Double Trouble

Elvis Presley was a hugely influential performer with one of the most distinctive singing voices of anybody. He embarked on a film career consisting of 33 films from 1956 to 1969, films that did well at the box-office but mostly panned critically (especially his later films) and while he was a highly charismatic performer he was never considered a great actor.

As said many times, a lot of Elvis' early efforts were decent or more, his five best films overall being 'King Creole', 'Flaming Star', 'Jailhouse Rock', 'Viva Las Vegas' and 'Loving You'. It was from 'Kissin' Cousins', his first real mediocre at best effort, onward when his films became hit and miss or worse. While Elvis certainly did worse, like 'Harum Scarum', 'Double Trouble' generally is down there with his weakest.

Regarding Elvis himself, there is more of the relaxed charisma and the enthusiastic charm than in most of his 1965-7 output (most of which he looked utterly disinterested in), the role really doesn't require much but he does his best and while he has looked in better shape he still sounds good. A few of the songs are decent, "Long Legged Girl" is the best of the lot and for a song from an Elvis film from this period is good. "City of Night" and "Could I Fall in Love" also fare well.

Some of the supporting cast also don't fare too badly considering what they were given to work with. Fun Leon Askin, lovable Norman Rossington, urbane John Williams and sultry Yvonne Romain come off best. Chips Rafferty is quite good too.

However, not all the supporting cast and songs work. Annette Day's acting inexperience comes through loud and clear in a performance that neglects any acting ability of any kind. She shares very little chemistry with Elvis either. Michael Murphy, in his screen debut, does his best and gives a creepiness at times but in a way where the darkness doesn't balance particularly well with the rest of the film. Stanley Adams and Walter Burke try too hard in bumbling roles more at home in a sitcom and the Wiere Brothers are just annoying and don't fit.

Apart from a few songs, the rest of the soundtrack suffers from being very forgettable, very sloppy lip-synchronisation (very rarely in time) and from being poorly recorded, almost like the equipment used was on its last legs and on the verge of breaking down any second. Only one of them reaches risible level though and that's "Old MacDonald Had a Farm", even Elvis himself looks embarrassed.

Norman Taurog's, a wildly variable director dependent on the material, direction is all over the map. As is the corny (even for an Elvis film) and wildly disjointed script, that is far too busy, and a story that is a mess of style, structure and tone, again trying to do too much and very little of it comes together (just didn't see the point of the diamond subplot especially considering how barely remembered it is in the film).

Overall, not awful but messy. Really strictly for the fans, and most likely even they will be pining for a film that lives up to Elvis' considerable talents rather than working against them. 4/10 Bethany Cox

I am amazed this movie has at the moment so little stars compared to other Elvis movies.

Contrary to other comments I find Elvis in top form in this movie, very much in shape (I think his wedding was just around the corner) and charming. For an Elvis flick it was refreshing that the setting is in Europe and I find the direction and sets reflecting this quite well. Being European (an Englishman in Holland) I thoroughly enjoyed the old fashioned footage of different countries in that time and the sets.

There are quite a few good songs in the soundtrack and the story, though corny (an Elvis Flick), is entertaining and funny.

Hear Elvis say "bikkies" (a kick for me, as one who grew up with that contraction of "biscuits," in America known as cookies), see Elvis lay his kenpo down on a bad guy who dies as a result, see Elvis drive a VW bug, witness Elvis smash windows, marvel at Elvis in a mustache and glasses mask, and watch him beat up a beautiful woman! Those are some of the highlights, anyway. In truth, this film is among my very least favorite of Elvis films, even judging by the somewhat unique standards of the '60s travelogue Technicolor musicals that became the standard by 1962. The formula had worn thin by 1965 ("Frankie And Johnnie," "Harum Scarum," "Paradise, Hawaiian Style"), to say the least, and -- other than some bright points in "Spinout" and the entirety of "Easy Come, Easy Go" (like "Double Trouble," shot in 1966...for some reason, I like that crazy film) -- nothing got better, in my opinion, until the formula changed radically with 1968's "Stay Away, Joe" and "Live A Little, Love A Little."

