Two indisputable Elvis classics bolster this six-pack of Kingly films, with special emphasis on Elvis as race-car driver (three pictures feature this fave filmic occupation). Everybody loves Jailhouse Rock, the third movie in the Presley filmography. It's a kicky tale about a jailbird who learns to be a rock & roll singer in prison (a plot not at all crazy by later Elvis standards). The film catches Elvis in the freshness of being the New Thing, and his rave-up to the title tune is an exultant announcement that rock and roll just bashed down the front door of popular culture.
It Happened at the World's Fair jumps ahead five years, the Elvis formula set. Location shooting at the futuristic Seattle World's Fair of 1962 lends a quirky backdrop, and check out the young Kurt Russell (future inhabitor of the Elvis persona) kicking the King in the shins. Viva Las Vegas is the other consensus classic: EP plays a race-car driver waiting tables in Sin City, sparking big time with Ann-Margret. The two stars generate some heat, and the theme song has inspired many a road trip. No such trip will be inspired by Harum Scarum, a mad comedy set in the Middle East. Elvis is kidnapped while touring, and a lame spoof of Rudolph Valentino movies ensues.
It's back to the race track for the remaining pair. Spinout places the King in the direct path of three marriage-minded women, but he prefers his car and his guitar. Dumb plot, but the songs at least are agreeably rocking. Speedway has a slimmed-down Elvis and a groovy nightclub hangout, plus the ineffable Nancy Sinatra--there's some terrific kitsch value in this one. --Robert Horton More...
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