hasheart If one reads Wikapedia about teach in real life she died in 1963, so the movie was so wrong about the fact that she and Little Mo made up. It's crazy that teach narrated Little's Mo's death then, Also Little Mo and Norman's daughters were really 12 and 9 when she died.They made the girls look much younger and in reality Tracey Gold was really 9 and Missy Gold was only 7. With these distortions, I wonder how much was actually true, except for Little Mo's sports victories and her marriage. In fact, they make it that teach walked out on Little Mo, but Little Mo actually fired teach herself.It was very entertaining, but not very factual.

Gary Lewin Last night while on a search on the internet for information about Maureen Connolly, I was lucky enough to find this movie. And wow, what a surprise it was. As a life long follower of tennis and especially of the women's game, I was thrilled to come across this seemingly almost forgotten film biopic of the fabled Little Mo.I can say here and now it's one of the finest if not the finest made for TV movies ever made. Depicting the life of Maureen, her success's and struggles on and off the court, it does a wonderful job.Glynnis O'Connor is positively luminous as Maureen. And gives, in my opinion, one of the great acting performances in a female lead. The many action scenes on the court are fantastic and add a gritty realism to the movie as it concentrates on her battles to defeat certain players at different stages of her career.Michael Learned is equally stirring as the genius but ultra-strict coach, Eleanor "Teach" Tennant, who guides her to the top, falls out with her, but is movingly reconciled with her at the end. The rest of the cast are good too. And this is definitely a film worth seeing for any serious tennis fan and especially of the women's game as it reveals the life and times of one it's most iconic and cherished competitors.

bkoganbing One of the best television movies ever made is about the life and career of Maureen Connolly the first woman to win tennis's fabled grand slam in one year. Both her career and her life were way too short.Before Billie Jean King, before Chris Evert, before Tracy Austin there was a champion from the Fifties, Maureen Connolly. At the age of 19 Ms. Connolly won the US Open, Wimbledon, the French Open and the Australian Open in 1953. The Grand Slam, the biggest achievement in tennis, and for the first time won by a woman.Glynnis O'Connor as far as I'm concerned got her career role as Maureen Connolly. She was at the right age at the time and later on at the end of the film she was made up well to look the age of 34 when she died. Connolly came from a pretty hard background and tennis was her way out, a sports story told many times with male athletes. Michael Learned does an equally fine job as Eleanor Tennant, Connolly's very strict mentor. The tennis scene of the early Fifties is graphically depicted. Within two years of winning the grand slam, Connolly was injured pursuing her second love horseback riding, a broken leg ended her career permanently. Who knows how many titles and how much money she could have accumulated.In fact I'd read about Connolly when I was a kid and she pretty much dropped out of sight after her career ended. For a lot of people the news of her death from cancer in 1969 was the first thing most had heard about her since she stopped appearing on the sports pages. O'Connor's finale scene as the 34 year old Connolly knowing she was terminally ill and reconciling with Learned is some of the best acting ever done in a TV film. Little Mo is a great tribute to one of the best female athletes of the last century and a role model in sports and in life for us all.

Sylvia Stoddard Every year when Wimbledon is on, I wonder why this movie is not shown on TV. Maureen Connolly was the first woman to win all grand slam titles in one calendar year yet there is no book about her. Connolly's life is the stuff of drama and O'Connor gives us a real feel for how working your way up the ranks of tennis worked then. Disfunctional families now seem almost mandatory for a top-seeded player, but during Connolly's time, the public didn't know such things. Though the Wimbledon segments were not shot there, the film reproduces the landmarks and signage faithfully. I know, I went to Wimbledon in 1993 and saw her name on the sign by Centre Court.I can only assume the film is basically factual as I've never found any book with enough information about this fascinating woman to know. All I know is that the film works very well and O'Connor is radiant. I really love this movie!