Gentlemen, you mentioned that the song We’ll Be Together had Italian lyrics. I don’t believe that’s correct. The verse says “Juntos Estaremos, siempre por siempre. Junto a mi corazón, siempre estará’s“ That’s Spanish. The literal translation being “Together we will be Always forever Next to my heart You'll always be there.” In the song it’s the Spanish version of the English words: “We'll be together, ever and ever close to my heart you'll always be” I’m enjoying your take on the movies very much. I too grew up on them and can watch and enjoy them all. That said, there are 2-3 that are definitely at the bottom of the list. 😂
You know, you're right! That's one of those things that somehow got stuck in my head as a kid and never left. Thank you for the correction!! I'm pinning this comment to make sure others see it, too. 😁
Absolutely, Gregory! They have for both John and I, too, even if we joke with them a bit. It's all with good intentions, and we always encourage fans to share what they love about each movie, too. 😁
One thought: As a fluent and native Spanish speaker, I can tell you that the songs in Spanish from Fun in Acapulco WERE NOT sung well by Elvis, specifically the pronunciation of the words. It is beyond me how someone did not work with him on this. If they did, it is obvious they did not spend too much time trying to teach Elvis the correct pronunciation. I don't blame Elvis whatsoever. But I cringe whenever I hear him singing in Spanish. Others may disagree, but to me it is a disgrace for RCA to not treat a world class singer (and star) with the dignity and respect he deserved and did not bother to showcase his talents in a more complimentary manner. Too bad. Great show fellas, thanks! P.S. The music/dance sequence of "C'mon Everybody" with Ann Margret is AMAZING!!
Thanks for sharing that, Tony - I always wonder (and have often asked) what those fluent in the various languages that they had Elvis sing in thought of his performances. And so glad you're enjoying the episodes!
I totally agree with you Jamie I really think it makes a huge difference from around Kissin Cousins on if you viewed these movies from childhood instead of watching them for the first time as an adult. There is a love you have for them and the soundtracks as you grew up watching them . Like the Beach party movies same thing love watching Frankie and Annette either acting together Or singing together my adult son is done after a couple of minutes. Kurt Russell once said in an interview every Elvis movie is worth watching simply because it has Elvis in it . Great discussion John and Jamie thank you cheers Carl.
@@johnheath1868 Thank you for your reply John I sure would hate to live in a world where everybody agrees with me you’re opinions are very well thought out and I understand perfectly the points you are making you are obviously a huge fan of most of his movies it’s just that you look at some of them in a different way to me as it should be . I look forward to more of your upcoming comments cheers Carl .
Elvis's earlier film Follow that Dream also had him with young children that his family raised, prior to Girls Girls Girls. As far as diversity, the only reason for diversity in Girls Girls Girls is because the location was Hawaii. Hence, the Hawaiian films needed Polynesian - Asian culture. This was the same in Elvis's earlier 1961 film Blue Hawaii and subsequent Paradise Hawaiian Style. The most diverse Elvis film is probably a film your series hasn't reached yet, 1969 film Change of Habit. Elvis's last gipm grom 1969 took place in LA and has his most diverse cast, maybe because of its locale and its 1969.
Hi, Robert! That's true on "Follow That Dream," which would be the giving end of the adoption spectrum for an Elvis character, which is very cool! The other reason I mentioned that in "Girls! Girls! Girls!" Is because his other adopted family is Italian and it's one of the formula movies (much like "Blue Hawaii" before it. And you're absolutely right on "Change Of Habit," which we'll be getting to in a few epidoes. 😁
In Girls Girls Girls, Elvis sings Earth Boy partially in the Cantonese dialect of Chinese which was the dominant overseas Chinese language during that era (due to the majority of the Chinese diaspora at that time being from Guangdong and Hong Kong which were more entrepreneurial. This accelerated after the communist revolution in China of 1949).
