It should come as no surprise to anyone that, before now, I was only familiar with the two best-regarded of Elvis Presley’s films, namely JAILHOUSE ROCK (1957) and FLAMING STAR (1960). However, since this year marks the 30th anniversary of his death, I made it a point to watch as many of his movies I could lay my hands on…a sort of “it’s now or never” type of situation, if you will!
Actually, I had caught the beginning of this one on local TV several years ago, where it was shown as part of a mini Elvis retrospective. The “citizens vs. missile-base” plot line here is basically the rural version of Leo McCarey’s RALLY ‘ROUND THE FLAG, BOYS! (1958) but, as it turns out, the hillbilly antics get tiresome pretty quickly – especially whenever the man-chasing Kittyhawks turn up, which is too often for my tastes!
The best gag, then, is when Captain Jack Albertson suddenly leaves the farmers’ dinner table – after “Ma” Glenda Farrell describes the stomach-turning contents of the “delicious” meal he has just partaken of, and “Pappy” Arthur O’Connell asks his soldier kin Elvis if something has come up, to which the latter matter-of-factly quips, “Not yet, but I think it might”! For what it’s worth, the songs are variable and unmemorable (except, perhaps, for the title tune) and even Farrell gets her own maudlin number!
This film is perhaps best-known for offering a dual role for The King, one of whom is a brown-haired layabout, but this eventually leads to an unintentionally hilarious ending where the two characters share the screen doing a number, but every time one sings, the other conveniently turns his back to the camera and a longshot exposes Elvis’ double all-too-clearly!
Actually, I had caught the beginning of this one on local TV several years ago, where it was shown as part of a mini Elvis retrospective. The “citizens vs. missile-base” plot line here is basically the rural version of Leo McCarey’s RALLY ‘ROUND THE FLAG, BOYS! (1958) but, as it turns out, the hillbilly antics get tiresome pretty quickly – especially whenever the man-chasing Kittyhawks turn up, which is too often for my tastes!
The best gag, then, is when Captain Jack Albertson suddenly leaves the farmers’ dinner table – after “Ma” Glenda Farrell describes the stomach-turning contents of the “delicious” meal he has just partaken of, and “Pappy” Arthur O’Connell asks his soldier kin Elvis if something has come up, to which the latter matter-of-factly quips, “Not yet, but I think it might”! For what it’s worth, the songs are variable and unmemorable (except, perhaps, for the title tune) and even Farrell gets her own maudlin number!
This film is perhaps best-known for offering a dual role for The King, one of whom is a brown-haired layabout, but this eventually leads to an unintentionally hilarious ending where the two characters share the screen doing a number, but every time one sings, the other conveniently turns his back to the camera and a longshot exposes Elvis’ double all-too-clearly!