tilloscfc Reviews

Hook (1991)

'Hook' Reviewed

[7/10 · 5 August 2015]

Great film from my childhood, when I was 11 I wrote this in script format and cast school pupils in roles as a school play (that never came to fruition!) I think it was just an excuse to watch it over and over again and memorise it! A dream cast of the late great Robin Williams who is perfect as a grown up Peter Pan, the brilliant Dustin Hoffman is Hook, Julia Roberts is gorgeous as Tinkerbell the fairy and another late actor Bob Hoskins plays Hook's mischievous sidekick Smee. Directed by Steven Spielberg with John Williams scoring the music...it's all perfect! Maybe if I were to nitpick, it's a bit long winded at over two hours long and I've never quite accepted how Hook is destroyed - eaten by a dead, stuffed giant crocodile, but when we're dealing with flying humans, fairies and pirates I guess there are films where you've just got to switch off and go with it. I'm sure most people reading this have already seen 'Hook' so I won't bore you with my scene by scene account on what happens. If you've not seen it, Peter pan is now an adult (Robin Williams) forced to return to Neverland after Captain Hook kidnaps Hook's kids, and remember who he is and learn to fight the evil one handed Captain all over again. The slanging match at the Lost Boys' dinner table is a classic scene, and look out for a cameo from Phil Collins as the Police Inspector after the kids have been kidnapped!

Awakenings (1990)

'Awakenings' Rievewed

[4/10 · 5 August 2015]

A very very slow movie based on a true story, which is remembered particularly for the outstanding performance of Robert de Niro. How on earth did he not win the 1990/91 Oscar hands down after his portrayal of Leonard Lowe? Every time I watch this movie I have tears in my eyes from the scene where he tells the girl he loves he can't see her again, and watches her leaving from the window until the end. Robin Williams is...well, you know what you're gonna get from Robin Williams - for me the best actor of all time (DeNiro is second, in my opinion the two best actors star in 'Awakenings'.) Robin Williams plays a brilliant, yet incredibly shy and nervous doctor who joins a Psychiatric Hospital in New York where many of the patients are in a coma and dead to the World. Thanks to Dr. Sayer brilliance, a number of the patients including DeNiro 'awaken' from their state - some after decades - for a brief period in the summer of '69. There's a sad scene at the end where Dr. Sachs tells his nurse how Leonard had told him what a kind man he was...only for him to effectively give someone their life back, then take it away again and not be able to do anything about it. That's a sad scene played brilliantly by Robin Williams. Incidentally, the leading female is Julie Kavner who plays Nurse Eleanor Costello - she is world famous for the voice of Marge in The Simpsons!

Finding Graceland (1998)

Finding Graceland Reviewed

[9/10 · 22 July 2015]

What a beautiful film. A beautiful idea, if only it were true. Harvey Keitel plays "Elvis" who faked his death in 1977 when the pressures of fame grew too strong...now, after 20 years he wants to return to Graceland for the August 16th candlelit vigil. His companion on the journey from Texas to Memphis is a young man Byron (played by Johnathon Schaech) who is on the brink of suicide a year after his beloved young wife Beatrice has been killed in a car crash in which he was driving. While driving aimlessly around without a care or goal, he stumbles across the hitchhiking "Elvis". Naturally, Byron doesn't believe Harvey Keitel is Elvis, but a series of events leave him wondering...what if? He knows Elvis' shoe size, reasons for having his Cadillac sprayed purple, his Army Number all instantly when Byron quizzes him from a book. Then they are pulled over by a traffic cop, and after Elvis recognises him as his Tupelo Mississippi best friend and they even share memories nobody else could have known, the Cop is naturally flabbergasted and emotional, letting his old friend and Byron get away with nothing more than a ticking off... When Byron's battered old 1950's Cadillac won't start after that brush with the law, "Elvis" has it taken to a local Mississippi garage he's familiar with for repairs, but they are forced to spend the night in a Hotel/Casino which coincides with a "Legends" Concert in which the organiser and participants are all familiar with Elvis' act from the past. That night, Byron is bowled over by a nervous Elvis' stunning rendition of "Suspicious Minds" that has the 2,000 plus crowd on it's feet in raptures. (Elvis fans might find Keitel's act rather unconvincing and amusing. Keitel is great as a 62 year old Elvis and does have the look of an older Elvis, but he didn't look at all comfortable or convincing in his performance of "Suspicious Minds" and the choreographer could almost surely have done a better job. Maybe neither were Elvis fans, simple as that.) After almost suffering a heart attack after his performance, Byron rushes to the dressing room to gather Elvis' belongings where he finds a newspaper clipping reporting Elvis' death the day after it happened...on the reverse page, a report of the death of a man and his wife and young daughter on the same day - with the man a huge Elvis fan renowned for his excellent impersonations of The King. Does that explain the faceless woman and female child in the King's regular nightmares he'd explained to Byron? The next morning Elvis and Byron collect the repaired Cadillac...which has also been given the full once over to get it looking brand new, to Byron's amazement. Byron has befriended a Marilyn Monroe impersonator from the Legends Concert (Bridget Fonda) who agrees to check up on the newspaper clipping for the man's surviving family, as Elvis and Byron continue their final journey into Memphis... After initially being refused entry into Graceland when the guard on the gate refuses to accept Keitel is Elvis (Why would you!?) the two men scale the wall and enter the beautiful mansion, where Elvis believes he'll be greeted by his Memphis Mafia entourage and his loving wife Priscilla and daughter Lisa-Marie...only to be left devastated when he discovers the house is empty. Nobody is there waiting for his return. The scenes of Byron and Keitel walking around Graceland's foyer, living room, music room and kitchen are haunting. I believe it's the only movie allowed to have been filmed within Graceland, they did well to get that privilege. After leaving, Elvis insists that he is still who he claims and that the newspaper clipping was something he had created years ago to allude suspicion should he ever get into a pickle and need to hide his identity...is he Elvis? Or isn't he? It's up for you the audience to decide really. Elvis does, however, convince Byron to face up to his demons and visit the Memphis grave of his wife for the first time since her death where he admits it was her who was driving, not him, and he'd blamed himself so much for distracting her while she was driving he'd virtually convinced himself that he was at the wheel. After another heart to heart between the two men about losing that special someone and feeling that low (Elvis talks about the death of his beloved mother Gladys but the joys of meeting Priscilla) Byron says he plans to move forward with the rest of his life. The two return to Graceland for the candle light vigil, where Bridget Fonda meets them. She and Byron are heading to Las Vegas for her next Marilyn Monroe engagement, but not before she tells Byron, there was no evidence on the existence of the man from the newspaper clipping...was he really The King? In the final scene, Elvis comes across a down and outer stowed in the carriage of a freight train. "Let me introduce myself...my name's Elvis..." The film ends with two OUTSTANDING Elvis songs, "Long Black Limousine" and the unbeatable "If I Can Dream." I think you'd have to be an Elvis fan to fully appreciate this film. I am and I thought it was fabulous, and moving with great performances from both Harvey Keitel and Johnathon Schaech.