@@EAPSociety thanks for replying. Love your channel. I became an Elvis fan in 4th grade in 1980 after hearing Hound Dog and songs from other 50s artists in music class. I told my father about it when I got home and he pulled out a bunch of LPs and 45s. Although I grew to love many artists I was especially drawn to Elvis. It helped that GI Blues was on tv soon after and I quickly became hooked on Elvis music and Elvis movies at 9 years old (now 52). My wife (who is Cantonese American) thought Elvis was cheesy because she knew almost nothing about him. I convinced her to watch Blue Hawaii with me and she was hooked almost immediately upon starting the movie and has never looked back. She has loved Elvis in so many ways since 2006. Unfortunately we haven’t been able to pass this on to our kids but we have tried!
Elvis did a fantastic job in fun in acapulco singing "guadalajara" in spanish. That's a very difficult song to sing if spanish is not your first language.
The same goes for "Santa Lucia", many, many years ago i had have a relationship with a beautiful italian Girl and her mother always laughed about Elvis' italian language on this Song; but this was not the reason why my italian Girlfriend broke up with me😂
A very fine show thank you John and Jamie. An interesting aspect, Elvis very first MGM Movie was "Jailhouse Rock" but it takes a whole lotta years for his second MGM Movie "It Happened At The Worlds Fair"; some food for thought🤔
If only all this Elvis movies had great musical numbers, Like the jailhouse rock musical number, all this movies would have been súper clássics like Grease or Singing in the Rain.
Hey Jamie and John love all elvis movie Girls Girls Girls, It Happened At The World's Fair, Fun In Acapulco, Viva Las Vegas, and Kissin' Cousins! fun movies. guys keep up cool things you do on elvis take care look forword next video
In fun in acapulco Elvis did not go to México, first of all because Tom Parker did not have a passport and 2nd because a powerful politician in mexico started a rumor that Elvis did not like mexican women.All because Elvis did not perform at the politician's daughter's birthday.
You two are the polite version of Siskel and Ebert. I agree with most of the reviews especially about lack of chemistry with some leading ladies. I'm not a big fan of Viva Las Vegas( agree sbout chemistry between AM and E) except for the great Pomus and Shuman song, I Need Somebody to Lean On...Only Elvis. Yes Jamie i can watch most Elvis movies and be happy. Loving this channel ❤
I can't help but wonder how much better Elvis' films would LOOK if there was no rear projection scenes. If they still had the 35mm location shot film elements, it would be pretty easy to rotoscope out the rear projection footage for the original source footage. I think films of the ilk of Fun In Acapulco would benefit a great deal using this technique. Just my two pennies.
That would definitely be interesting, David! I wonder if they'd still have any of the raw background footage they shot, as that could potentially still be usable. They've applied similar processes to Star Trek and Doctor Who episodes, so I don't see why they couldn't do the same here!
One would hope most of the original film elements were still in the movie studio libraries. Indeed, just recently, for the Blue Hawaii 4K restoration, the opening title sequence was rebuilt using the original elements in conjunction with brand new text overlays. Imagine a Who-like team overseeing and restoring Elvis' movie work. Lord have mercy!
That was funny guys. It was 60 years ago not 70- yet, ha ha. As I said in an earlier post , like Jamie I watched all of these movies as a kid and enjoyed them all but for me Kissin Cousins was the weakest film and soundtrack to that date. I liked a lot FIA and IHATWF as you said strong soundtracks and fun movies.
I totally agree, Ken. There may have been an occasional missteps before that, but Kissin Cousins really should have been a warning sign of things to come. Quickie Katzman’s speed came at a cost.
I recently acquired a few Elvis DVDs to build up my stash, and Kissin' Cousins was among them. When I watched it, I cringed in embarrassment for Elvis...I don't recall what I thought of it back in the 60's when I was a teen and loved everything Elvis did, but now...ughh😮 Sorry Elvis baby, but that film was not good to you.
