I just want to announce that I'm discontinuing my tradition of reviewing Elvis films on the day that he was born and the day that he died due scheduling
purposes and time. I still plan to review his films in the future, I just don't
have the time to fit two of his movies a year in my schedule, especially with
considering the negative reputation that his films received. I know I said in the past that I'd also documentaries about him, and some of his filmed concerts as well which are far from bad
from his formulaic films, and that half of them are under an hour long; but
once again, I still feel like putting the series to rest so that I can have
time to review other films. I do heavily admire Elvis since he is personally my
favorite artist of all-time in spite of what others may think. I even make it a
tradition that I would listen to his music and watch one of his concerts or
films during my down-time on both his Birthday and the day of his death in
memory of this music legend. But that doesn't mean that I have to completely obsess
over him. I'm not the type of Elvis fan that feels the need to buy almost every
piece of merchandise of his that I can get my hands on; or listen to his music
on a day to daily basis. I haven't even seen most of his films either, and
while I expect the song portions to be the saving grace for at least half of
these movies, I'm not expecting the content or even Elvis' performance itself to
be that great either, that will also more than likely lead to criticisms that
may not be appropriate to point out on the days that we're supposed to look
back and remember him fondly.
But before I put an official cap to this review tradition,
I'm going to review one more film of his for his Birthday that just so happens
to be an Elvis film that I would find myself re-watching and remembering the
most when I was a young Elvis fan, which was...
When Elvis was filming "King Creole", he was
drafted into the army, and was originally going to be positioned as an entertainer
for the soldiers. Elvis turned down the offer because we wanted to be treated
like a regular soldier so that he can serve his country faithfully, and only asked to be given a 60-day extension from his draft board to finish filming the film
before his induction. The board accepted his request, and after giving
"King Creole" his all before being sent away, Elvis was officially
inducted into the army and served for his country for two years. Eight months
before being discharged, Producer Hal Wallis visited him in Germany to show him
a script for his next film "G.I. Blues", while also managing to film
some on location scenes of "Germany" without Elvis' presence, and used a double for Elvis who also served in the army as a First Class
Private named Tom Creel. After given a bit of break when Elvis was discharged, it was back to work for him and filming for his scenes began. Though the Elvis film formula didn't exactly
pick-up until sometime after "Blue Hawaii" since the success of that
film is what lead to Elvis from doing less serious and challenging roles;
"G.I. Blues" in the very least was the start of that formula and the
first time he collaborated with director Norman Taurog, who would go on to direct 7
Elvis films after this (including "Blue Hawaii"). And despite my
nostalgia for it and how this film is the start of the trend that Elvis would
become a victim to, is it a good movie; ON WITH THE REVIEW!
Elvis stars as G.I. Tulsa McLean who's stationed in Germany
with his two friends and fellow musicians Rick (James Douglas) and Cookie (Robert
Ivers) that serve and perform for their troops at Gasthauses and the
army base as they flirt with women, and con their sergeant (Arch Johnson) for
money in hopes for them to run a club in America when they get out of the
service. In order to raise more money, the soldier's bet on Tulsa to hook up
with a hard to get German club dancer named Lili (Juliet Prowse) and stay in
her apartment alone until morning before the week is out. Things start off
rocky for Tulsa to woo her, but she eventually comes around to his charm, and
Tulsa begins to start having a legitimate affection towards her as he starts to
feel guilty for taking the bet.
So yes, incase if you haven't noticed, the film's plot is as
basic, simple, and predictable as a romantic plot can get, with little to no
actual surprises. The only real surprise is how the film manages to rush
through Lili finding out about the bet and having the two break-up and make-up
in about 10 minutes or less at the very same time and place, which could've
easily been the entire 3rd act of the film! And that's funny because with a
film titled "G.I. Blues" that has Elvis in the army after he served for his country and starred in a dark and gritty musical film, you'd expect this film to have a bit of an
edge to it, whether it be Elvis dealing with post-war stress, or in the very least having a few scenes that deal with the harsh realities of
war. But this film is as far away from that kind of drama as Germany is far away from Memphis,
Tennessee. Honestly, we see very little of Elvis and the other characters
part-take in actual military activity. We see Elvis March, wear a uniform along
with his fellow troops, and fire a tank (I'm not sure why, since there's no
fighting. I guess it was because the people behind the film wanted a scene with
army tanks in action since the army actually lent some of their vehicles for
the picture); but that's pretty much it. We're mostly just seeing Elvis and the
soldiers make bets, goof around, sing at local places, explore the sights of
Germany, and hit on the girls. It's highly obvious that the reason why they
wanted to make a film with Elvis in the army is to simply bank off the fact that he
just came back from the service, and therefore would gain audiences attention to see this film.