Live a Little, Love a Little (1968)

One of Elvis' coolest flicks!

[8/10 · 20 July 2015]

Cracking film from the end of the Elvis - Hollywood era. "Live a Little, Love a Little" is the most adult, modern movie that Elvis made and this one is hilarious with lots of great dialogue, particularly between Elvis, gorgeous co star Michele Carey, Dick Sargent...and, er "Albert" the Great Dane - who was actually Elvis' pet at the time, one of two Great Dane's he had at the time of the movie. Elvis plays Greg - a photographer - who's life is thrown into chaos when he meets stunning Michele Carey (who adopts a string of "different names for different moods" throughout the film). When she orders Albert to chase Greg into the sea, he keeps him in there for so long he catches pneumonia and after taking him back to her house on the beach to freshen up, apparently drugs him and he wakes up three days later, only to go to work and find out he's been fired. Then, inexplicably, two tough employees set about beating him up. They were actually Elvis' two chief bodyguards, cousins Red and Sonny West...but Elvis comes out on top thanks to his karate skills that came in handy in most of his movies. Elvis did become a black belt in the art and you can tell in his fight scenes in all his movies that he knows what he's doing and especially when fighting Red or Sonny (which he usually did) the fights always looked realistic.

So after being fired, Greg returns to his apartment...only to find he's been moved out and another woman and her child have taken over the rent, with the landlady explaining that Greg's "sister" Michele has paid off the back rent.

Obviously expecting him to come round to her house in a rage - which he does - Michele invites Greg to stay with her (and Albert) until he finds employment and a place to live. He subsequently lands TWO jobs as a photographer for two different photography firms in the same building - one a respectable firm that expects it's employees to be impeccably dressed at all times, the other a more laid back "Playboy-esque" magazine that insists it's photographers dress casual...thus leading to a few Mrs Doubtfire-like dashes from one place to the next in an attempt to be in two places at once... It's an enjoyable, funny, fast paced movie that you never know what is going to happen next due to Michele Carey's eccentricity. What is her name? What does she want? Who are all these men in her life? Is she really married to "Harry Baby" (Sargent) It's a far out removal from the stereotypical Elvis musical of the 60's. There's only four songs - all outstanding. Two of them "A Little Less Conversation" and "Edge of Reality" are both in my top 10 Elvis songs and both effectively come with fine "music videos" due to the scenes that accompany them. The Edge of Reality dream sequence in particular is superb, with Elvis producing some funky hip swivelling that reminds you of his early days and acts as bit of a light sampler for what was to come over the next 4 years starting with his "Comeback Special" which was filmed just a few weeks after "Live a Little, Love a Little" Another song, a ballad "Almost in Love" is also fantastic and again probably only just misses out on my "Top 10 Elvis songs" but I'd regard it as his best ballad. Great song, beautifully sung.

Clambake (1967)

Mama's little baby loves 'Clambake' too...

