ELVIS' MOVIES

[JerryNodak]

Except for King Creole I don't like the '50s films.

[musiclover1979]

I'd just like to ask:

When will we get an anamorphic widescreen release of Follow That Dream on DVD?
+
Will we get a new release of the "out of print" Loving You?

[Rob]

I'd add Kissin' Cousins.

You obviously appreciate good movies. Maybe you and Ben can get together and give us a little "Barefoot Ballad."

Wouldn't that be neat?

[kuenzer]

I'd add Kissin' Cousins.

You obviously appreciate good movies. Maybe you and Ben can get together and give us a little "Barefoot Ballad."

Wouldn't that be neat?

The only drawback of Kissin' Cousins is that it has not been directed by Russ Meyer.

[musiclover1979]

Sorry I had to bring up this old thread again. Enjoyable it was!
I didn't wan't to go any further back in my search for a Speedway topic.

I watched Speedway yesterday.
Why anyone would want to put this in their 'Elvis favourite movie list' is a good question I'd say.
I can see it didn't end up in many of the lists.
Could this be because it's a lame movie?

Bad script (bad dialogue), the plot struggles to resemble a story.
The 'story' is a mess. This happens and suddenly that happens. Things pop out from nowhere.
Nancy Sinatra is stiff.
The cinematography is flat. I'm thinking about camera movement.
The comedy tries to be funny, but rarely is.
Only the racing scenes are shot on location, the rest was shot in the studio. (This was nothing new in Elvis' films at the time, but doing the film on the lot didn't make them any better).
The scenes with the kids was annoying and embarrassing.
I didn't like the stupid behaviour of Bill Bixby.
A few of the songs were ruined with overdubs (including "Your Time Hasn't Come Yet Baby").
The sets are repetitive.

Elvis and Nancy's attraction to each other is apparent a few times (that's a positve note).
I like the soundtrack album.
Sorry for being this negative. I just had to get it off my chest. There are some really bad Elvis movies and this is one of them.
Soon I'll watch Paradise Hawaiian Style and Clambake. If they are worse I'll be back to give 'em what they, in my opinion, deserve.

"Follow That Dream" is one of the better Elvis movies. I watched it today.

[ColinB]

...I watched Speedway yesterday.
Why anyone would want to put this in their 'Elvis favourite movie list' is a good question I'd say.
I can see it didn't end up in many of the lists.
Could this be because it's a lame movie?

It might be lame, but it's one of the better ones, believe me !

[musiclover1979]

I believe you.
I've seen both Easy Come, Easy Go and Double Trouble.
I don't remember exactly, but those might be even worse.
At this time I'll stay clear away from Harum Scarum.

I didn't like Girls! Girls! Girls! when I watched years ago.
Fun in Acapulco wasn't much better (watched twice or thrice years ago).

But, I quite enjoy the stupidity of Kissin' Cousins. I like some of the songs, the girls and the obviously low budget. It's kind of fun seeing what a quickie looks like. [Remember Sam Katzman (King of the Quickies) was the producer]. In one scene you can even see the shadow of the camera.

Sorry for this negativity, but when you've seen the best you'll have to watch the rest.
Not everyone wants to see every Elvis movie ever made, but it makes it easier to discuss his movie career that way. And if you don't watch them you'll miss a big part of Elvis career / life.

Even though the movie critic Leonard Maltin tend to place Elvis' movies in the same bin they differ on many points.
One point in case: He gives It Happened at the World's Fair 3 stars (!) and Viva Las Vegas 2 1/2 stars.
I'd say the latter is way better than the former (in lots of ways).

Perhaps I should make a post of it's own on Maltin's Elvis criticism?

[musiclover1979]

Here's Leonard Maltin's evaluation of the movies on a scale of BOMB (1 star) to 4 stars.


