of sudsy romantic nothingness. Without the pills, vitamin shots, wild sex (including an acid-fueled orgy), and disturbing violence that infused the compelling novel, the story is as flat as week-old ginger ale.

It's a slick production with an all-star cast, including the engaging Deborah Raffin as January, but the material is awful. The filmmakers' were obviously trying for a "respectable" approach, and the results are just plain boring. Case in point: Jackie provided the book with a surreal, escapist conclusion that's wholly amazing, whereas the movie just...ends. The book was about a naive girl trying to deal with life, and the movie is about--say it with me now!--LOOOOOOOVE! And it's like every other mediocre movie on the subject.

However, things are brightened by Brenda Vaccaro in her Golden Globe-winning, Oscar-nominated turn as uninhibited magazine editor Linda Riggs. She's the perfect realization of Susann's character (albeit with toned-down material) and provides a lot more spirit than this tepid production deserves. Her performance alone merits a viewing, but everything else is a daytime-TV-style mess. About as shocking as a trip to the supermarket--perhaps even less so.

I haven't seen this in a while, and miss this rarely seen pic, which deserves a cult following. Deborah Raffin is outstanding as a gorgeous young girl with strange feelings for her Dad. She gets involved with an unhappy alcoholic writer, played by David Janssen. Brenda Vaccaro is outstanding as her beautiful but embittered friend who is desperate for a man. And Melinda Mercouri is memorable as a lovely lesbian. They knew they were making a piece of trash here, and it is well worth your time. Good job. I esp. like those corny singers at the end of the film which seem to have stepped out of a 1960s movie!Deborah is good and she is fortunate to have such a great ensemble cast to support her. Enjoy!

"Once Is Not Enough" is a movie that starts off innocently enough but after a while, it's obviously a story adapted from a Jacqueline Suzann novel. I say this because in the 1960s and 70s, Suzann's stories resulted in several VERY salacious movies, including "The Valley of the Dolls", "The Love Machine" and this film. These movies deliberately pushed the envelope of good taste and the ratings board by including all sorts of adult themes. For example, in "Once Is Not Enough", the author tackles bisexuality, an Electra Complex (where a woman is essentially in love with her father or an older man as a 'daddy substitute'), alcoholism and more.

When the story begins, a famous but down and out movie producer (Kirk Douglas) learns that his daughter (Deborah Raffin) was badly injured in an accident. Apparently, she was in a Swiss clinic for years recovering and when she is released, she moves in with her father in a fancy New York apartment. She soon learns, however, that her father essentially sold himself to get her this apartment, as he's practically broke and married a rich woman (Alexis Smith) to give his daughter a fancy life. But over time, the daughter finds that living in this apartment isn't for her and she sets out to find herself in a new job, new apartment and, of course, sex.

The film certainly is very blunt when it comes to sex, so some viewers might be turned off by this. Of course, some also might find the plot terrific! I just mention this because this certainly isn't a movie for the prudish or conservative viewer. It also, at times, comes off as crass....and this, of course, depends on the viewer.

So is it any good? Some of the dialog is a bit cheesy...and some is simply fabulous. The acting is generally very good and the film looks lovely. As for the plot, subtle is ain't! I found the film entertaining but also pretty shallow and glossy. It's tough to love a film when you dislike pretty much everyone in the story! Worth seeing if you like that sort of thing...and far, far better than "The Valley of the Dolls", which was a bit of a bomb.

By the way, it is strange that Deborah Raffin receives 8th billing, as she is clearly the star of the movie and the plot centers around her. Of course, at the time, she was a 'nobody' and a lot of 'somebodies' were billed above her...even if they were barely in the movie.