Viva Las Vegas had a director that was working against Elvis, he did a horrible job shooting the viva Las Vegas musical number. IT's filmed too dark and Elvis is almost shot from the waist up. Ann Margarett got a solo number that was shot in great light and she is shot from head to toe, Like Elvis should have been.
I know that Parker was concerned that the director was favoring Ann Margaret and they had him re-shoot some scenes over it, but I find the final product that made it into the film to be incredibly lovely and well directed.
To me Girls Girls Girls is “the parts are better than the sum”. I think has a lot of great scenes and songs and Elvis’s look and energy/engagement is great but the script is very very weak. My two cent view.
Pbs is showing Elvis 68 special a lot . Just wondering if there are cd/dvd , blue ray of 68 special. I’d like to see it in full without the continuous breaks on pbs . Is there one of the original special with all the various xtra takes/outtakes Just wondering
This set is well worth the $$$ if you can get it. I bought mine on Amazon, and it stays on the coffee table in my lounge room all the time. 5 CDs and 2 DVDs as well,as a beautiful book. Visitors to my house often pick it up for a closer look, even if they aren't die-hard fans. I have played 3 CDs and 1 DVD so far and am not disappointed.
GGG was the third Elvis movie I ever saw, and at the time I thought it was pretty good (-still do). But World's Fair was a disappointment, on a number of counts. To a British teenager at the time, the story of looking after a lost girl didn't fit with "the King of Rock n Roll. But the songs really let the film down - a couple of good ones, a couple of so-so ones and too many not-so-good ones. One Broken Heart for Sale was the first Elvis single not to make the UK top 10 in more than since Jan 1958, more than four years prior years. Why was the person at RCA who approved the release of the version of the song missing a verse, resulting in a i min 43 second "A" side of the single. The whole album, comprising 10 songs, had a playing time of just 20 minutes. A better release strategy might have been to release "They Remind me Too Much of You" as the A side, and the longer version of Broken Heart on the flip side, together with an EP of the best remaining 4 or 5 songs. Fun in Acapulco and Viva Las Vegas restored Elvis' image - but wouldn't the songs in Viva have made a great LP? And, just a thought, what if Elvis and Ann-Margret had issued an EP at the time of their duets? This would have appealed to both AM and Elvis fans. And Kissin Cousins - well, what an absoultue disappointment. I tried so hard to like it at the time, but couldn't! The concept of two Elvis' was great, and the supporting cast was good - but the songs and especially production values left a lot to be desired. Perhaps with better production values (e.g. comparable to FTD) and half the number of songs it could have been good.
More great thoughts and memories, Rick - thank you for sharing! I agree on the single from "It Happened At The World's Fair," too. "Kissin' Cousins" is one of those movies that plays better here in the U.S. than internationally, but even then, the prodiction values are a huge drop from "Viva Las Vegas" - which absolutely should have seen the duets released!
Gentlemen, you mentioned that the song We’ll Be Together had Italian lyrics. I don’t believe that’s correct. The verse says “Juntos Estaremos, siempre por siempre. Junto a mi corazón, siempre estará’s“ That’s Spanish. The literal translation being “Together we will be
Always forever
Next to my heart
You'll always be there.” In the song it’s the Spanish version of the English words:
“We'll be together,
ever and ever
close to my heart
you'll always be”
I’m enjoying your take on the movies very much. I too grew up on them and can watch and enjoy them all. That said, there are 2-3 that are definitely at the bottom of the list. 😂
You know, you're right! That's one of those things that somehow got stuck in my head as a kid and never left.
