O Maior Amante do Mundo

Gene Wilder and Carol Kane make a wonderful couple in this very funny movie about a guy's romantic hubris and his journey to prove himself in silent movie Hollywood. It's silly and romantic and lots of run - wonderful music by John Morris (I'm lucky - I have the record!)... If you can find it, you should see it. I wish it would come out on DVD!

Interesting that 20th Century Fox gave Gene Wilder a second chance to develop his talents as a writer-director-star (and producer AND songwriter this time) after "The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother" left most critics indifferent. "Brother" wasn't terrible, and it reportedly grossed twenty million dollars, but as comic movie-making it was a botch (it had too much manic energy for one picture). Here, Wilder plays a Milwaukee schnook who travels to Los Angeles in the 1920's with his new bride to audition for Rainbow Pictures' answer to Rudolph Valentino. Wilder doesn't float gags around, he hammers away at them without much subtlety or finesse; he loves a good burlesque gag and he's fond of old-fashioned slapstick, but he needs more soft edges (the best scenes are the ones featuring Carol Kane, who is handled gingerly playing the wife). Lots of running jokes (bad ones, like Gene's character being named Rudy Valentine, that simply don't pay off), and too much of Dom DeLuise, bring the picture down. There are some laughs: Gene making eyes at a plain Jane on the train, an overflowing bathtub in a posh hotel. Wilder certainly has lots of ideas, but the results are more miss than hit. ** from ****

Back in April of this year I heard that The Worlds Greatest Lover was going to be on AMC and I was like yes I'm finally going to get to see this movie, I'm a big Gene Wilder fan so.....yeah, anyway the only problem was that it was going to come on at 3 in the morning on a Monday which was a school night for me so I asked my mom to record it for me, so when I came home from school I saw it and thought it was awesome, two or three months later I ordered the DVD off of Barnes and Nobles and I now have it on DVD what I had heard from this movie was that Gene not only stars in this movie but writes, directs, produces, and surprisingly wrote a song for the film as well, I think Gene's take on Rudolph Valentino was pretty cool and I think he came up with some clever ideas like "histerical laryngitis" and sticking your tongue out or twisting your words around whenever his character is nervous. I also thought Carol Kane was wonderful as Rudy's wife Annie and Dom Deluise was as funny as usual as movie mogul Adolph Zitz, one thing you probably found annoying was Gene Wilder's constant screaming and going into hysterics all the time but he does it brilliantly, plus the character of Rudy was very high-strung kinda like Leo Bloom right? so if you like slapstick comedy or if your a fan of Gene Wilder, I highly recommend this and I'd say its another one of Gene Wilder's forgotten films and its a great one to look out for, I'd give it a 7.5 out of 10.

I strongly disagree with ptb-8. I love this movie. It's a favorite of mine and it makes me laugh out loud every time I see it. Personally, I think Gene Wilder is a genius. He successfully employs many forms of comedy, including vaudeville which is a rarity in modern film-making and so much fun to watch. Sure it's silly, but it's also a very sweet love story which I find surprisingly moving considering it IS set against a silly comedy. The story is always engaging. The cast is all top-notch: Carol Kane, Dom DeLuise, Carl Ballantine, Ronny Graham, Candy Azzara and of course Mr. Wilder himself, being among my favorites. If you're lucky enough to see this gem, I think you will agree with me. I hope it will be released on DVD soon so that more people can see it.

Gene Wilder was a great comedic actor but unfortunately he was not a very good director. The film is chock full of funny people, with the exception of the always obnoxious Dom Deluise, and by the end you wonder why you didn't laugh more. Gene Wilder did not a very subtle touch when it came to film comedy and tended to beat the audience over the head rather than allowing the comedy to come naturally. The sole reason for watching the film is Carole Kane. Her performance is absolutely enchanting,especially once she goes off on her own adventure.

The film is a virtual remake of the Federico Fellini film The White Shiek but adds the "world's greatest lover" contest, but it does have the female character go off in search of the silent movie star who is inspired by Rudolph Valentino, who is actually a character in this remake.

The story follows Wilder as he loses job after job for a nervous tic that involves him sticking out his tongue whenever he is stressed. He and Carole Kane head out to Hollywood to enter this contest designed by a studio to boost its sagging ticket sales. Everything involving the Wilder character falls flat and never gets much more than chuckle. I cannot contain my gushing praise over Carole Kane. She plays her role in direct opposition to the manic style of her co-star. She is genuinely sweet and she has a face that feels straight out of that period of the 1920's. I probably found the film funny when I saw it in '77 but upon watching it in recent years it just does not work. It is not on account of the year of its release as proven by Young Frankenstein released in '74 and still funny. When a film tries too hard to be funny it oftentimes comes across as desperate and fails at its objective. It's worth watching but don't go in thinking it's going to be another Young Frankenstein or Blazing Saddles.