[6/10 · 19 July 2015]

I've been an Elvis Presley fan since the age of 6 - that's almost 30 years, and yet I only saw 'Clambake' for the first time last week then again just before. What's the old proverb of waiting so long for a bus and then... I'd always been put off buying or even watching 'Clambake' due to the poor reviews it's always had from pretty much EVERYBODY Elvis himself and members of the support cast. But I was pleasantly surprised by it! Again, I don't think it's as bad as other films he did like "Tickle Me", "Frankie and Johnny", "Harum Scarum", "Blue Hawaii", "Girls! Girls! Girls!", "The Trouble with Girls" or the three westerns...maybe it's merely timing. One thing I can agree on is that Elvis looks his worst than in any movie he made for the first half of the movie, which was filmed when Elvis was not in good health, spirits and subsequently had a nasty fall at Graceland that suspended filming for 6 weeks in which he was told to recover (and get himself straight) - thus the second half of the film you see a much fresher, healthier, better looking Elvis although the obvious use of diet pills is...well that's another debate away from the movie that Elvis fans will have long and hard. I think this is a decent movie. I once heard dancing extra Terri Garr brand 'Clambake' as "a movie about nothing.",,,but...it is about something? It builds up toward a power boat race at the end, to which Elvis (Scott Haywood) is rebuilding a damaged boat from the year before, and win over Shelley Fabaras (Dianne Carter) - in her third Presley movie. It has the interesting sub plot of Haywood meeting a cash strapped Tom Wilson at a garage at the start of the film. Elvis/Haywood is playing the son of an oil billionaire and is concerned that women are only interested in him for his money rather than his personality. The skint Wilson wants the women but they're not interested in him because he has no money or that rich lifestyle...so en route to Miami, the two men decide to travel together, swap identities and vehicles and "see how the other half lives" which puts an interesting spin on things, for as Wilson is lapping up the playboy lifestyle that he has inherited, Elvis is struggling to land Dianne...because she's only interested in finding a rich man, therefore has her eyes on millionaire power boat champion, Bill Bixby. The soundtrack to 'Clambake' is pretty good, aside from the cringe worthy, dire "Who Needs Money?" that Haywood and Wilson duet on after swapping identities and lifestyles. "Clambake" is not a bad song, if a little daft. "Confidence" is just a kids song in the mould of Willy Wonka's "The Candy Man" and accompanies a nice scene where Elvis and his new friend Wilson are entertaining kids at a playground, but the three stand out tracks are all ballads - "A House That Has Everything" is a smooth, sexy song, "You Don't Know Me" a great cover of the Ray Charles classic, "The Girl I Never Loved" the song of the film. Throughout the film, Dianne appears to be wanting Haywood...but the gold digger craves the flashy Bixby. However, come the race, she's almost been converted and instead of cheering on her lover to another victory, instead ends up roaring Elvis to an expected last gasp win! After that, the two lead men return their identities and back to their normal lifestyles with Wilson now carrying the title of "1967 Miami Power Boat Champion" thanks to Haywood (Elvis)' exploits. The next morning, Dianne commits her future with Haywood and passes out at the news of the icing on the cake...he's filthy rich anyway!

Speedway (1968)

Speedway Reviewed

[8/10 · 19 July 2015]

One of my personal favourite Elvis films - this is in my Top 4. Once again Elvis is playing a racing driver - this time Nascar ace Steve Grayson - who is racking up a small fortune but unbeknown to him his friend and dodgy accountant Bill Bixby (Kenny) hasn't been declaring it all, and has even been losing the cash on horse bets. When Elvis' off track attention is taken by the sexy, gorgeous Nancy Sinatra it later turns out she's an employee for the IRS monitoring his every earning and reporting it back to "Uncle Sam" (hence the reason for fun song and funny scene "He's Your Uncle, Not Your Dad") After being hauled in to see the tax man it turns out Grayson and Kenny owe the government close to $50,000 thus losing their lavish lifestyle (in it, perhaps a bit nudge-nudge, wink-wink to his real life persona) Grayson generously donates large sums of money and cars to struggling individuals whom he believes to be decent people. I suppose if you were going to be critical, there isn't really a point to 'Speedway'. Elvis never recoups all the money he owes the government in the movie, and he doesn't even win the big race at the end in this Movie - he gets collected and taken off the track by two lapped cars tangling...but nevertheless it's still a really good, entertaining movie with some great dialogue, better humour and a more modern feel than any other Elvis movie in the 60's up to this point (Viva Las Vegas excepted!) and the chemistry between Elvis and Bill Bixby is good. Elvis looks fantastic in 'Speedway' too. It was filmed shortly after his wedding to Priscilla in 1967, and he really looks great - as does Nancy Sinatra who is quite possibly Elvis' closest opposite Ann-Margret aside. Not the best of actresses by her own admission, but stunningly beautiful and in "Your Groovy Self" she sings arguably the song of the film. It's a tough call between that and "Let Yourself Go" which is one of my Top 10 Elvis songs. Bill Bixby is also good in this I thought...despite being a sleazy lech and not a particularly good friend to have around!!

