Elvis Presley: The Movies - Appreciation Thread

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Bink, Aug 22, 2021.

  1. croquetlawns

    croquetlawns Forum Resident

    Location:
    Scotland
    Watching the trailer, I was thinking that maybe I hadn't seen this film until Elvis diving off the cliff was shown - that obviously made an impression on my pre-teen mind but nothing else!

    I'm currently listening to the soundtrack and, on the one hand it's nice to have an Elvis album in a very different style, but on the other it's not a style that does a lot for me. Side one is also a chore as Elvis is pretty much in light opera mode for every track, making it a bit repetitive. Also, is the title song the worse Elvis title song ever? Bossa Nova Baby is great, and a couple of other songs are OK - I like Guadalajara for some reason! The two non-film songs really raise the overall standard of the album.
     
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  2. Bink

    Bink Forum Resident Thread Starter

    It's funny that you mention the diving - I remember watching this film a few times when I was a child. My memories of the film was that it was 'a diving film'. However when I watched it again yesterday, I realised how little diving there was!

    I don't mind the music in the context of the film and quite liked hearing Elvis sing in a different style.

    Something that jumps out at me from watching the film - Elvis was 'persona non grata' in Mexico and was apparently banned from the country, following a couple of riots at the screening of a couple of his earlier films. This ban was not lifted until 1971. Therefore he was not able to film on location. So where you see Elvis in front of locations it is clear that he has been superimposed into the scene!
     
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  3. You mean he really didn’t dive off that cliff? ;)

    Fun In Acapulco is a bit of a guilty pleasure in that I enjoy it far more than I should. In part because some of the music numbers look great and it’s an interesting cast, at least in part. The change in song styles works for me too.
     
  4. RSteven

    RSteven Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookings, Oregon
    Wow, once again Shawn and I seem to have the exact same opinion on the Fun In Acapulco movie as well as the soundtrack. It is another formula travelogue lightweight movie and yet it does have a bit of charm to it, especially during some of the musical sequences. Bossa Nova Baby is a great gem and also one of Elvis's most iconic movie performances. Elvis definitely has his own style of dancing and Elvis impersonators have tried to copy those movements for many decades, yet they can never seem to quite pull it off, Lol.

    I use to consider soundtrack recordings like this one to be lightweight fodder and for many years I mistakenly tried to avoid them at all costs. Fun In Acapulco is now one of my favorite soundtracks, not because it is the equal to King Creole or Jailhouse Rock, but because Elvis's voice was simply fantastic and the Herb Alpert influence brass arrangements are a hoot to hear. You also have two of my very favorite Don Robertson songs once again; The majestic Love Me Tonight and the rhythmic I Think I'm Going To Like It Here. Now let us take a look and listen to that iconic performance of Bossa Nova Baby Elvis's leg movements and the way he backs up to play that organ with one hand always puts a smile on my face. Elvis was cool before they even invented the word, Lol.

     
  5. Jayson Wall

    Jayson Wall Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Bossa Nova Baby is my favorite Elvis song----god knows why, but no matter when I hear it, I turn it up and sing along (doesn't matter what version they play on Elvis Radio--so if you see a guy with a top-down in a '18 Mustang, singing this song on the 405, you know it's me LOL)---just a fun number---as for Fun In Acapulco, it's an OK film (I own a 16mm print and the one-sheet hangs in my office), yet there is an odd charm about this one for me. The soundtrack is a total guilty pleasure, and for a 60's soundtrack, I spin this and Spinout the most.
     
    Last edited: Oct 3, 2021
  6. Wow I bet that print looks great! Some of the scenes have great use of lighting/colors so would be awesome to see via film.
     
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  7. Great minds think alike, that’s all I gotta say my friend!
     
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  8. RSteven

    RSteven Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookings, Oregon
    I like both of those soundtracks as well. Everyone seems to like the bonus tracks on Fun In Acapulco and Spinout, but I find the actual soundtrack songs pretty listenable too. Even a song like There's No Room To Rhumba In A Sports Car, which rock critics use to mock mercilessly back in the 1970's, has something kind of catchy going on in its perky melody, and if you don't try to compare it to In The Ghetto or Suspicious Minds, you can actually enjoy it's intended double entendre and humorous lyrics in the context of the film or even without viewing the film.