Thank you for the correction!! I'm pinning this comment to make sure others see it, too. 😁
Fair reviews. These were shown during school holidays here in U.K. and were very popular
That's cool - and even after thinking about the movies more critically, I can still just sit down and enjoy them for what they are, too! 😁
A lot of Elvis movies sometimes have special personal memories for us fans. I think we can agree to disagree with what each of us personally enjoy
Absolutely, Gregory! They have for both John and I, too, even if we joke with them a bit. It's all with good intentions, and we always encourage fans to share what they love about each movie, too. 😁
One thought:
As a fluent and native Spanish speaker, I can tell you that the songs in Spanish from Fun in Acapulco WERE NOT sung well by Elvis, specifically the pronunciation of the words. It is beyond me how someone did not work with him on this. If they did, it is obvious they did not spend too much time trying to teach Elvis the correct pronunciation. I don't blame Elvis whatsoever. But I cringe whenever I hear him singing in Spanish. Others may disagree, but to me it is a disgrace for RCA to not treat a world class singer (and star) with the dignity and respect he deserved and did not bother to showcase his talents in a more complimentary manner. Too bad.
Great show fellas, thanks!
P.S. The music/dance sequence of "C'mon Everybody" with Ann Margret is AMAZING!!
Thanks for sharing that, Tony - I always wonder (and have often asked) what those fluent in the various languages that they had Elvis sing in thought of his performances. And so glad you're enjoying the episodes!
I totally agree with you Jamie I really think it makes a huge difference from around Kissin Cousins on if you viewed these movies from childhood instead of watching them for the first time as an adult. There is a love you have for them and the soundtracks as you grew up watching them . Like the Beach party movies same thing love watching Frankie and Annette either acting together Or singing together my adult son is done after a couple of minutes. Kurt Russell once said in an interview every Elvis movie is worth watching simply because it has Elvis in it . Great discussion John and Jamie thank you cheers Carl.
Thanks, Carl! And I love the Kurt Russell quote, too!
Thanks, Carl. I agree with Kurt, even if my comments may come off as a bit harsh on some of these. Glad to have any film with Elvis in it.
@@johnheath1868 Thank you for your reply John I sure would hate to live in a world where everybody agrees with me you’re opinions are very well thought out and I understand perfectly the points you are making you are obviously a huge fan of most of his movies it’s just that you look at some of them in a different way to me as it should be . I look forward to more of your upcoming comments cheers Carl .
Elvis's earlier film Follow that Dream also had him with young children that his family raised, prior to Girls Girls Girls. As far as diversity, the only reason for diversity in Girls Girls Girls is because the location was Hawaii. Hence, the Hawaiian films needed Polynesian - Asian culture. This was the same in Elvis's earlier 1961 film Blue Hawaii and subsequent Paradise Hawaiian Style. The most diverse Elvis film is probably a film your series hasn't reached yet, 1969 film Change of Habit. Elvis's last gipm grom 1969 took place in LA and has his most diverse cast, maybe because of its locale and its 1969.
Hi, Robert! That's true on "Follow That Dream," which would be the giving end of the adoption spectrum for an Elvis character, which is very cool! The other reason I mentioned that in "Girls! Girls! Girls!" Is because his other adopted family is Italian and it's one of the formula movies (much like "Blue Hawaii" before it. And you're absolutely right on "Change Of Habit," which we'll be getting to in a few epidoes. 😁
In Girls Girls Girls, Elvis sings Earth Boy partially in the Cantonese dialect of Chinese which was the dominant overseas Chinese language during that era (due to the majority of the Chinese diaspora at that time being from Guangdong and Hong Kong which were more entrepreneurial. This accelerated after the communist revolution in China of 1949).
Oh, wow! Thank you for the detailed info, John! Very cool!
@@EAPSociety thanks for replying. Love your channel. I became an Elvis fan in 4th grade in 1980 after hearing Hound Dog and songs from other 50s artists in music class. I told my father about it when I got home and he pulled out a bunch of LPs and 45s. Although I grew to love many artists I was especially drawn to Elvis. It helped that GI Blues was on tv soon after and I quickly became hooked on Elvis music and Elvis movies at 9 years old (now 52). My wife (who is Cantonese American) thought Elvis was cheesy because she knew almost nothing about him. I convinced her to watch Blue Hawaii with me and she was hooked almost immediately upon starting the movie and has never looked back. She has loved Elvis in so many ways since 2006. Unfortunately we haven’t been able to pass this on to our kids but we have tried!