Spinout (1966)

Spinout Reviewed

[5/10 · 19 July 2015]

Elvis Presley's 22nd film (from the year England won the World Cup!!) is far from one of his best, although at least he had restored his good look, looking slimmer and fresher than in a few of his previous films from "Paradise, Hawaiian Style". It's ruined, in truth, by an annoying support cast consisting of three of Elvis (Mike McCoy)' bandmates (the two guys are terrible actors) who fake - badly - their playing of instruments. The annoying girl on the drums doesn't convince you at all that she's really playing them. The two leading ladies chasing Mike (Shelley Fabaras and Diane McBain) are typically beautiful and both are hellbent on making him theirs, leaving him with a tough decision to make. For most of the movie, his choice looks obvious. Irritated by spoilt Cynthia (Shelley Fabaras) who gets her millionaire father to force Mike into performing a song for her for her birthday AFTER she's already ran him off the road at the start of the film. The highlight of the film is a race at the end of it, that pits Elvis in a clunker substitute car after having his own race car stolen by another annoying supporting cast member - the millionaires butler - and the millionaire himself in his new "supercar" the 'Fox 5'...despite starting about 10 minutes behind everybody else, Mike catches the field...and of course takes the chequered flag first...right at the end. Never doubted him for a second! All that remains then, is for the three single ladies looking for love to finally land there ideal man...but who gets who I hear you ask? Well I could tell you...but I've already told you the outcome of the race, I've got to keep something in suspense for you...

Paradise, Hawaiian Style (1966)

Hawaiian Paradise indeed

[6/10 · 19 July 2015]

The only thing that spoils this film, is the soundtrack. I'd say it's a better film than Blue Hawaii (this is understandably nicknamed Blue Hawaii 2) if it had been recorded the other way round (before the "mundane movie formula" had kicked in) and had the songs from "Blue Hawaii" (half of which weren't great themselves anyway) THIS could easily have been Elvis Presley's highest grossing film of his lifetime instead of it's Hawaiian predecessor. English beauty Suzanna Leigh plays the leading "Elvis Girl" in this Movie...what a fabulous figure!! 9 year old Donna Butterworth is arguably the most memorable female in the movie however, with a series of scene stealing performances that makes it hard to understand how this was her final film. She sings two songs with Elvis - the silly "Queenie Wahini's Papaya" and the tongue in cheek "Datin'" as well as a number of her own at a party. Elvis plays out of work pilot Rick Richards (sounds more like a Nascar driver!) who sets up a helicopter tourist business with his pal Danny Kohana (little Donna's dad) and digs himself into a hole by loaning funds to back his business from a bevvie of beauties he'd fled from 2 years earlier. Like most Elvis movies - it's enjoyable. Silly but enjoyable entertainment, never likely to win awards, get nominated for awards or even top anybody's "favourite film" lists, but sometimes it's good - especially for Elvis fans - to just sit back, enjoy some easy entertaining viewing. These films might have been panned in their day - even by the man himself - but now it's great to have so much visual footage of The King singing, talking, romancing, joking and fighting, even though this is the movie where for the first time it looks apparent that Elvis had grown tired of Hollywood and his dreams of being a "serious movie star". His previous few movies had been particularly soft, and heavily criticised and mocked and Elvis doesn't look as good as he had even 6 months earlier in "Harum Scarum" (a trend and a look that would continue over into his next few films, most notably "Clambake").

Harum Scarum (1965)

Harum Scarum isn't THAT bad!!

[6/10 · 19 July 2015]

For me, "Harum Scarum" is a prime example of different people having different opinions...I honestly don't think this is THAT bad, really. I'm an Elvis fan so I can be accused of bias, but I didn't think every film Elvis did was top notch. I'm not a western kind of guy so "Flaming Star", "Love Me Tender" and "Charro", but I think "Harum Scarum" is far more enjoyable and attention keeping than "Girls!Girls! Girls!", "The Trouble with Girls", "Tickle Me" and even "Blue Hawaii"...like I say, different people have different tastes. I know Priscilla Presley certainly doesn't like "Harum Scarum" she slates it in her autobiography "Elvis and Me" and even The King's Manager Colonel Tom Parker didn't like this and he was the man responsible for holding Elvis back in Hollywood. Once again, Mary Ann Mobley appears as the leading lady, looking even more beautiful than she did in "Girl Happy", as a king's daughter, while another beauty - actress and nude model Fran Jefferies also has a starring role as one of the villains. The director was the dancer and musical director Gene Nelson, and the set was used in a Laurence of Arabia type movie earlier. In "Harum Scarum", Elvis plays actor, singer and martial arts Hollywood star Johnny Tyrone, who is kidnapped by naive sheik's who believe Tyrone's movie skills where he can kill a tiger with his bare hands are real, and they want him to kill a king so they can take over control. Once held captive, Tyrone attempts to escape and return to America. En route, he meets and is smitten by Mary Ann Mobley and his escape plan soon makes way for plan B as he plots to save the King from the evil assassins and win the heart of his daughter. The soundtrack is not bad. They only song I'm not fond on is "Shake That Tambourine". "Kismet" and "Golden Coins" are fine songs, but all are nowhere near the sublime "So Close, Yet So Far (from Paradise)". A real hidden Gem from Elvis' movie soundtracks and one of my top 10 Elvis songs he ever recorded, it's a shame it had to appear in one of his most critically panned movies thus gets so criminally overlooked.

