Wonderful character development!

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Clambake (1967) * 1/2 (out of 4) Very weak Elvis film has him playing a millionaire's son who wants to meet people on his own so he trades places with a water ski instructor. There's really not too much to say about this really bland romantic comedy because there isn't any romance and not a single laugh. Even the music is pretty poor, which is a shame because you'd think they could have at least came up with one good single. Elvis seems bored and uninterested throughout the film and Shelley Fabares is oh so annoying.Get an Elvis CD instead.

Although it has the worst title of any Elvis movie, "Clambake" (1967) is actually one of his better films. Which is surprising as it is one of his last and generally speaking each film seemed a bit worse than its predecessor. "Clambake's" salvation is certainly not in the soundtrack which is at best very ordinary, only the title song has any energy. Although there is an actual clambake scene on the beach about midway into the film, it seems thrown in just to justify the title, more impressive is a cameo of "Flipper" who had his own television show at that time.I'm inclined to credit Shelley Fabares for the good vibe I got from this film. She plays "golddigger with a heart of gold" Dianne Carter, Elvis' ultimate love interest. I never cared for her uptight Mary Stone character on reruns of "The Donna Reed Show", and therefore paid almost no attention to her until recently. But since seeing her in "Ride the Wild Surf" and "Clambake" I've had a major attitude adjustment. "Clambake" was the third time she was tapped for the love interest role in an Elvis film so obviously she and the King had grown comfortable working together. Their romance is a little different than the Elvis standard. In "Clambake" she does not start out hating or ignoring him. Instead they quickly become friends and she is obviously attracted, but she puts the brakes on any romance because she is hunting for a rich husband and has tycoon J.J. Jamison (Bill Bixby) squarely in her sights. She comes around in the end and their chemistry actually feels real, much like it did with Ann Margret in "Viva Las Vegas".The comfort factor is also apparent between Elvis and Will Hutchins, his real-life buddy. Oil tycoon Scott (Elvis) pulls a "Prince and the Pauper" and swaps places with drifter Tom Wilson (Hutchins). He wants to find someone who loves him for himself. Hutchins is supposed to provide the film's main comic relief as he enjoys the life of the rich and famous, driving Scott's "Munsters" inspired convertible and surrounding himself with gorgeous women who can't dance very well. Although the director had Hutchins overplay the part it is so poorly written that they can't squeeze many laughs out of the premise. But having most of his scenes with Fabares and Hutchins seems to have relaxed Elvis considerably, which makes both he and his film more likable. Contrary to most, I enjoyed the corny playground scene with the little girl who was afraid of the slide. The "Confidence" song is not a rip off of "High Hopes", the whole scene is a variation on the "Bounce Right Back" number Donald O'Connor did in "Anything Goes". While "Confidence" is not much of a song, this surreal scene is priceless. I wonder what long-time fans thought as they watched Elvis and Hutchins do something so totally "Guffman"? Most entertainers only do embarrassing stuff like this when they are first breaking into the business. Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

Elvis does well in those movies that have a beach and water and palm tree atmosphere (even if the mountains in Miami were a little weird). In this little venture to the world of speedboat racing and romance, he gets to sing 8 more songs, including the Eddy Arnold classic "You Don't Know Me." Scott Hayward/'Tom Wilson' (Elvis) is a spoiled rich kid who wants to be loved for himself and not his daddy's money, so he pretends to be poor. he runs into a girl (Shelley Fabares) who wants a sugar daddy, and it appears she'll hook up with the racing champion (Bill Bixby). You know how it will end, so all you can do is sit back and watch the crazy antics of Will Hutchins ("Sugarfoot") as he pretends to be the real Scott Hayward.Enjoy the singing.

Fans of second unit location footage and rear screen projection will be in love with this late day Presley vehicle. Set in Miami, Florida, Presley plays the son of an oil tycoon who longs to prove himself without the benefit of his name and privileges. He happens upon water-ski instructor Hutchins who wishes he could live the life of a big shot money man. The two trade names, cars and clothes (even though Hutchins is pencil thin) and head to the hotel where they will begin their ruse. Pretty Fabares is a young guest there who's bent on landing a millionaire. She sets her sites on speedboat racer Bixby and uses Presley to get his attention. It isn't hard to see that Presley is the one she'll eventually fall for. Presley decides to make a name for himself by improving on a glue formula that his father's company had failed with prior. He takes a broken down boat from Merrill and works overtime to fix it up and repair it with the new and improved glue so that his father (Gregory) will be able to acknowledge his enterprising spirit and his reliability. Meanwhile, Hutchins cavorts with numerous curvy beach blondes, whom he believes wouldn't give him a second glance if not for his "wealth". Presley's considerable charisma is put to the test here as he slogs through a pretty hackneyed and silly plot line. Though he couldn't be considered "fat", he has carbface and just generally doesn't look good. His complexion seems wan, his eyes rather hollow and his hair is the messiest and most unkempt that he probably ever let it be in any other film. All Presley movies feature songs that are bland and indistinguishable from each other except to his most avid fans, but the ones here are particularly resistible. He does get a somewhat fun song in the ski shop and another one at the title occasion, but there's one in a playground that is legendarily bad. Fabares (dipping into Pamela Tiffin's area of expertise and appearance) is lovely to look at with her thick, attractive fall and her wardrobe of kicky 60's clothes. However, her character is shallow and she isn't given much to work with. Hutchins (35 but looking 45) wears more eyeliner than Fabares and performs a lot of annoying, unfunny schtick very badly. If that's his voice in his (awful) duet with Presley, he should have been dubbed and if it's not his voice, whoever it belongs to needed another occupation. Bixby (whose hair is dyed a yucky rust color) is appropriately smarmy and devious, but not as villainous as one might expect in a shallow piece of tripe like this. Veterans Merrill and Gregory add a certain amount of weight to their roles. Gregory comes off best, despite his hamminess, because he gets to evolve by the end. Merrill looks awfully tired shaking his pathetic paintbrush during one of Presley's numbers. Peary (whose inimitable voice was heard for years on radio's "The Great Gildersleeve") has a small role as the hotel doorman. All the wonderfully innocent and fun elements of 60's fluff are on hand... the bright colors, big hair, fun clothes, unique sets and production design, etc.... However, the overuse of rear projection and body doubles puts a bit of a damper on things. The actors pretend like they're skiing and boating while little sprinkles of water hit their faces. Long shots show folks who look nothing like the stars (Fabares' double has hair about 6 inches shorter than hers!) taking part in things that the real actors are sort of doing in a studio. This was the way for all films for decades, but here it is relied upon far too heavily. Besides, it's just all a little tired and routine at this point. Presley did do worse, but not often.