Once Is Not Enough (film)
Encyclopedia
Once Is Not Enough is a 1975 American
drama film
directed by Guy Green and starring Kirk Douglas
, Alexis Smith
and David Janssen
. It is an adaptation of the 1973 novel Once Is Not Enough
by Jacqueline Susann
.
Accustomed to a lavish lifestyle, Mike has pampered his daughter, January, providing her with an expensive education in Europe and everything else money can buy. January worships her father and eagerly returns to America to be with him again.
Needing capital, Mike enters into a loveless marriage with Deidre Milford Granger, one of the world's wealthiest women. She already has been through multiple marriages and demands that things be done her way. She also is secretly carrying on a lesbian affair. January is devastated to learn that Mike is now wed to this rude, arrogant woman.
Deidre attempts to draw January into a relationship with David Milford, a ladies' man who is the rich woman's nephew. David, too, usually gets his own way, finally persuading January into going to bed with him, only to discover that she is a virgin.
Unsure what to do with her life, January is advised by an old friend, Linda Riggs, now a literary agent, to author a book. Linda enjoys a free-spirit life with many lovers and urges January to do likewise. But due in no small part to her father complex
, January instead falls for a much-older Tom Colt, a hard-drinking, impotent novelist.
Mike bitterly resents the affair. He punches Colt upon catching January in a Beverly Hills hotel bungalow with him. Mike orders his daughter to make a choice—him or me—and Colt gives her the same ultimatum. She chooses her lover.
Deidre's demands and insults finally become too much for Mike, who wants a divorce. They amicably agree to one, but their airplane crashes and both are killed. The devastated January turns to Tom Colt for comfort, but he turns against her instead, leaving her to go on alone.
The novel includes much more drug use and sexual content, and has quite a different ending. After the events of the film transpire, January tries acid and partakes in an orgy. She then wanders onto the beach where she hallucinates that she sees her father and walks into the ocean after him, presumably drowning.
Cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Guy Green and starring Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas is an American stage and film actor, film producer and author. His popular films include Out of the Past , Champion , Ace in the Hole , The Bad and the Beautiful , Lust for Life , Paths of Glory , Gunfight at the O.K...
, Alexis Smith
Alexis Smith
Alexis Smith was a Canadian-born stage, film, and television actress. She appeared in several major Hollywood movies in the 1940s and had a notable career on Broadway in the 1970s, winning a Tony Award in 1972.-Life and career:...
and David Janssen
David Janssen
David Janssen was an American film and television actor who is best known for his starring role as Dr. Richard Kimble in the television series The Fugitive , the starring role in the 1950s hit detective series Richard Diamond, Private Detective , and as Harry Orwell on Harry O.In 1996 TV Guide...
. It is an adaptation of the 1973 novel Once Is Not Enough
Once Is Not Enough
Once Is Not Enough is a 1973 novel by Jacqueline Susann. It was the #2 best-selling novel of 1973 in the United States. It was made into a 1975 film Once Is Not Enough, Jacqueline Susann's Once Is Not Enough, directed by Guy Green and starring Kirk Douglas, Deborah Raffin, David Janssen and Brenda...
by Jacqueline Susann
Jacqueline Susann
Jacqueline Susann was an American author known for her best-selling novels. Her most notable work was Valley of the Dolls, a book that broke sales records and spawned an Oscar-nominated 1967 film and a short-lived TV series.-Early years:Jacqueline Susann was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to...
.
Plot
In the film version, Mike Wayne is a middle-aged motion-picture producer whose career has fallen on hard times. Try as he might, Mike no longer can get a new Hollywood project made.Accustomed to a lavish lifestyle, Mike has pampered his daughter, January, providing her with an expensive education in Europe and everything else money can buy. January worships her father and eagerly returns to America to be with him again.
Needing capital, Mike enters into a loveless marriage with Deidre Milford Granger, one of the world's wealthiest women. She already has been through multiple marriages and demands that things be done her way. She also is secretly carrying on a lesbian affair. January is devastated to learn that Mike is now wed to this rude, arrogant woman.
Deidre attempts to draw January into a relationship with David Milford, a ladies' man who is the rich woman's nephew. David, too, usually gets his own way, finally persuading January into going to bed with him, only to discover that she is a virgin.
Unsure what to do with her life, January is advised by an old friend, Linda Riggs, now a literary agent, to author a book. Linda enjoys a free-spirit life with many lovers and urges January to do likewise. But due in no small part to her father complex
Father complex
Father complex in psychology is a complex - a group of unconscious associations, or a strong unconscious impulses - which specifically pertains to the image or archetype of the father...
, January instead falls for a much-older Tom Colt, a hard-drinking, impotent novelist.
Mike bitterly resents the affair. He punches Colt upon catching January in a Beverly Hills hotel bungalow with him. Mike orders his daughter to make a choice—him or me—and Colt gives her the same ultimatum. She chooses her lover.
Deidre's demands and insults finally become too much for Mike, who wants a divorce. They amicably agree to one, but their airplane crashes and both are killed. The devastated January turns to Tom Colt for comfort, but he turns against her instead, leaving her to go on alone.
The novel includes much more drug use and sexual content, and has quite a different ending. After the events of the film transpire, January tries acid and partakes in an orgy. She then wanders onto the beach where she hallucinates that she sees her father and walks into the ocean after him, presumably drowning.
Cast
- Kirk DouglasKirk DouglasKirk Douglas is an American stage and film actor, film producer and author. His popular films include Out of the Past , Champion , Ace in the Hole , The Bad and the Beautiful , Lust for Life , Paths of Glory , Gunfight at the O.K...
as Mike Wayne - Alexis SmithAlexis SmithAlexis Smith was a Canadian-born stage, film, and television actress. She appeared in several major Hollywood movies in the 1940s and had a notable career on Broadway in the 1970s, winning a Tony Award in 1972.-Life and career:...
as Deidre - David JanssenDavid JanssenDavid Janssen was an American film and television actor who is best known for his starring role as Dr. Richard Kimble in the television series The Fugitive , the starring role in the 1950s hit detective series Richard Diamond, Private Detective , and as Harry Orwell on Harry O.In 1996 TV Guide...
as Tom Colt - Brenda VaccaroBrenda VaccaroBrenda Buell Vaccaro is an American stage, television and film actress.-Early life:Vaccaro was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Italian American parents Christine M. and Mario A. Vaccaro , both of whom were pioneers in Italian cuisine...
as Linda Riggs - George HamiltonGeorge Hamilton (actor)George Stevens Hamilton is an American film and television actor.-Early life:Hamilton was the youngest son of bandleader George "Spike" Hamilton and his first wife, Ann Stevens . He was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and lived in Blytheville, Arkansas...
as David Milford - Deborah RaffinDeborah RaffinDeborah Iona Raffin is an American film and television actress.Raffin was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Trudy Marshall, a Brooklyn-born former movie actress, and Phillip Jordan Raffin, a restaurateur and meat/brokerage executive.She appeared in several 1970s Hollywood films...
as January - Melina MercouriMelina MercouriMelina Mercouri , born as Maria Amalia Mercouri was a Greek actress, singer and politician.As an actress she made her film debut in Stella and met international success with her performances in Never on Sunday, Phaedra, Topkapi and Promise at Dawn...
as Karla - Gary ConwayGary ConwayGary Conway is an American actor and screenwriter.Conway was born Gareth Monello Carmody in Boston, Massachusetts. His most notable credits include a co-starring role with Gene Barry in the detective series Burke's Law from 1963-1965...
as Hugh Robertson