(1956) Love Me Tender 2 1/2

(1957) Loving You 2 1/2

(1957) Jailhouse Rock 3

(1958) King Creole 2 1/2

(1960) G.I. Blues 2 1/2

(1960) Flaming Star 3

(1961) Wild In The Country 2 1/2

(1961) Blue Hawaii 2 1/2

(1962) Follow That Dream 2 1/2

(1962) Kid Galahad 2 1/2

(1962) Girls! Girls! Girls! 2 ½

(1963) It Happened at the World's Fair 3

(1963) Fun In Acapulco 2 ½

(1964) Kissin' Cousins 2 1/2

(1964) Viva Las Vegas 2 1/2

(1964) Roustabout 2 ½

(1965) Girl Happy 2 1/2

(1965) Tickle Me 2 1/2

(1965) Harum Scarum 2 1/2

(1966) Frankie And Johnny 2 1/2

(1966) Paradise, Hawaiian Style 2 1/2

(1966) Spinout 2 1/2

(1967) Easy Come, Easy Go 1 1/2

(1967) Double Trouble 2

(1967) Clambake 1 ½

(1968) Stay Away, Joe 1 1/2

(1968) Speedway 2

(1968) Live a Little, Love a Little 2

(1969) Charro! BOMB

(1969) The Trouble With Girls (And How To Get Into It) 2 1/2

(1969) Change Of Habit 2


Lot's of 2 1/2 here.
If we put aside all other movies and look at just the Elvis films, as a whole, we get a broader, more nuanced picture of them.
For one thing he could've quit dealing out those 2 1/2 stars before he got to Easy Come, Easy Go.

Well, I'm off to watch Paradise, Hawaiian Style now. Wish me luck!

[musiclover1979]

Paradise, Hawaiian Style
It was not painful to watch. The camerawork was not as good as in Speedway. It was more static in PHS.
PHS had more of a story than Speedway. A simple story, but it made more sense.
Most of the songs are forgettable.
Donna Butterworth was kinda charming. I'm not sure her rendition of Bill Bailey was particularly impressive, though.
It was, mostly, filmed on location but that didn't help much.
It was shot on cheaper film stock (at least it seemed like it to me).
Anyway, it was a cheaper B movie production at any level compared to Blue Hawaii and some others.
None of the guest stars were known to me (except for Red West and Julie Parrish).
As we all know it's a pale imitation of Blue Hawaii.

Lonely Summer has a point. Elvis' movies was never intended to be works of art. Most of them is light family entertainment.

Just the same I think we should analyze them, take a closer look.

We have to see that some films are better than the others.
I know many fans do that. We all have our favourites and some we dislike among his films.

But, to toss all of them in the lightweight bin is too easy and no fun.

[musiclover1979]

This will be another negative post.
I've just finished watching Clambake and it's the worst Elvis movie I've ever seen.
A bored, miserable and tired looking Elvis delivers his lines with no zest.
The plot is tired and makes for a tired movie with a tired Elvis.
I know, the script calls for Elvis being miserable. It surely was no problem for Elvis to act naturally in those scenes.
I've read the back story concerning Elvis' life situation at the time.

The soundtrack songs are some of the worst (they're even worse with the orchestra overdub they get in the movie).
The "C-O-N-F-I-D-E-N-C-E" scene is without doubt one of the worst musical scenes in a Presley picture.

It's way too much back projection in the film.
The plot doesn't focus as much on Elvis as we'd like it to. Instead we get to spend time with other uninteresting characters.
The jokes are flat, the script is lame.
Shelley Fabares hasn't much to do.
Gary Merrill is in it, but that doesn't help much.

I'd rather watch Paradise Hawaiian Style. The songs in PHS isn't much better, but Elvis looks a bit more interested and awake. And it's got Donna Butterworth to brighten up a few scenes. PHS without Donna wouldn't have made it any better. I don't say PHS is way better than Clambake it's just more sprightly and enjoyable in spite of the tired Elvis (in Hawaii) loses money and gets a job plot.

I know someone on this board finds Clambake a funny movie. I don't.

I even watched Girls! Girls! Girls! today. It was a tiny bit better than the last time I saw it, but was as boring as I remembered.

This is, hopefully, my last negative post for awhile. But, when you watch the worst of Elvis it's unavoidable. I had to comment on those movies. Maybe I should write a post on a good one the next time, namely Follow That Dream.
On second thought, much has been written on that movie in this forum.

If anyone strongly disagrees in this post. Please, tell me.

[showfan]

I can handle just about any Elvis movie if I'm looking for something to do on a lazy evening, but my favorites over the years have been

Love Me Tender
Loving You
Jailhouse Rock
King Creole
G.I. Blues
Flaming Star
Roustabout
Clambake

[Tang Lungs side kick]

JR.......pretty good
VLV.......the songs/chemistry awesome , otherwise the same cookie cut formula
FTD......better than I expected , kinda fun
KC......couldnt get into it
Charro.......same as above
CoH.......all right

Most I find a chore to watch........

[lucio]

I'm a little less critical than most of you and generally have rewatched about 25 of his films over and over.
The only ones I probably will never view again are: Charro/Flaming Star/Wild In The Country/Stay Away Joe
Love Me Tender and Trouble With Girls are nice for the songs only in my home.
TTWII, On Tour, Habit, Acapulco, B Hawaii, Roustabout, Girls Girls Girls, Girl Happy would be my favourites. I prefer the colorized versions of Love Me Tender and J Rock to the black and whites.
If not for Elvis movies, I wouldn't have ever become a collector.
Lucio