Girl Happy (1965)

Girl Happy Reviewed

[7/10 · 19 July 2015]

A fun, mildy amusing Elvis Presley movie with some not so bad songs "Puppet on a String" "Girl Happy" and "Do Not Disturb" being the best. Elvis plays nightclub singer (again!) Rusty Wells in Chicago. The Nightclub owner, a short tempered, loud, tough guy known affectionately as "Big Frank" sends Rusty and his two bandmates to Fort Lauderdale, Florida to watch over his gorgeous 21 year old daughter Valerie - played by Elvis' favourite co-star Shelley Fabaras in her first of three appearances as an "Elvis Girl". The boys follow Val and her two friends to the popular holiday resort in Fort Lauderdale in time for "Spring Fever" where hundreds of lusty university students flock to in search of fun and romance, under strict orders to keep the wolves at bay for Big Frank...or else! The film also stars another beautiful lady as an Elvis love interest, former "Miss America" Mary Ann Mobley who would also appear in The King's next film "Harum Scarum". In the midst of trying to enjoy some romance of his own with Ms. Mobley, and keep those wolves away from Val, Rusty finds himself falling for Val. After spending a fabulous day with Rusty, Val speaks to her father on the phone and tells her all about him...only for Frank to spill the beans on the real reason Rusty is there for - to mind her for him. This sends Val over the edge, and after a drunken night out ends in a bar brawl and a spell in the local police cell, an amusing attempt to get himself arrested to get her out due to a soft natured policeman, Rusty finally breaks in to the cell by digging a tunnel in in true prison spoof style! When Big Frank gets wind of his daughter's arrest he arrives in town raging, but after a heart to heart with him Val tells her of her feelings for Rusty, and after a dazzling performance in the local Club the two are finally United with Big Frank's blessing. Girl Happy is silly, sixties fun. It has some funny moments - such as one of the band mates disgust at his girl ditching him for another bloke "Where is he!? If I find him I'll break him in half!" he brags...as the new body building boyfriend appears and whisks her away. An enjoyable, fun film. The girls get Elvis, the guys get Shelley Fabaras and Mary Ann Mobley - everyone's a winner!

Roustabout (1964)

Roustabout Reviewed

[8/10 · 18 July 2015]

Again, one of Elvis' best films - I'd place 'Roustabout' in the Top 6 Elvis movies. The King looks great in it too! Elvis plays Charlie Rogers, a moody, arrogant nightclub singer who after getting fired for being involved in a brawl after a show, is ran off the road the next day by an even moodier father who takes grievance in the motorbike riding Rogers eyeing up his daughter Cathy - played by Joan Freeman, one of the most average looking of the "Elvis Girls". The leading lady in this flick however, is not a pretty young actress for The King to chase, but Hollywood veteran Barbara Stanwyck - one of the finest actresses of her generation. Stanwyck plays Maggie Morgan, Joe's romantic partner as well as owner of a nearby travelling carnival. After being driven off the road by Joe and having his bike put into the garage, "gypsy" (effectively) Elvis is forced to spend the next week with the family at the carnival and help out with the day to day running. Of course after initially being placed on Cat Rack and Candy Floss stands, Maggie soon finds that Rogers' talent is singing and he can certainly draw a crowd. She takes a chance by giving him his own show in one of the tents and the crowds flock to boost the ailing carny, so much so that a mega rich rival from a more modern, upgraded carnival swoops in with his wallet to steal Rogers from them. Rogers had initially pledged to stay with Maggie's carnival - if he indeed decided to stay i carnivals at all - but his hand his forced after several confrontations with the angry and aggressive Joe following Elvis' continued pursuit of his daughter. After Rogers performs several shows at his new "home" and Maggie and Joe's carnival is on the brink of closure due to increasing debts and a decreasing attendance number, Cathy finally wilts and sets off with her tail between her legs to succumb to Rogers' charms, lure him back to their carnival where he brings back the crowds, saves the carnival...and pledges to wed Cathy...to Joe's delight. There's a Brand new day on the horizon after all! There are cameos for Racquel Welch early on as one of the adoring female fans dating one of the guys who starts the brawl outside the Club, and the late Richard Kiel plays "The Tallest Man in the World" in a couple of brief non speaking appearances at Maggie's carnival. The soundtrack is regularly panned alongside the movie but I'm not sure why. The movie itself strays away from the stereotypical Elvis "formula" that critics became so obsessed with, and song wise apart from the obvious two "Carny Town" and "It's Carnival Time" which are both less than a minute anyway, it's a strong soundtrack. "It's a Wonderful World", "Little Egypt", "Big Love, Big Heartache" and "There's a Brand New Day on the Horizon" are obviously no "Always On My Mind" or "Burning Love" but nevertheless solid numbers.

Viva Las Vegas (1964)

Viva Indeed!