However, just because the plot is clichéd and that the film
doesn't really take the G.I. part of the film seriously, that doesn't
automatically make it a bad film. Much like when I reviewed "Holiday Inn" that wasn't heavy on plot, but is still highly enjoyable for the
casting, performances, songs, look, and having plenty of charm and fun to it;
this Elvis film falls under that same kind of category of musical film
entertainment. Unlike some of Elvis' later films, Elvis doesn't seem to be
half-baking his performance, or not having any fun. You can plainly see from
start to finish that he enjoys playing up his cool Elvis charm as he flirts
with the ladies, and sings and dances. But the scenes that I find to be his best is how he remains cool but funny at the same time when he reacts and
handles tough situations. You'll have his moments when he acts playfully cool
and suave when he hustles money out of the sergeant who's always nosing into
his business, as he makes snarky remarks about his superior behind his back. But scenes
when his friend Cookie foolishly interferes with his chances of hooking up with
Lili, or when he has to watch over a baby for a friend, where he’s shown holding
himself back from losing his chill image are incredibly priceless, which shows
that Elvis can play off the comedy surrounding the film extraordinary
well. And while Elvis enjoys playing up
all the things that we enjoy about him, just like in all his previous films he
doesn't lack the emotion that's needed for a scene when he starts to
legitimately love the girl. He brings so much subtlety to the character's emotions of being both
happy and upset,
that you completely buy that he is torn about using such a nice girl for his own selfish needs.
But it's not Elvis alone who we feel for, because Juliet Prowse
comes across as just as charming as he is. Sure she looks beautiful, and speaks
in that sexy German accent, but beauty of course isn't everything. You need to
have a love interest who is as equally charming and interesting as your
protagonist otherwise it doesn’t work, and she most certainly has all of those aspects.
She can be tough, tricky, and serious to show that she is a woman who has her limitations,
and is not to be toyed with it. But as we get to know her more, and see her
relationship with Elvis blossom, she can surprisingly be very kind, sweet, and
even giddy. And the chemistry that she shares with Elvis is absolutely
adorable. Despite knowing where everything is going to lead up too, I was so
attached to the relationship between these two for how they interact with one
another that I didn't care. Personally, out of all the love interests that
Elvis has encountered in his previous films, this was the relationship that I
was totally on board with. Debra Paget in "Love Me Tender" was
forgettable. Dolores Hart in "Loving You" and "King Creole"
is cute, but not what I'd call special in terms of a relationship. And Judy Tyler
in "Jailhouse Rock" was great, but Elvis' character was just a little
too unlikable for me to say that they should be together. With Elvis and Prowse
on the other hand, with the exception of the rushed climax, everything else
regarding Elvis' connection to Lili all comes off as natural as they both bring
such glamorous performances to such likable characters. I still stand-by
"King Creole" as being Elvis' best film, but so far this is the best
Elvis film to carry out its romantic element so beautifully.
Since Prowse is best known for her dancing, she's given two
scenes of her showing off her skills where she manages to light up the single
stage setting with her moves, costumes, and the beautiful choice of the colors for the stage lights shining
on her. However, as grand as her scenes are, they don't hold the same candle
for when Elvis starts singing and shaking. The film is as flooded with so many
songs as his previous three films were, and while many of them come off as
pointless and even out of nowhere, they're all still very enjoyable. Being that
the film is army based, it would be more than appropriate to give Elvis an army
song to sing, but instead of getting one, we get three. The first of the three
is the film's title song where he performs it with his band at a Gasthause,
that's has an excellent combination of rock and the type of music that you'd
hear at an army base, and carries the same kind of catchy and satirical
lyrics that you'd hear in the song "Jailhouse Rock". This is also the
first song sequence that Elvis gets in the film which is the perfect way to
start out the musical bits. It is however not the first time he sings in the
movie since we see him in the shower briefly singing "What's She Really
Like", but it doesn't necessarily count as a musical scene since it's sung
in less than a minute in a very casual way, and doesn't really have any of the
elements that make it become a musical sequence. The second army song is
"Frankfort Special", that Elvis sings on the train with his army
buddies after accepting the bet. It doesn't quite have that army sound like the
song "G.I. Blues" did since its more rock and blues based, but the
lyrics revolve around the soldiers heading to a new part of Germany for them to
serve and march, so it does count. The song itself is just as catchy as the
film's title song, and is highly energizing for its rhythm, choir, and the
feeling of riding on a fast train with Elvis thanks to its setting, shots of the
train, and the horns in the background mimicking the sound of a train
whistle. The final army song that Elvis sings is "Didja' Ever" that's
also the last song of the movie where Elvis sings at a show held at the army
base that has more of an army tune when compared to the previous song, and is
an excellent song to close the film with, despite the bit of Elvis walking and
singing to the audience looking a little too similar to the scene in
"Loving You" when he sings "Got A Lot Of Livin' To Do" a
second time, which also happens to be the last song of that movie.
