Instant Favorite.

Highly Overrated But Still Good

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Elvis Presley's 28th of his 31 movies is nothing if not enthusiastically played. Unfortunately, this is one of his below par pictures. Alas, he sings only three times, and the songs themselves are not particularly memorable. Oddly, the best, "Let's Live a Little", agreeably sung under the colorful, fast-moving credit titles, was never released on record. As for the story, it's rather slight – especially when spun out to ninety minutes – although it does introduce some fascinating support characters led by Rudy Vallee. Well, that certainly sounds promising – the 1930s top box=office idol meets the teenage idol of the 1960s – so it's a shame that more isn't made of this and that they don't sing a duet. Elvis also has a fight scene in which he seems to be doing all his own slugging. In fact, the macho Elvis image is well to the fore in this one and he even has his face stained to give him that outdoors tan look. TV actress, Michele Carey, is here making only her third or fourth movie and she is far too aggressively cookie for comfort. Judicious trimming of her scenes would help the pace considerably. I'd take care to leave the dog alone though. Occasionally, real locations are cleverly employed (and brightly photographed) and these should also be retained. But will someone please take the scissors to those Carey-Presley domestic scenes which are in fact not a fifth as risqué or a tenth as funny as the film's director, Norman Taurog (here making his final of 183 movies) obviously thinks they are!

Nothing about the movie plot here, just the music and the newly revived Elvis. His sideburns were back, his body was slender and more muscular, looking better than he had looked in a movie since "Blue Hawaii". Michelle Carey is his costar, a buxom slightly kooky girl full of energy. There are only about three songs in the movie, but all are first rate, beginning with "Edge of Reality", which came out on a single as the flip side of "If I Can Dream", the single that came from Elvis' 68 comeback TV special. "Edge" is a very good off beat song that to many fans was better than "Dream" and helped make the record a double sided hit. The next is "A Little Less Conversation", an up tempo number that, as you all know by now, was remixed and re-released a couple of years back and became Elvis' 31st number one hit. Then there is "Almost in Love", a great quirky love ballad that is one of his better songs ever. This is a highly enjoyable movie and better than many of his others. See it.

I am a huge Elvis fan, but even I admit most of his movies were dreadful, and that's being kind. This one is a pleasant exception. Not only is it quite funny at times, but the songs in the film are well above average for a Presley movie, and Elvis himself looks and acts better than in the seven or so films that preceded it. He has a natural flair for comedy, as anyone will know who has seen his earlier film from 1962 "Follow That Dream," which was another under-appreciated Elvis film. He acts more grown up and the situations he's thrust into have a much more adult theme than in his previous efforts. By the time this film was released, these points were lost to most critics, who dismissed it as just another infantile Elvis musical. That's a shame, because it deserved a wider audience than it received.

What a shame that at a time when it appeared that Elvis was finally getting some mature comedy roles it was nearing the end of his film career. Maybe if the brains ?? behind Elvis had been more selective in choosing his movie roles, he may have been still with us and may have been credited for being a far better actor than people gave him credit for. To have him act alongside the Elvis of the twenties in Rudy Vallee was a great piece of casting. The only other great piece of casting would have been to have him act alongside the great John Wayne, which I believe they offered him the part in True Grit played by Glen Campbell. What a sad waste of talent, another screw up by Hollywood suits who have no idea on talent just getting their greedy hands on as much money as they can.