@John-hg3zd You're very welcome, John! And thanks for sharing your story with us, that's awesome!
Elvis did a fantastic job in fun in acapulco singing "guadalajara" in spanish. That's a very difficult song to sing if spanish is not your first language.
The same goes for "Santa Lucia", many, many years ago i had have a relationship with a beautiful italian Girl and her mother always laughed about Elvis' italian language on this Song; but this was not the reason why my italian Girlfriend broke up with me😂
Hi, Roger! Yes, it absolutely is, I can attest to that from personal experience!
i guess your 'Spanish Eyes" makes it clear "El Toro" Jamie; i'm joking only my friend "Guadalajara" 😁
LOL! Harald, I love it!
A very fine show thank you John and Jamie. An interesting aspect, Elvis very first MGM Movie was "Jailhouse Rock" but it takes a whole lotta years for his second MGM Movie "It Happened At The Worlds Fair"; some food for thought🤔
Thanks, Harald! And you know, I'd never thought about that!
@@EAPSocietyYou're welcome Jamie; it's a little bit of a thought by myself; not important after all
If only all this Elvis movies had great musical numbers, Like the jailhouse rock musical number, all this movies would have been súper clássics like Grease or Singing in the Rain.
Hey Jamie and John love all elvis movie Girls Girls Girls, It Happened At The World's Fair, Fun In Acapulco, Viva Las Vegas, and Kissin' Cousins! fun movies. guys keep up cool things you do on elvis take care look forword next video
Absolutely, Nigel - lots of fun to be had in these movies! :)
keep up cool work on elvis
In fun in acapulco Elvis did not go to México, first of all because Tom Parker did not have a passport and 2nd because a powerful politician in mexico started a rumor that Elvis did not like mexican women.All because Elvis did not perform at the politician's daughter's birthday.
Thank you, Roger - I knew there was another thing I wasn't thinking of, and that's the one!
Absolutely correct, thanks Roger!
It was probably Tom Parker himself who started that rumor so that he could still say hidden about his illegal status.
You two are the polite version of Siskel and Ebert. I agree with most of the reviews especially about lack of chemistry with some leading ladies. I'm not a big fan of Viva Las Vegas( agree sbout chemistry between AM and E) except for the great Pomus and Shuman song, I Need Somebody to Lean On...Only Elvis. Yes Jamie i can watch most Elvis movies and be happy. Loving this channel ❤
Aw, thank you so much, Janet! And yes, "I Need Somebody To Lean On" is incredible - I can just play that on repeat at times.
I can't help but wonder how much better Elvis' films would LOOK if there was no rear projection scenes.
If they still had the 35mm location shot film elements, it would be pretty easy to rotoscope out the rear projection footage for the original source footage. I think films of the ilk of Fun In Acapulco would benefit a great deal using this technique.
Just my two pennies.
That would definitely be interesting, David! I wonder if they'd still have any of the raw background footage they shot, as that could potentially still be usable. They've applied similar processes to Star Trek and Doctor Who episodes, so I don't see why they couldn't do the same here!
One would hope most of the original film elements were still in the movie studio libraries.
Indeed, just recently, for the Blue Hawaii 4K restoration, the opening title sequence was rebuilt using the original elements in conjunction with brand new text overlays.
Imagine a Who-like team overseeing and restoring Elvis' movie work. Lord have mercy!
Oh, man... the Who team did such a good job with the Tom Baker (my favorite Doctor Who) as well as the others, it would be amazing to have them on it!
Yeah, Tom and Pertwee are my favourites, too. Only found out recently that Elisabeth Sladen was a big fan of you-know-who... 👑
Oh, she was? That's really cool!!
