The World's Greatest Athlete (1973) Review

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(More customer reviews)In my opinion, "The World's Greatest Athlete" may very well be the best Disney comedy of the '70's, even better than "Freaky Friday" or "Apple Dumpling Gang." It's also incredibly underrated, with Leonard Maltin seemingly alone among major critics in loving it.
Without giving anything away, it is a goofy, inspired slapstick comedy with a terrific cast including an absolutely hilarious Tim Conway as an inept assistant coach, a well-cast Jan-Michael Vincent as a superathlete, the wonderful Roscoe Lee Browne, rising above his stereotypical, potentially offensive role as
an African witch-doctor, and the wonderful Nancy Walker as a blind landlady who mistakes a tiger for a drunken
frat boy.
But top acting honors go to John Amos as the losingest college coach in history. The fact that he is black is important to the story set-up, but is completely uncommented on in the film and therefore makes the film ahead of its time, at least for Disney studios, who I believe had never before had a black lead actor in one of its films. This is also the film in which Howard Cosell plays himself in a hilarious bit and delivers the great line: "I have never seen anything like this in my entire illustrious career!"
The only reason I don't give "The World's Greatest Athlete" better than a *** rating is that it isn't yet available in the remastered, wide-screen special edition DVD it deserves. Come on, Disney, get on the ball. You have a real gem in your vault and you act like you don't even know it.

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Get on track with Disney's hilarious offbeat comedy starring Jan-Michael Vincent (TV's AIRWOLF) and Tim Conway -- now on Disney DVD. Coach Archer (John Amos) is more famous for losing than winning, but a fateful African safari with his wacky assistant (Conway) leads them to a boy wonder named Nanu (Vincent) -- who just might give them a winning streak. Coaxing him to America is one thing, but the laughs never stop when Nanu meets Jane, fame, and brings the jungle to the gym on his way to becoming the World's Greatest Athlete. Don't miss a chance to take the field with wild family fun for everyone!

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