I liked Kid Galahad as a pleasant, summertime kinda of movie. It was interesting to see Charles Bronson without a Fu Manchu mustache. Bink, the "fresh out of the various branches of the military" be an Elvis Movie Cliche from here on end.
I can’t keep up with this thread, I only finished watching Follow That Dream last night! Anyway some brief thoughts on it… I watched the Twilight Time Blu-ray which looks far better than any other home video presentation I’ve seen. Decent mono sound too. As others have mentioned, Elvis is very good - he is natural, and his timing with the occasionally witty dialog is spot-on. Arthur O’Connell kinda steals the show though, he seems really invested in the character (far more so than the script deserves). Speaking of the script, it has some good moments and some average ones but my issue is that it can’t seem to make up its mind whether it’s a comedy, musical, satire or drama. And surprised to hear the word ‘sex’ in it! But it does work, it just might have been better with more focus to a genre. The courtroom scene is a strong highlight, Elvis is fantastic here and makes me wish all the more that he had the opportunity to pursue bigger and better roles. Can you imagine Elvis in the role of Brick in Cat On A Hot Tin Roof? He would have done that role proud. Elvis also apparently has the strength of Superman as he lifts a car full of luggage and people over the downed tree. Spotted a couple continuity errors where Elvis’ outfit changes between jeans and shorts somewhat early on at the homestead scene. Best Elvis line ‘if you don’t know that Judge, you ain’t no Judge.’
Quick question on the back of @Shawn 's post - I have been posting about each film every few days so we cover 2 films per week. I would be happy to pull this back to one a week if that's what everyone would prefer.
Oh I’m more than fine with the pace of the thread (although will gladly go with what a majority prefer regardless) - it’s just my schedule has been busier than usual and at the moment it’s tough to watch the films along w/the thread. It’ll get a bit easier soon though as I’ve seen several of the upcoming movies recently so won’t need a refresher.
It takes less time if there is only a few songs. Whats coming will be chock a block with tunes(for good or ill).
Forgot to mention in my post that this scene completely wastes such an awesome song. They have him singing it while lying down??? At one point it appears he might actually get up but nope, he just rolls over. And throw in a back-scratch for good measure. I’d have loved a more energized performance worthy of this track.
Yep, after "King Creole" (that TROUBLE scene) there would be no proper and effective song/dance sequence until RETURN TO SENDER, some 4 years later. What a waste!
The Kid Galahad soundtrack always puts a smile on my face. I love the happy, carefree character of these songs. I enjoy the movie as well.
Agree totally, but I always felt Elvis was good at comedy. Drama, not so much. I don't think I've ever seen Elvis portray anger in a convincing fashion in any movie, ever with the possible exception of Jailhouse Rock. I think JR is his finest performance ( yes, better than the imo overrated King Creole) along with FTD. The court scene in FTD was one of Elvis' best and most convincing dramatic moments on screen.
It's easy to see why the movies progressed the way they did when you see how much the box office dropped for every dramatic movie he did.
i agree it's ludicrous and secondly he wasn't portraying a native American he was portraying a half breed, so now we'd really have to limit the search of actors who could fill the role
I enjoy hte Roustabout soundtrack but Elvis didn't sound very good on it. Some of the faster numbers his voice sounded too high and tinny to me.
I think he was too far gone at that point to rally to any challenge. Even a world tour wouldn't have done it .
Together with Viva Las Vegas, Kid Galahad was the first time I ever saw Elvis in motion, so it holds a special place for me. Also, is it just me or is King Of The Whole Wide World the last song one can hear vocal traces of his 50s edge? And I Got Lucky should be banished for its ear-candyness, for it's slight and fluffy but this to perfection.
The 50s edge eas to be heard one last time in the "Girls, girls, girls" soundtrack, on I don't Wanna Be Tied, Return To Sender, We're Comin' In Loaded and on the title song.
Wouldn't surprise me - I have noticed a few of the same actors in the films we have looked at so far.
