Colibel Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Beystiman It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Huievest Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

Skyler Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

bkoganbing All The Marbles turned out to be Robert Aldrich's last directed film and while it's not the greatest film he ever directed for those who are fans of Peter Falk it's a must. In this one Falk plays the manager of a female tag team champion wrestlers the California Dolls played here by Vicki Frederick and Laurenne Landon. They do a lot of tank town shows and even accept a mud wrestling gig at one point all to get that championship match with the Toledo Tigers. They faced each other twice before and split the outcomes. The finale is a championship match in more ways than one. It's for All The Marbles.Falk really is working on all cylinders with a gamut of emtions that run from basso profundo to coloratura soprano. Just sit back and enjoy.The film also has Burt Young playing a shady promoter and Lenny Montana as his bodyguard. Young truly needs a bodyguard with all the shady stuff he pulls and he got one of the best. Lenny Montana is best known for being Luca Brasi in The Godfather and Young needs his services more than Don Corleone did.In fact you can almost forget that wrestling is an exhibition watching this film. The matches are just like what you see from WWE. Vince McMahon should be proud.

JasparLamarCrabb How can you not enjoy Peter Falk carting around two very feisty lady wrestlers? Robert Aldrich directed this witty cross between ROCKY & THE KANSAS CITY BOMBER. Falk is the not very good but extremely enthusiastic manager of sexy wrestlers Vicki Frederick & Laurene Landon (aka The California Dolls). The three travel from one dingy arena to another as the Dolls try for the big time in Reno. Falk is hilarious, basically acting like Peter Falk. Landon, and especially Frederick are not only sexy, they're smart, funny and tough as nails, both in and out of the ring. They're never made to look anything but smarter than the rowdy audiences who come to see them. They're in on the joke! This is a very funny, very affectionate road film with very likable characters. Burt Young is a mean-spirited & ruthlessly stingy wrestling promoter. Lenny Montana (Luca Brasi from THE GODFATHER & a one-time wrestler himself) gets a lot of laughs as Young's morally superior bodyguard. The script by Mel Frohman and others is full of priceless one-liners.

dougdoepke No need to recap the plot since the movie's really a character study.The girls, Iris and Molly, are sure a long way from the helpless female. I pity any mugger who tries to mug one. Those body slams on canvas sound like hammers hitting anvil, and catch how effortlessly they pick one another up. Oh sure, I know it's all choreographed, but still the girls are real athletes. Can't say the same for their manager Harry (Falk). His main job appears to be checking them into flea-bitten motels, driving a smog belching junk heap, and touring the girls through every tank town in the country. That is, when he's not cursing somebody out. They're quite a team, but despite it all, kind of admirable in their dedication.This is the American Dream at the lowest level of show biz, so we know why they have to be tough. However, I'm still wondering whether to call this a comedy or not. It's got its funny moments, but it's also sad at times and poignant too. Two-thirds of the time, the girls are bitchin' at Harry for his latest scam, but somehow they're all hitched to the same uncertain star and they know it. There're times, however, when the screenplay rambles enough you may think it was put together in the dark. Nonetheless, these are characters you won't soon forget, and if the movie's beyond categorizing, it's also oddly entertaining.All in all, it's an unusual swan song for that fine macho movie-maker Robert Aldrich to go out on.

dr_work_99 My responses to some of the comments above QUOTE: A curious feature is also that we are asked to believe that pro tag wrestling is "for real."This is only half-true. There are a number of references to one team allowing the other a fall, etc. (or not, as the case may be, as when Rose effectively double-crosses one of the Tigers to gain an advantage); and QUOTE: a Japanese promoter offers to finance a championship run… QUOTE: We have here two very attractive cast members who, quite unusually, are also very competent actresses. All four main female wrestling characters were originally dancers. One or two of the contributors here actually refer to the ring action as QUOTE: choreography. I agree that all four were excellently trained and did a really good job.QUOTE: Different groups of viewers… A third group will be those who rate female wrestling as a significant spectator sport and who want to watch this film primarily for the ring sequences… This perceived group is narrow. Those who appreciate the finer points of men's grappling do not naturally translate to the female version, and are often against it. The "missing" group are those who like to see a female protagonist triumph over another woman or, often, over a male. These are not the same as the "T&A/catfight" brigade as – although some of these aficionados are often "leg" men – the need for a further display of flesh is not always paramount.QUOTE: It's hard to understand why Aldrich took on this project… QUOTE: you have to wonder which one of them… has the wrestling f*t*sh. I Think the latter comment perhaps answers the first QUOTE: wondering why such attractive girls did not try to get Uncle Hef to picture them… so that they could sign up with a Hollywood model agency and earn a few bucks by modelling (acting?)… Instead of through a life in the wrestling ring. For the said enthusiast, the girls' attraction (which is admittedly greater than that of most real-life exponents up to that point) underlines the appeal.QUOTE: I saw the U.K. version UK enthusiasts were generally starved of such entertainment, until one of the British promoters escalated his blonde wife to top of the bill during the 1980s.QUOTE: If you doubt the popularity of female grappling, go to Youtube.com and check out the tens of thousands of views… I think this is the same minority viewing over and over.QUOTE: Certainly it couldn't have been a star vehicle for Vicki Frederick (better known for her role in the "A Chorus Line" movie) I liked Frederick in both of these but agree that they evidently didn't really raise her profile; she ended up on 'Love Boat' and similar.QUOTE: The original release "......all the Marbles" was renamed "The California Dolls" for release in the U.K., and a second release in the U.S.A. also used this alternative title.This is a wimp-out by the distributor. From the original title, the prospective viewer would have little idea what the movie is about; they have elected instead for a populist, more "sledgehammer" approach and title.QUOTE: With the recent revival of pro wrestling… While lady wrestling is not currently mainstream, things are changing… These comments have run way out of date. Pro wrestling is currently on the ropes, with the ladies' game more or less non-existent.QUOTE: Jumping on the "mud wrestling" craze of the late 70s and early 80s (when this was supposed to be about in-ring "pro" wrestling Slightly unfair. This is used as an example of Falk "stitching the girls up" to gain revenue. The girls are aghast at his choice.QUOTE: My suggestion is therefore that MGM should consider issuing a double sided DVD, one side with a copy of ".... all the marbles" edited… and the other side with the alternate version "The California Dolls" edited to maximise its appeal… Great idea.Dave