1h 39min | Comedy, Musical | 4 December 1967 | Color, ws
Director: Arthur H. Nadel
Stars: Elvis Presley, Shelley Fabares, Will Hutchins, Bill Bixby, Gary Merrill, James Gregory.
Lance LeGault ... assistant to choreographer
Alex Romero ... choreographer
Watched online, distorted print (cropped then stretched).
8 songs in the Soundtracks.
In the song where WH sings alternately with EP (about Money), the dubber is much too good to come out of WH's mouth.
EP seems to be interacting with at least 1 child in each film for a while now. Wish I'd been tracking it. Here it's only 1 number, with a bunch of kids, and the song is verrrrry close to High Hopes, certainly in cadence. He's very sweet with kids.
This is now my 3rd favorite EP film. He looks the same as usual, but somehow the girls aren't drawn like flies. He's attracted to SF, but she's after BB for his $. Don't know why she's ignoring WH, who's pretending to be the oil heir that is really EP.
EP's values here are that he wants a woman who loves him, not his $, and he wants to earn a VP position in the family company, not just get it handed to him. He's got a degree in engineering, an interest in speedboats, develops a new resin to strengthen boat hulls, passes as a water ski instructor, and sings spontaneously, sometimes at social events.
Really nice scene and subsequent number: EP adjusts how SF is made up prior to a date with BB, sings You Don't Know Me to himself after she leaves. It's the first use of Eddy Arnold's song in film, but EA has several Soundtrack credits on TV shows dating back to '60, so I think EA himself made it a hit.
GM as the underdog boat's owner is very effective, expressing his paternal feelings toward EP, whose father JG is also in the film. JG also expresses pride in EP, much to his surprise.
distr. UA, dir. Nadel; 7-
