Girls Girls Girls (1962)
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Movie Reviews of Girls Girls Girls (1962)
Movie Review: tuna-fishermen, nightclub stars and "girls girls girls"
Summary: 3 Stars
GIRLS! GIRLS! GIRLS! isn't one of Elvis Presley's most distinguished screen outings; but it provides a pleasant diversion nevertheless.
Set amongst the islands of Hawaii, Presley plays tuna-fisherman/tour-guide Ross Carpenter, trying to make ends meet so he can buy his dream boat and go into business for himself. Adding complications is Carpenter's love triangle with two very different dames: jaded nightclub singer Robin (Stella Stevens), and young heiress Laurel (Laurel Goodwin), who's looking to experience life on the other side of the social divide.
Presley gets to sing no less than fourteen(!) musical numbers. Laurel Goodwin (a snub-nosed Debbie Reynolds clone) is quite pretty but fails to make any lasting impression. Producers really dropped a clanger in letting vivacious Stella Stevens go to waste in a thankless supporting role; she deserved better material here. Stevens' singing was dubbed by Gilda Maiken.
With it's exotic location filming and the charm of Presley, GIRLS! GIRLS! GIRLS! will be a welcome title for fans, yet others will wonder what the fuss is all about. The DVD offers no extra features. (Single-sided, dual-layer disc).
Movie Review: Elvis! Elvis! Elvis!
Summary: 3 Stars
Elvis Presley energizes the screen in this formulaic musical-comedy from producer Hal Wallis. "Girls! Girls! Girls!" (1962) does not rank among the King's finest efforts, yet his engaging performance goes a long way toward redeeming a humdrum script. The uneven soundtrack includes two memorable songs from Otis Blackwell and Winfield Scott: the smash hit "Return to Sender" and the underrated "We're Comin' in Loaded." Amazingly enough, "Girls! Girls! Girls!" received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Motion Picture Musical (but lost to "The Music Man").Movie Review: The Only Thing Sillier Than Elvis's Singing Was His Acting
Summary: 1 Stars
Elvis Presley has to be the greatest mass media produced scam of all time. Only in America could a hillbilly who literally had an IQ under 80 make it to icon status. Presley had a second grader's vocabulary, and sang nothing but three chord, twelve bar juvenile songs that required no breath control or technical skill. The only thing sillier than his songs were his films, like "Girls, Girls, Girls," which are the most formulaic, mindless [junk] ever put on film. All of these exercises in childishness are interchangeable---"Girls, Girls, Girls," "Spin-out," "Clambake,", etc. He did not make a single film that could be remotely described as sophisticated fare. He never acted in a substantial dramatic role or in a comedy that rose above the fun-for-the-feeble mentality. For that matter, when did he ever sing a classic American pop standard ballad or jazz tune? A Cole Porter, Richard Rogers, or Hoagy Carmichael tune was far beyond his limited vocal acumen----in part because such a song would have required 'Ol Elvis to change keys, tempos, and modulate among flats, sharps, diminished, and extended chords---I doubt Presley even knew the meanings of these musical terms. For how many years and how many times did he repeat the same three-chord, twelve bar formula of "Hound Dog? and "Heartbreak Hotel?" A million times. Even as a 42 year old man he stood in Las Vegas on stage with a ridiculous pompadour piled up a foot atop his head, sunglasses that looked like leftover gag spectacles from vaudeville, sideburns that put even the hickiest of the "Hee Haw" regulars to shame , and popping buttons galore in front of his fans because of his gargantuan symmetry due to his utter lack of self-discipline. This travesty reached its apex as he growled and groaned the same three chord nonsense over and over and over again. Indeed, in his final years he sang as though he were constipated. No announciation, no tonality, no breath control. The band provided the only sound that was legitimate and palatable (albeit simplistic) while Presley emitted undecipherable lyrics in a barely identifiable monotone hum. Kind of like the sound your refrigerator makes late at night. This is singing? Every once and awhile he would grace the listening audience with a bar or two of a pseudo-bass voice that sounded impressive to musical neophytes but was easily recognized by true musicians as veneer with no substance. Did he ever hold a note on key for longer than five seconds? The plots of his films were so contrived as to be mindless. Despite his inability to play even basic scales on a guitar, the instrument was omnipresent. Predictably in virtually all of his films, a guitar would inexplicably and mysteriously materialize in the oddest of places----in a row boat, on top of a mountain, in the bathtub, etc., without regard for plot or believability. Forget the fact that Presley couldn't carry a tune on guitar across the street. In truth, not only was Presley a dimwit of very marginal talent, but he wasn't even the best of the rockabilly performers. For instance, Carl Perkins, who was self-admittedly no Beethoven, wrote songs, played a great guitar, and sang in a powerful tenor-near-baritone voice---and he was singing the three chord stuff years before Presley (who wrote no songs and played no instruments in even a remotely legitimate manner---they'd have him pose with a guitar for photos now and then to fool gullible fans into believing