[10/10 · 18 July 2015]

Viva Las Vegas is the quintessential Elvis AND Las Vegas movie! I honestly don't believe you have to be an Elvis fan to enjoy this film. Just go with it! It's a fun, enjoyable flick starring the most beautiful male and female leads to ever grace the screen, some great songs...and Las Vegas. What's not to love!? The film is what Vegas is: Pure fun! Shot entirely on location in Las Vegas in the summer of 1963, it contains some great shots of "classic Vegas" such as Fremont Street and a lot of the now no longer standing Hotels on the Las Vegas strip (the Flamingo where Elvis is staying IS still standing but has been imploded and rebuilt in stages over the last 50 years.) Elvis plays race driver Lucky Jackson who's in town for the Las Vegas Grand Prix. When he casts his eyes on the stunning Rusty Martin (Ann- Margret) he begins a chase all over Vegas with fellow racer the Italian Elmo Mancini, trying to track her down. Jackson eventually tracks her down on his own doorstep, so to speak, as she's Pool Manager at the Flamingo. When his pursuit of her ends in tears and an untimely dip in the Flamingo swimming pool, Jackson loses his money therefor the cash to fund his stay AND race car motor. Jackson does however land Rusty, and after a day spent together taking in the various sites of Nevada (such as Hoover Dam and Lake Mead) their "friendship" is strained when they become rivals in the Flamingo Employee Talent Contest where The King performs the memorable title track in attempt to win the money to fund his engine. When that fails, and all he gets is an all expense paid two week honeymoon in Las Vegas, a downcast Elvis and his mechanic receive funding from an unlikely source: Rusty's father. You know what happens, even if you've not seen it! Elvis' guys get the car ready just in time for him to make the starting grid at the last minute....and, yes, 8 hours later in the early hours of the morning, Elvis is returning to Fremont Street as winner of the Las Vegas GP..."Lucky" indeed. And he and Ann-Margret finish the movie by getting married; not a bad weeks work! Viva Las Vegas IS a classic. It's never going to be in the "Casino","Forrest Gump" or "American Beauty" class of movie but if you just want 85 minutes of quick, easy, relaxed fun from a bygone era; this is perfect! I should say that two of my biggest loves in life are Elvis Presley and Las Vegas however so...I may not be biased! Check it out yourself...

Fun in Acapulco (1963)

Acapulco looks nice!!

[8/10 · 18 July 2015]

One of Elvis' best films...well, certainly one of my favourite Elvis films anyway! I'd place this second behind Viva Las Vegas in my list of favourite Elvis flicks. Unfortunately, for some reason Elvis wasn't allowed into Mexico during the filming of 'Fun in Acapulco', and in this day and age with first colour Television and then bigger screens, the fake backgrounds and body stand ins are all too obvious. Nevertheless, it has no influence on the enjoyment or entertainment of the movie. 'Fun in Acapulco' also features two stunning "Elvis Girls" in Elsa Cardenas as a sexy Mexican Bullfighter, and the glorious Ursula Andress a year after her appearance in Dr. No as the ultimate "Bond Girl." After losing his job as a sailor for the rich around the beautiful port of Acapulco, Elvis (as Mike Windgren) under the guidance of a wily 8 year old wannabe Agent ("are you sure you're not a 40 year old midget?") Elvis performs as a singer at one Club while other Clubs managers watch his performances and attempt to hire him. In the process, Elvis is chasing beautiful "Hilton Acapulco" Hotel employee Andress...and having to fend off the attention of Cardenas. Tough life, eh. Throughout the film, Elvis has an obvious fear of heights following the death of a family member "The Flying Windgrens" in a trapeze act accident in which Mike (Elvis) holds himself responsible for. But after feeling guilty for injuring a jealous clifftop diver "Moreno" in a fight, and also being branded a coward by Cardenas for his fear of heights, Mike decides to settle things once and for all. Combat his demons, kill off the coward claims and bury his guilt for wounding Moreno The King entertains the masses by leaping into the ocean from the clifftops...and they all live happily ever after! Moreno gets Cardenas, Elvis gets Ursula Andress AND a job. This is an enjoyable film, and Acapulco looks a beautiful, picturesque place that it's hard to see why it seems to have lost it's pull in recent decades, with tourists flocking to Cancun instead. The soundtrack is good too. Aside from the dodgy "Bullfighter Was a Lady" and "No Room to Rhumba in a Sportscar" the other songs are fabulous. "Vino Dinero Y Amor" is Dean Martin-esque while the arrangement sounds like "Viva Las Vegas" and was recorded just 6 months before the famous Vegas song. The stand out tracks are "Fun in Acapulco" , "Bossa Nova Baby" and "Marguerita". Not only are they good songs but The King is in fine voice too!

It Happened at the World's Fair (1963)

Enjoyable Fare...

