The World's Greatest Athlete

Watch: The World's Greatest Athlete

2/14/19731h 46m

Theatrical Release (US)

~ From the JUNGLE to the GYM...He's the Greatest! ~

Overview:

Stuck with a feeble sports department, college coach Sam Archer (John Amos) faces the ax unless he can reverse the school's athletic fortunes. An African vacation with his assistant (Tim Conway) answers Archer's prayers when he spots the athletically gifted Nanu (Jan-Michael Vincent). Sam counts on Nanu's remarkable abilities to put the team back on the winning track. This upbeat farce boasts an impressive cast of comedians.

Director:

Robert Scheerer

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$0.00

Revenue:

$0.00

Key words:

sports

Cast

Jan-Michael Vincent

~ as ~

Nanu

Tim Conway

~ as ~

Milo Jackson

John Amos

~ as ~

Coach Sam Archer

Roscoe Lee Browne

~ as ~

Gazenga

Dayle Haddon

~ as ~

Jane

Billy De Wolfe

~ as ~

Dean Maxwell

Nancy Walker

~ as ~

Mrs. Petersen

Vito Scotti

~ as ~

Games spectator

Howard Cosell

~ as ~

Himself - Announcer

Frank Gifford

~ as ~

Himself - Announcer

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

r96sk
Written 5 year(s) ago
6
Bang average.

'The World’s Greatest Athlete' feels like a mixture of stuff we've seen before in this era of Disney. It doesn't do enough to make an impact on me, not helped by silliness of the story and meh casting.

John Amos is the best part of this, I enjoyed what he brings to the table here. Away from him I'm struggling to remember any others already, Roscoe Lee Browne - who is in one of my favourite films, 'Treasure Planet' - is alright but I found his character boring.

I think there's actually potential there with the overall premise, but as usual with this studio's early decades they choose to make it dumb and silly rather than meaningful - it would take a load of tweaking, but I reckon this would make a better coming-of-age/underdog story with a more proper tone. That would make it a completely different film, admittedly.

Lastly, the score is surprisingly solid while the end scene is its most amusing moment. Those two things and Amos aside, this is a bland one.