Outside of the other songs that I've mentioned, the only
other rock tune that Elvis sings is "Shopping Around" when he
performs it at the club where Lili works at, that's rockin and toe-tapping, but
also cute and romantic. Most of the other songs in the film are love ballads. The
first one that comes to mind is "Pocketful of Rainbows" that's
beautifully chilling and even atmospheric for how sweetly Elvis and Prowse
cuddle with each other inside the sky-rail and pass by gorgeous scenery as
Elvis sings, and a dubbed Prowse sings the choir of it. And before I tackle on
the rest of the songs in this movie, I just to take this moment to point out
how gorgeous the film looks. It's nowhere near big or epic, if anything it
looks like almost any other average comedy or musical that you'd see from that
era, but it's still very appealing to look at. We do get some wonderful on
location shots of Germany; and a strong sense of patriotism for when we enter
the Military camps, and see tanks and American flags appear on-screen. The film
also has some nice costume designs for the uniforms that we see the soldier's
wear, and the dresses that Prowse and the girls in the city wear for them to
stand-out and mash well with the rest of the film's art direction. But the best scenes that make
the film so nice to look at that it helps add to the festive and innocent tone
that the film creates are the sets for the musical numbers, such as the
Gasthause, the army stage, the clubs and restaurants, and the puppet theater.
They look so pretty and colorful from the lighting, and the way that they are painted
and designed that as you watch Elvis put on a show as people clap or dine, you yourself wish to be in
that particular environment for how fun it looks. And that's not to say that these
set-pieces don't look like sets at times, because they do, but that still
doesn't ruin the visual interest for those scenes.
Now getting back to the songs. I talked about the song
"Pocketful of Rainbows" being both a beautiful love-ballad and scene,
but the others in that category, though not bad and are nicely sung, aren't too memorable. "Tonight Is So Right For Love" for when Elvis
serenades Lili at a restaurant is the most forgettable tune in the movie, as
the scene itself feels a bit redundant given that we just saw Elvis not less
than 10 minutes ago perform for Lili at the club and playing a guitar. And the song "Doing The Best I Can" that Elvis performs after "G.I.
Blues" at the Gasthause is nothing special, that even gets interrupted by
a G.I. (played by the same actor who portrayed the rude old looking teenager
that fought Elvis in "Loving You") who plays a newly recorded version
"Blue Suede Shoes" on the jukebox (that actually has Elvis' name
labeled underneath the song) that breaks into a riot. I guess the film itself
got so bored with that number for how bland it was, that they needed something
to liven the scene up. The rest of the songs that Elvis performs in the film
are songs that he sings for children. He sings a lullaby called "Big
Boots" to a baby, which always brings a smile on my face for how sweet and
calmly Elvis sings to the baby, that's carried by such a heartwarming melody and
tender lyrics that it sends the levels of cuteness in the scene through the roofs. But the most memorable scene and song that involves
Elvis singing to children goes to the "Wooden Heart" number, where
Elvis takes part in a puppet show and interacts with a sweet little female
puppet in front of a crowd of children. Apart from the song itself being one
Elvis' most notable hits, the scene itself has just the perfect balance of
charm, innocence, and humor for it to be such an endearing scene.
When it comes to the cast supporting our two lovers they're
in the long run hit and miss. There are some fun characters that are fun to be
around for how comical they are such as Cookie who screws things-up, and their
strict sergeant who meddles into their business but always gets the short end
of the stick when he wants his cut. But then you have the other G.I. Rick who
leaves little to no impression on you; and the girl's that Elvis' friends meet
who only exist to be an obstacle or a plot device. That’s not to say the love
subplots with the G.I.'s isn't cute at times, because Robert Ivers' chemistry
with Letícia Román as the Greek woman Tina is nice. It's just that these love subplots
overall aren't as interesting or charming as the film's main love story, especially
the one regarding Rick and his ex-girlfriend who he's been trying to locate for a long period of time.
If you're seeking for an Elvis film that's not heavy with plot, but has plenty of entertainment value to it, then "G.I. Blues" is a must see in that category. It doesn't tackle on any of the dark, challenging, and serious stuff that Elvis has done in musical films before this one, but it's still a fun and innocent film, with plenty of charm, humor, eye-appealing visuals, and catchy songs which all in the end comes off as great entertainment!
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