     
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  9. Bink

    Bink Forum Resident Thread Starter

    I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here:

     
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  10. DISKOJOE

    DISKOJOE Boredom That You Can Afford!

    Location:
    Salem, MA
    I was just reading the April 1964 edition of The Beatles Book (via the World Radio History website) which had a story about the Beatles' first trip to the US, which included a trip to a local drive in Miami. Guess what movie they saw there? It was Fun In Acapulco.
     
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  11. Bink

    Bink Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Marguerita:

     
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  12. croquetlawns

    croquetlawns Forum Resident

    Location:
    Scotland
    For some reason I enjoyed that - perhaps hearing the tracks back-to-back is my issue o_O
     
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  13. I gained a newfound respect for the soundtrack LP a couple/three years ago when I acquired a bootleg of outtakes which I really enjoyed (far more than I anticipated). Of course, that was superseded by the excellent complete sessions FTD release. But I get that that one might be easier to take in smaller doses.
     
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  14. croquetlawns

    croquetlawns Forum Resident

    Location:
    Scotland
    I have briefly looked at the FTD - I enjoy the 3 CD Viva Las Vegas - but I just don't think I'd get enough out of it to justify the cost!
     
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  15. Understandable! 17 takes of The Bullfighter Was A Lady certainly isn’t for everyone / is an, ahem, ‘acquired’ taste ;)
     
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  16. JamieC

    JamieC Senior Member

    Location:
    Detroit Mi USA
    A serious case of self abuse.
     
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  17. croquetlawns

    croquetlawns Forum Resident

    Location:
    Scotland
    It's a bit hard understanding him putting that much effort into some of those songs...
     
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  18. Grand_Ennui

    Grand_Ennui Forum Resident

    Location:
    WI
    He could be a perfectionist...
     
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  19. croquetlawns

    croquetlawns Forum Resident

    Location:
    Scotland
    Oh I agree, and I'm glad that he put the effort in... but when you think of some of the 70s material where he often seems disengaged and doesn't try many takes, one wonders how he could have been so engaged as to try 17 takes of The Bullfighter Was a Lady! I guess it shows how he lost interest over time.
     
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  20. Bink

    Bink Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Despite the general feeling about Elvis' movies in retrospect, including from the man himself, I suspect he threw himself into making each movie hoping that it would be the vehicle that would capture the public imagination and allow him to prove himself as an actor.

    When he started working on Fun In Acapulco for example, he may well have reasoned that he had not previously performed songs with a Mexican flavour and relished the change of style.

    I think it's easy with hindsight to wonder why he put so much effort into something that offered only minimal returns but when he was in that moment I imagine he may have looked at things differently.
     
  21. SgtPepper1983

    SgtPepper1983 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Berlin, Germany
    In regards to their own upcoming filming, I guess they thought "That's what we won't do!".
     
  22. And then they did Help… which isn’t much more than an Elvis travelogue with a ridiculous plot (a sacred ring stuck on - wait for it - Ringo’s finger) except with a big budget.
     
  23. SgtPepper1983

    SgtPepper1983 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Berlin, Germany
    Yeah, Help the movie is the worst thing they did as a 'thing', for sure.
     
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  24. mBen989

    mBen989 Senior Member

    Location:
    Scranton, PA
    Since Warners did that big reissue campaign of Elvis' films on DVD in 2007, you should know this campaign coincides with a run of bad discs pressed in my neck of the woods at Cinram Olyphant, the former Specialty Records.

    Users on the Home Theater Forum have reported dual layer discs from this time period have crapped out following the layer
    change.

    Affected discs were:
    • Originally released between 2006 and 2008
    • Mould code: IFPI 2U** (this is right above the spindle hole on the data side)
    • Master code: IFPI L906 / IFPI L907 / IFPI L908
     
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  25. sixtiesstereo

    sixtiesstereo Senior Member

    Location:
    Wisconsin
    Well, except for the "Magical Mystery Tour" film, which is nearly unwatchable today.
     

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