[7/10 · 18 July 2015]

'It Happened at the World's Fair' is an enjoyable "rom-com" I think they'd call it today. This was a Movie where Elvis began to hone his comedy performances, something critics picked up on in the late 60's. There are several memorable comedy moments in 'It Happened at the World's Fair. The standout scenes are the two with a 10 year old Kurt Russell in, first where Elvis pays him to kick Elvis in the shin so that he has an excuse to visit the Fair's medical practice and try and woo Nurse, Joan O'Brien, secondly when the two meet again later that night AFTER Elvis has wooed the Nurse, and the young Kurt Russell spills the beans to her that Elvis paid him to kick him in the shins. I also found the scenes where Elvis is faking illnesses to grab the Nurses attention as witty. First the "problem" with his eyes in the clinic, particularly out on the bike where he claims he's feeling dizzy and produces some amusing facial expressions. With the help of a 6 year old Vicky Tiu whom Elvis and his troublesome friend Gary Lockwood are "minding" following the disappearance of her Uncle, Elvis of course manages to get the girl and make it a "Happy Ending"...little Vicky Tiu produces a memorably cute performance throughout. 'It Happened at the World's Fair' is an enjoyable, fast flowing movie that unlike it's predecessor "Girls! Girls! Girls!" maintains the interest level throughout, and produces a few great songs "Happy Ending" and "One Broken Heart For Sale" but the best song by far, is the under rated "They Remind Me Too Much Of You" and the brilliant "video" within the movie that accompanies it. For me it's one of The King's best, most easy to relate to ballads he EVER did - movies or otherwise. Even if you don't watch 'It Happened at the World's Fair' check out "They Remind Me Too Much of You" and the video from the movie on YouTube.

Girls! Girls! Girls! (1962)

Girls! Girls! Girls! Reviewed

[4/10 · 18 July 2015]

Certainly not one of Elvis Presley's best movies, OR soundtracks. 'Return to Sender','I Don't Wanna Be Tied' and a finish of 'Because of Love' are the only half decent songs in this rather boring tale that always fails to keep even me - an ardent Elvis fan - engaged for it's 95 minutes. Even the leading ladies Stella Stevens and Laurel Goodwin aren't particularly glamorous unlike those in other Elvis films. The leading ladies in Elvis films were on a par with the infamous 'Bond Girls' in my opinion, but not in 'Girls! Girls! Girls!'. Indeed, Stevens didn't take to Elvis at all, tried to pull out of filming and claims to have never watched the film... Elvis plays Ross Carpenter - a fisherman harbouring desires to run his own fishing business instead of working for his uptight, arrogant new boss. It's not much of a plot, and as stated, doesn't stand up as a memorable Elvis Movie.

Kid Galahad (1962)

Raging Elvis!

[6/10 · 18 July 2015]

I'm going to go against what I said in a previous review - Blue Hawaii - where I stated that 1960's Wild In The Country would be the last serious role Elvis Presley would play until 1968's 'Charro'. 'Kid Galahad' can hardly be described as "silly" or "lightweight musical comedy". In it, The King plays Walter Gulick - like in Blue Hawaii fresh from 2 years military service - and returns to his hometown to buy a Garage. In the meantime, he needs money, and after boxing for the Army, joins the local boxing academy where his steel jaw and canon fist makes him an asset and sets him off on the road to fame and fortune, and ultimately his own business and a future with fiancée Joan Blackman - his co-star from 'Blue Hawaii'. Once again 'Kid Galahad' showcases Elvis' talents as a serious actor with top actors around him, in this case veterans Gig Young and hardman Charles Bronson. Mushy Callahan trained Elvis for six weeks prior to filming and was impressed with his boxing ability, apparently due to the Karate that Elvis had been studying for 3 years by this point. One amusing story from behind the scenes was during filming and the talk of boxing and karate came up and Elvis in impressing the crew performed an act involving splitting a board in two with one punch, much to Charles Bronson's displeasure...Bronson was then encouraged to show he could do the same...but couldn't! An MGM exec claims "we heard the sound of something breaking but it was not the board..." Of course 'Kid Galahad' isn't in the same class as 'Raging Bull' or 'Rocky' but is arguably better than recent boxing flick 'Grudge Match' if only for it's seriousness, which is improved even further for the sub plot involving Academy School owner Gig Young's financial problems and corruption which leads to threats and scenes of intimidation in the movie. All in all, an enjoyable Movie, a few decent Elvis songs thrown in (only 6 though, less than half the amount that appeared in 'Blue Hawaii') I give 'Kid Galahad' a strong 6 out of 10.

Blue Hawaii (1961)

Blue Hawaii Reviewed

[4/10 · 18 July 2015]

The Elvis Presley Movie formula was created with Blue Hawaii. Both the movie and it's soundtrack were a phenomenal success. 14 songs was by far the most that had been in any Elvis movie up to this point (and he'd already done 7 by now)and not until 1968's 'Charro' would The King play a serious role with no songs. In the lightweight 'Blue Hawaii' Elvis plays Chad Gates, the son of a rich family with their own Pineapple juice company on the beautiful island of Hawaii. After watching this movie and Paradise, Hawaiian Style you'll certainly feel the pull to want to visit America's "50th state". His family want Elvis/Chad to settle down following his return from two years Army service, but fun seeking, laid back Chad has no desire for the easy life at his family business and instead opts to set up his own Tourist company - his first job being taking an attractive teacher and four beautiful female, of course, university students. Three of whom are smitten with the dashing, singing Elvis. The other, a stroppy spoilt girl not interested in the trip at all... Although popular amongst Elvis fans, particularly female Elvis fans, it's not one of my favourites at all. Even the soundtrack is lacklustre. Three great songs - the title track, 'No More' and of course 'Can't Help Falling in Love' but several very poor songs such as 'Ito Eats' and 'Slicin Sand' (both totally unnecassary to the scenes anyway, as there are already songs played around them.)

