Once Is Not Enough

R

Released Jun 20, 1975

2h 1m

Drama

LGBTQ+

List

Reviews

11%

100+ Ratings

Audience Score

Has-been producer Mike Wayne (Kirk Douglas) marries rich closeted lesbian Deirdre Granger (Alexis Smith) in an attempt to regain his financial footing. When his daughter, January (Deborah Raffin), returns home after recuperating from a motorcycle accident, she resents the new woman in her father's life, doubting that there is any real love in the marriage. She then takes up with Tom Colt (David Janssen), a famous but alcoholic writer who is close in age to her father.

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Audience Member

A young woman , January returns to her father, a film producer who recently (re)married to a rich mature woman. She unwillingly sleeps with the stock broker cousin of her step mother, she falls in love with a prize winning alcoholic novelist of her father's age. The movie depicts the class fellow of January, Linda Riggs who gets pretty after cosmetic surgery, she serves to impart the required sense of humour, she admits :-"I screwed every man in this organization" When the novelist friend meets January's father, Linda immediately plans to seduce the famous man, January asks her with black humour:-"Is there any man U don't want to get bed with?" As the story unfolds, January loses her father, becomes a millionaire, loses her lover too. The movie shall be liked by every one who has read romantic novels during teen years.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

Full Review

steve d

The film lied. Once was more than enough.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

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Audience Member

It fixes the book's assumed-into-heaven/abducted-by-aliens/general WTF ending, but leaves out a lot of the same's salacious goodness. Subplots are introduced and then just left dangling in the wind. It's not camp like the Valley of the Dolls or The Love Machine adaptations and so it's just middling.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Though this mid-seventies attempt at shock cinema fails to shock or even be slightly erotic, there is fun to be found in Guy Green's faux-lurid take on Jacqueline Susann's veiled characterization of real people in the entertainment and fashion world of the early 1970's finds itself stuck somewhere between dull and unintended camp. Not fun enough to compare to the late 1960's classic adaptation of VALLEY OF THE DOLLS or 1980's MOMMIE DEAREST -- but it does have a few fun moments and the overall trashy disco look of the sets and clothing offer some "so bad it is almost good" elements for viewers. Brenda Vaccaro managed to secure and OSCAR nomination for her over-the-top take on a younger impersonation of Helen Gurley Brown. If only the camp factors were a bit higher in this fairly middle of the road cinematic spin...

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/22/23

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Audience Member

The Title is a Lie....Seeing it Once Really Is Enough!!

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

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Audience Member

Considering it's two hours of almost complete garbage, once is definitely *more* than enough. Only the performances of Deborah Raffin, Kirk Douglas, David Janssen, and Brenda Vaccaro keep it from being a total disaster. Not even they can make it worth sitting through, though. Skip it.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

01/19/23

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Guy Green

Director

Kirk Douglas

Mike Wayne

Alexis Smith

Deidre Milford Granger

Deborah Raffin

January

David Janssen

Tom Colt

George Hamilton

David Milford

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Once Is Not Enough: Official Clip - It's Over

2:13

Once Is Not Enough: Official Clip - Lovestruck

1:52

Once Is Not Enough: Official Clip - I'd Kill for Ya

1:55

Once Is Not Enough: Official Clip - Daddy Issues

2:07

Once Is Not Enough: Official Clip - Catching Up

1:47

Once Is Not Enough: Official Clip - Why Him?

1:44

Once Is Not Enough: Official Clip - Busted

2:01

Once Is Not Enough: Official Clip - Frankly, I'd Love to Sleep with You

1:24

Once Is Not Enough: Official Clip - Go Faster

1:10

Once Is Not Enough: Official Clip - Washed Up

1:23

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Ruth Batchelor

Los Angeles Free Press

A fitting epitaph to the saga of Jacqueline Susann. Movie buffs will love it, and Susann fans will finally get their money's worth.

Nov 27, 2019

Full Review

Phil Hall

Film Snobbery

Once is more than enough!

Rated: 1.5/5

Feb 11, 2011

Full Review

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Synopsis

Has-been producer Mike Wayne (Kirk Douglas) marries rich closeted lesbian Deirdre Granger (Alexis Smith) in an attempt to regain his financial footing. When his daughter, January (Deborah Raffin), returns home after recuperating from a motorcycle accident, she resents the new woman in her father's life, doubting that there is any real love in the marriage. She then takes up with Tom Colt (David Janssen), a famous but alcoholic writer who is close in age to her father.

Director: Guy Green
Screenwriter: Julius J. Epstein, Jacqueline Susann
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, LGBTQ+
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 20, 1975, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 1, 2017
Runtime: 2h 1m

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