that his strumming on film was the real thing). Even Gene Vincent had a more subtle, tonally superior voice than Presley. As for serious popular vocalists like Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Bobby Darin, Ella Fitzgerald, Mel Torme, Peggy Lee, etc.....Presley wasn't even in the same league. In fact, he wasn't even in the same hemisphere. He was an impressionable, uneducated, unsophisticated kid who looked good to young girls while shaking his hips on stage; and because of his lack of intelligence, he was easy prey for Colonel Tom Parker and the other shrewdies and shysters who manufactured him into a national idol and then exploited him until he became a sad caricature of himself. As P.T. Barnum once said, "Never underestimate the stupidity of the American people." Elvis Presley, whose sideburns were far more conspicuous than either his intelligence or talent, is a supreme case in point. "Thank you. Thank you very much. Now somebody pass me some more of them peanut butter and banana sandwiches and sweet potato pie! Hey, that thing you're holding, is that a guitar? Hey, won't somebody show me how to get a C chord on this guitar contraption,...huh...huh...huh? Hey, somebody hand me my buttons from my multi-colored sequined costume----they're popping all over the place! By the way, have my sideburns completely encircled my face yet? Huh, huh, huh? Hey, once this concerto...er...concert or whatever you call it is over, let's say we hop into my pickup truck, grab a sixpack, and mosey on over to the wrestling match! We sure is a sophisticated bunch, ain't we?" Long live the King! Elvis, may I have your autograph? What's that? You don't remember if you know how to write? What's that? The King has left the building and headed out to McDonalds?Movie Review: What An Actor! A Thespian of Titanic Proportions!
Summary: 1 Stars
Don't hesitate a moment before purchasing the classic "Girls, Girls, Girls!" Elvis, the King of Kings---the grand, high, exhalted, mystic ruler of all of Heaven and Earth, is superb. If only Laurence Olivier had his stage presence! If only Richard Burton had his voice! If only Clifton Webb had his acerbic wit! Yes, Elvis Presley was a thespian for the ages. The greatest actor who ever lived! Oh, how he filled the screen---especially in his latter years. In particular, his performance in the deeply touching, highly philosophical film "Girls, Girls, Girls" is one to be cherished by film and theatre aficionados of all ages, creeds, and cultures. What style! What grace! What announciation and articulation! Indeed, Elvis is every bit the equal of John Barrymore, Richard Mansfield, and John Gielgud in their prime. The only one of Elvis's sophisticated, allegorical performances that might possibly equal this remarkable spewing of dialogue is his masterful characterization in "Tickle Me!" Was the stage play for this literary masterpiece ever performed at the Old Vic? Of course, truth be told, Elvis was a phenomenal actor in every one of his matchless films---and to think that a guitar popped up in each one no matter what the setting or plot! Truly a miraculous performer. The man should have won at least a dozen Academy Awards as Best Actor. Who could ever forget the King uttering such romantic, poetic, tender phrases like "Uh, huh." No wonder all the women here at the Skunk Creek Geriatric Center find him so irresistable! I bow to his genius. A greater singer than Caruso! A greater actor than Olivier! A greater dancer than Astaire! I gotta go now...the guys in the white coats have gotten hold of me and are transporting me back to Happydale Sanitarium. Viva Elvis! My king! My hero! My God!Movie Review: Elvis Was Indeed A Mass Marketing Contrivance
Summary: 1 Stars
I agree with the reviewer from Memphis who stated---matter of factly---that Elvis Presley achieved a glorified status far beyond what his marginal talents warranted. Many of his most rabid fans probably forget an interview Presley gave toward the end of his life in which he himself admitted that he was embarrassed by the junenility of most of his songs and all of his movies. He always wanted to attempt great standards like "My Funny Valantine" and "Bye, Bye Blackbird," since he knew that truly respected pop vocalists were judged by how well they handled more sophisticated musical fare. Presley was something new and different for his time---but in truth, he had a decent, limited voice at best. In fact, his voice was virtually indistinguishable from those of contemporaries Carl Perkins and Gene Vincent---albeit neither of them shaked their hips on stage. As for his acting, well...I'd best not even get into this area. His movies demanded little real skill on his part and were indeed repetitive and, in my opinion, trite. He was neither thespian nor vocalist of any deep ability---just a guy fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time with a swivel hip gimmick. The right agents and publicity schemes can and do create icons out of mediocrity---especially in America where history confirms how fanatics love to deify individuals for reasons that are not readily apparent. In another day and time, Presley might well have been laughed off the stage as a crude juvenile with little talent from the neck up. But infatuated little girls and Colonel Parker ensured that such would not be the case. One must remember that popularity---even when it is enormous---does not equate with talent. That is unless one's barometer for evaluating talent is quite low.