King Creole (1958)

"Cut my hands off and call me Shorty - Elvis Presley can act..."

[6/10 · 18 July 2015]

Widely regarded as Elvis Presley's best film, 'King Creole' was originally called 'A Stone for Danny Fisher'(based on a novel) with James Dean in the lead role, but the project was shelved in 1955 following Dean's tragic death. This film was what could happen when you gave Presley a serious role with top quality actors around him such as Dean Jagger and Walter Matthau. Presley plays Danny Fisher, a 19 year old in a struggling family of three (he, his sister and their bumbling, struggling father Dean Jagger - who played Mr Land in Game of Death 20 years later.) Danny becomes a nightclub singer at New Orleans dive 'The King Creole' and turns the joint into the hottest club on Bourban Street, much to the annoyance of rival nightclub owner and local mobster Maxi Fields (Matthau) who attempts several underhand tactics to get Danny to join HIS Club as the singer, including having Danny's father beaten up and hospitilized so that he can take care of the medical fees, get Danny onside while also have something over his head - for it was Danny's gang who performed the mugging. In the midst of it all, Danny is torn between two lovers (a typical theme for later Presley movies!) including young Delores Hart (his 'Loving You' co-star.) and Carolyn Jones - Maxi's unhappy girlfriend. The result of it all is a bloodied combat as Danny tries to battle his way -and Carolyn Jones way - out of the mob gang and the lifestyle, so that in the end he can return to the King Creole. Again this is not MY personal favourite Elvis movie, same as 'Loving You', despite their high regard...Presley won rave reviews for his performance and this was the kind of role he craved but would rarely get upon his return from the Army in 1960.

G.I. Blues (1960)

G.I. Blues Reviewed

[8/10 · 18 July 2015]

One of my favourite Elvis movies since I was 6 years old! Having just completed a two year stint in the U.S. Army, Elvis Presley's first movie back was, inevitably I guess, a movie about an American Singer-Soldier stationed in Germany. The leading lady is Frank Sinatra's then girlfriend Juliet Prowse, whom Elvis (as Tulsa McLean) has been bet a small fortune from another division within the Army, that nobody can pull the dancing "iceberg". Being Elvis...a charming, not bad looking individual, Tulsa is nominated to attempt to the pulling and win the money for the troops. Despite a few obstacles, such a house mate who just happens to land Tulsa's best pal within the Army on the same night, Tulsa finally succeeds following a string of dates (and songs!) with the only problem being that he has fallen for the red headed beauty for real, not just for the bet... G.I. Blues is an enjoyable, fun, witty movie with a good pace that flies by. It's backed up even further by Elvis' best soundtrack - G.I. Blues the album was Elvis' best selling album through his career. 'Wooden Heart' was the big hit, but songs such as 'Shoppin' Around' , 'Tonight's So Right For Love' and 'Pocketful of Rainbows' really stand up as some of Elvis' best songs (of many 'best songs'!)

Jailhouse Rock (1957)

Arguably Elvis' Best Film

[7/10 · 17 July 2015]

This is without doubt, one of Elvis' finest films, backed up by a great support cast and awesome soundtrack that underlines the singing range "The King" could offer. (Compare Jailhouse Rock to Young and Beautiful.) Similarly to his previous film, Elvis plays a singer on the rise to fame and fortune. This time, Vince Everett, fresh from a 14 month stint in jail where he meets a (unknowingly dated) musician as his cellmate, who also unknowingly gets Everett into the music idea by performing the odd song for fellow inmates and on a TV show containing entertaining prisoners...hey, it's an Elvis flick, just go with it! On his release from prison, Everett meets attractive 1950's Simon Cowell Judy Tyler - a music mogul - who helps get him started in the industry, including movies. A thoroughly enjoyable flick, regardless of whether you're an Elvis fan or not. The King looks fantastic, there's a memorable Elvis movie scene where after angering Tyler by kissing her against her will she hits out at his underhand "tactics." "Those ain't tactics, honey...it's just the beast in me." Tragically, leading lady Judy Tyler was killed in a car crash with her husband just days before Jailhouse Rock opened in Cinemas.

Loving You (1957)

Top Rock n Roll Movie!

[5/10 · 17 July 2015]

'Loving You' was The King Elvis Presley's second movie (his first in colour) and is a decent fare, if a little dated for 2015, as you'd understandably expect. The film mirrors what was going on in Elvis' real career at that time. A rapid rise to fame, adoring female fans (their agitated boyfriends)and the songs in the film are really good, as are the cast.

Interestingly, the lead female Delores Hart, quit the business a few years after this was made to become a nun, which she still is today. She also appeared opposite Elvis in 1958's 'King Creole'. All in all, although not one of MY personal favourite Elvis movies, 'Loving You' is regarded by most as one of The King's three stand out films, and you can see why.