The World's Greatest Athlete

1973
G
1h 33m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

A down on his luck coach travels to Africa where he spots the world's greatest athlete - a white Tarzan-type. The coach brings him back to the U.S. of A. to compete.A down on his luck coach travels to Africa where he spots the world's greatest athlete - a white Tarzan-type. The coach brings him back to the U.S. of A. to compete.A down on his luck coach travels to Africa where he spots the world's greatest athlete - a white Tarzan-type. The coach brings him back to the U.S. of A. to compete.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

5.6/10

1.8K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Trivia
The scenes where Milo Jackson (Tim Conway) is shrunk to miniature size were extremely expensive to shoot during the time the film was made due to then big cost of constructing such very enormous props. The gigantic telephone itself cost US $7,900 to make whilst the woman's handbag and its chattels totaled to US $15,000.

Goofs
The film does explain that Harri the tiger IS from India. He is just a house pet that Nanu's parents brought to Africa when the tiger was just a cub.

Quotes
Nanu: [Nanu is smitten on meeting Jane] Me Nanu. You Jane.
Milo Jackson: Now that doesn't sound quite right...

Connections
Referenced in The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson: Hal Linden/Tim Conway (1986)

User reviews20

Review

Featured review

8/10

Funny, funny, funny!!!!!!

This is one of the funniest film's of Disney's live action library. Taking another spin on the tale of Tarzan, The World's Greatest Athlete is the story of how college coach Sam Archer, tired of losing, tries to get away from it all by taking a trip to Africa. While there, he encounters Nanu, a superhuman by any standards measured!!! Seeing a gold mine and wins with Nanu as his athlete on campus, Coach Archer lures him to their university, where Nanu indeed excels in sports, but also feels homesick. Good jokes and tasteful humor make this a must-see. Jon Amos and Tim Conway are great as the bumbling coaches, and Jan-Michael Vincent shows that he could act wonderfully within a comedic setting. Also, this is one of the movies that displays Vincent's prowess, and makes people wonder what could have been. While younger viewers may not know of Vincent, or wonder why anyone cares about a "second rate actor", there was a time when many movie fans felt that Vincent could have been a major box office draw. While Nanu ultimately proves that he is a champion, Vincent will always make people ponder if he could have been a real Hollywood contender.