The period 1965-1967 was Elvis' nadir, in other words, though the May, 1966 Nashville sessions (that yielded the immaculate "How Great Thou Art" gospel album and a few stellar secular songs, including a definitive take on one of Bob Dylan's songs) and recently-surfaced home recordings from that period show all too well how phenomenal Elvis' talent was at the time, a contrast that would anger and frustrate anyone who cared about his place in American and world culture and history. But we have what we have, and the criminal waste of talent that to a great extent represented Elvis' film career during this time is undeniable but shouldn't necessarily result in us writing off the results out of hand for that reason alone. There are a few moments in this film that are good, and a few when Elvis seems to actually be engaged rather than bored with the whole proceedings and just sleepwalking through it to fulfill contractual obligations.

There're some great actors in supporting roles, too, like Leon Askin (General Burkhalter!), Chips Rafferty, John Williams, Norman Rossington (the only actor to appear in films with the Beatles and Elvis), and Michael Murphy. Annette Day is kind of lackluster in the lead female role. Yvonne Romain is much more like it. And the Wiere Brothers have always irritated the hell out of me in this film -- wish they were not in it, because they really stupid things up.

The songs are not the greatest even compared to other songs from Elvis movies of this time, but I do like the title track, "Long Legged Girl" (a tasty song, actually, written by Joy Byers, who usually contributed great songs even to otherwise not-so-great movies, such as "Let Yourself Go" in "Speedway"), and the jazzy "City By Night." "Could I Fall In Love" is a nice ballad, a duet of Elvis with Elvis, but the entire June, 1966 session for this movie suffered from sonic problems and I believe it's one that Elvis complained vociferously about. I also believe that Elvis walked out on recording "Old McDonald" before he'd produced an acceptable master take, being totally disgusted by the task, and the master was spliced from what the engineers had captured. Not his greatest recorded moment, anyway. And, darn it, it (and the rest of the soundtrack) was recorded on my second birthday.

IMDb mixes up the screen character credits for Chips Rafferty and Norman Rossington but, to be fair, so does the end title sequence in the film. Oops.

Guy Lambert (Elvis Presley) is a rock star touring Europe and chasing girls. In London, he brings Jill Conway back to his hotel room but it turns out badly. Jill's uncle Gerald Waverly is trying to keep her and her inheritance under his control. Guy is shocked to learn that she's a love-struck underage girl but she continues to pursue him. They get stuck in a jewel smuggling scheme when two criminals hide their jewels in her luggage. Someone is also trying to kill them.

Elvis always has his natural charms. I actually like his womanizing troubles. They humanizes him. I would change Jill age by advancing it four days. It would be funnier if she considers him her birthday present and less awkward if there isn't the smell of illegality. He can still try to keep her at arm's length due to her clinginess. Otherwise, I really like her character and she has fun with Elvis. I am surprised that Annette Day did not continue to act. This is her one and only notable appearance. The three idiot cops do go too far but I do understand having the Insp. Clouseau wannabes for comedic purposes. The movie struggles to keep going after someone dies. The death should be the climax instead of being in the middle. As for Elvis, he sings, he charms, and he Karate-chops. It's light Elvis fun with murder and mayhem.

In this one, singer Guy Lambert (played by Elvis) is touring Europe. Actually, most of the film takes place in Belgium. Lambert is all tangled up in a spy, diamond smuggling and love affair. All that is very complicated for nothing because the movie is not so good. Actually, if you're not an unconditional fan of Elvis, you could easily skip this one. You won't miss anything. For the fans though, Elvis sings a few songs including: Long-Legged Girl, Could I Fall in Love and a unique version of Old MacDonald Had a Farm. Annette Day is not very convincing in the role of Jill, the girl who's falling for Elvis. I gave it a 5.