That was funny guys. It was 60 years ago not 70- yet, ha ha. As I said in an earlier post , like Jamie I watched all of these movies as a kid and enjoyed them all but for me Kissin Cousins was the weakest film and soundtrack to that date. I liked a lot FIA and IHATWF as you said strong soundtracks and fun movies.
Thanks, Ken! Yeah, sometimes time doesn't fly quite as fast as we think, lol!
I totally agree, Ken. There may have been an occasional missteps before that, but Kissin Cousins really should have been a warning sign of things to come. Quickie Katzman’s speed came at a cost.
I recently acquired a few Elvis DVDs to build up my stash, and Kissin' Cousins was among them. When I watched it, I cringed in embarrassment for Elvis...I don't recall what I thought of it back in the 60's when I was a teen and loved everything Elvis did, but now...ughh😮 Sorry Elvis baby, but that film was not good to you.
Viva Las Vegas had a director that was working against Elvis, he did a horrible job shooting the viva Las Vegas musical number. IT's filmed too dark and Elvis is almost shot from the waist up. Ann Margarett got a solo number that was shot in great light and she is shot from head to toe, Like Elvis should have been.
I know that Parker was concerned that the director was favoring Ann Margaret and they had him re-shoot some scenes over it, but I find the final product that made it into the film to be incredibly lovely and well directed.
To me Girls Girls Girls is “the parts are better than the sum”. I think has a lot of great scenes and songs and Elvis’s look and energy/engagement is great but the script is very very weak. My two cent view.
Pbs is showing Elvis 68 special a lot . Just wondering if there are cd/dvd , blue ray of 68 special. I’d like to see it in full without the continuous breaks on pbs . Is there one of the original special with all the various xtra takes/outtakes Just wondering
There's not one currently in print, but there may be a few left here: Limited-time deal: Elvis: '68 Comeback Special a.co/d/1TEg7Lt
🙏 thanks
You're very welcome! 😁
This set is well worth the $$$ if you can get it. I bought mine on Amazon, and it stays on the coffee table in my lounge room all the time. 5 CDs and 2 DVDs as well,as a beautiful book. Visitors to my house often pick it up for a closer look, even if they aren't die-hard fans. I have played 3 CDs and 1 DVD so far and am not disappointed.
Have now played the 2nd DVD (sorry, Blueray) and all the out-takes are there - Fabulous❤
GGG was the third Elvis movie I ever saw, and at the time I thought it was pretty good (-still do).
But World's Fair was a disappointment, on a number of counts. To a British teenager at the time, the story of looking after a lost girl didn't fit with "the King of Rock n Roll. But the songs really let the film down - a couple of good ones, a couple of so-so ones and too many not-so-good ones. One Broken Heart for Sale was the first Elvis single not to make the UK top 10 in more than since Jan 1958, more than four years prior years. Why was the person at RCA who approved the release of the version of the song missing a verse, resulting in a i min 43 second "A" side of the single. The whole album, comprising 10 songs, had a playing time of just 20 minutes. A better release strategy might have been to release "They Remind me Too Much of You" as the A side, and the longer version of Broken Heart on the flip side, together with an EP of the best remaining 4 or 5 songs.
Fun in Acapulco and Viva Las Vegas restored Elvis' image - but wouldn't the songs in Viva have made a great LP? And, just a thought, what if Elvis and Ann-Margret had issued an EP at the time of their duets? This would have appealed to both AM and Elvis fans.
And Kissin Cousins - well, what an absoultue disappointment. I tried so hard to like it at the time, but couldn't! The concept of two Elvis' was great, and the supporting cast was good - but the songs and especially production values left a lot to be desired. Perhaps with better production values (e.g. comparable to FTD) and half the number of songs it could have been good.
More great thoughts and memories, Rick - thank you for sharing! I agree on the single from "It Happened At The World's Fair," too. "Kissin' Cousins" is one of those movies that plays better here in the U.S. than internationally, but even then, the prodiction values are a huge drop from "Viva Las Vegas" - which absolutely should have seen the duets released!