...All the Marbles (reissued as The California Dolls) is a 1981 American comedy-drama film about the trials and travails of a female wrestling tag team and their manager.

It was directed by Robert Aldrich (his final film) and stars Peter Falk, Vicki Frederick and Laurene Landon.

The film is known outside the US as The California Dolls because "All the Marbles" is an American idiom which is largely unknown in other English speaking countries.

[6] Harry is the manager of a tag team of attractive female wrestlers, Iris and Molly.

On the road, they all endure a number of indignities, including bad motels, small-time crooks and a mud-wrestling match while trying to reach Reno, Nevada, for a big event at the MGM Grand Hotel.

[9] Aldrich said the theme of that movie "was that the biggest damage you can suffer is the loss of self-esteem and a fall from grace.

[11] The film was financed by MGM who had recent appointed David Begelman head of production and revitalized its movie-making operations.

"[10] Aldrich arranged a meeting with Falk and said he told him "This picture will earn you more money than you've ever made before.

Just don't try rewriting the script or changing things around like you do with your pal John Cassavetes.

[13] For the female leads, Aldrich said "We made the decision to take actresses and turn them into wrestlers instead of vice-versa.

"[15] One of the final women who auditioned was Vicki Fredrick, who appeared on Broadway in A Chorus Line and Dancin'.

"On graduation day, each girl did a five-minute match for the heads of MGM, and Mr. Aldrich and Peter Falk.

Laurene Landon [a Canadian athletic fashion model] and I got the parts, and the other two girls didn't get anything.

"[7] The wrestlers were trained by the former women's world wrestling champion Mildred Burke.

Principal photography took place from November 14 to February 24, 1981, on location in Youngstown and Akron, Ohio; Chicago; Las Vegas; Reno; and Los Angeles.

"[9] Laurene Landon was upset when Robert Aldrich told her and Vicki Frederick there was going to be a nude scene.

[10] MGM was so confident in the film that two days before the release it announced it would make a sequel, titled California Dolls Go to Japan.

[19] In his October 16, 1981, review in The New York Times, the film critic Vincent Canby singled out Falk for "one of his best performances".

[20] The film began disappointingly at the box office, only making $1.7 million in its first week, putting sequel plans on hold.

[19] According to Laurene Landon (who portrayed California Doll Molly), while the film did not perform well at the box office in the United States, it made a healthy profit in foreign markets, and producers were planning a sequel, set primarily in Japan, when Robert Aldrich's death put a halt to the project.