I haven't seen this film since my parents took my sisters and me to see it when it first came out. I was about six or seven. I thought, given the title, we were going to see an Elvis Presley movie. Even at that age I'd heard so much about Elvis that I was anxious to see it. My parents might have fallen for the deceptive title too as far as I know. I don't recall the movie being really bad (when I was that age i was just happy to go to the movies at all) but I thought the music and the guy singing were awful. I recall thinking that this Elvis guy was awful and I didn't pay any attention to him until a couple of years later when I saw "It Happened At The World's Fair". That was 1963 although I probably didn't see it until 1964. I thought Elvis was a lot cooler than he was in "Hound Dog Man" but again, the music was really unmemorable. A year or so later came "Viva Las Vegas". I don't remember whether I saw that one in the theatre or not but I remember that, thanks to the Beatles, I had been listening to the radio constantly for about a year or so by then and "Return To Sender" was a hit. Wow! That song knocked me for a loop. I couldn't get enough of it. I guess I must have thought the other films were just a couple of bumps in the road because this guy Elvis was GREAT! Around the same time I found out that it wasn't Elvis in "Hound Dog Man" at all but Fabian! I am quite proud of the fact that at only six I could tell that Fabian was a bad actor and an even worse singer.
Looking at the incredible cast of "Hound Dog Man"-Stuart Whitman,Arthur O'Connell, Carol Lynley-I'm thinking it might not be such a bad movie after all. If I could sit through the music I might consider watching it again. But I doubt it.
