The Trouble with Girls

While, as some of you may know, I recently went through a marathon of Elvis Presley movies (in tribute to the 30th anniversary of his passing) – and which emerged to be a more pleasant experience than I had anticipated – I have to admit that I opted to check this one out mainly for the presence in it of Vincent Price. As it turned out, his role is quite brief and he doesn't even share any screen-time with Elvis!!

Incidentally, this has to be Presley's most eccentric vehicle: it combines the period setting of the star's own FRANKIE AND JOHNNY (1966) with the carnival backdrop of his ROUSTABOUT (1964); however, he seems quite lost here (this was, in fact, Elvis' penultimate film) in which he's given just one typical number ("Clean Up Your Own Back Yard") and where his hair-do and trademark stage moves clash with the feel of quaint Americana the narrative is striving for! Otherwise, the film features annoyingly flashy direction, while the traits of the supporting characters range from the obnoxious (the cardsharp and the villainous store owner) to the embarrassing (Joyce Van Patten reminiscing about her past as a champion swimmer and Sheree North's bout with drunkenness).

Besides, the songs are below-par (most don't even involve the star) and the title itself terrible (apparently, the people who made it didn't quite know how to sell their own product!) – even if we do get three prominent female roles: Marlyn Mason (whose shop steward/piano player/instructor character seems to have been modeled on Doris Day's role in THE PAJAMA GAME [1957]), Nicole Jaffe as the requisite ditzy blonde, and the afore-mentioned North as a 'loose' woman (a single mother who murders the married sleazeball who relentlessly pesters her). Also featured in the cast are Edward Andrews as the long-suffering managing director of Presley's traveling show and John Carradine, criminally underused in a blink-and-you'll miss-him bit as a Shakespearean actor (whose incongruity reminds one of Alan Mowbray's memorable similar turn in John Ford's MY DARLING CLEMENTINE [1946]).

As for Vincent Price, he appears as "Mr. Morality", a philosophy-quoting orator who's another specialty performer of the troupe; having watched him in this film, I was reminded of two more of the horror icon's non-genre performances (both of them Westerns, incidentally) which are available for rental on DVD in my neck of the woods – THE JACKALS (1967) and MORE DEAD THAN ALIVE (1968).

One of the few of Elvis' last movies I'd never seen before, and kind of refreshing. The action takes place in 1927 and that setting looks and feels very much in the spirit of the period as Presely plays the cool manager of a traveling show, or a "Chautauqua". He tries to keep the show going on and the profits coming in, while all sorts of crazy situations present themselves, including a murder. There's quite a cast of characters on hand: Marlyn Mason is the union shop steward and piano player, Sheree North is the local town slut, Dabney Coleman plays a despicable gambling drug store merchant, and even Vincent Price and John Carradine get into the act as members of the troupe (Price is delightful as an energetic Philosopher, but Carradine not so much in a wasted quickie as a Shakespearean actor). Also featuring little Anissa Jones (Buffy from "Family Affair") and a quick singing turn by Susan Olsen (Cindy of "The Brady Bunch").

The direction here is sometimes odd, but some handling of sequences are interesting. Elvis is solid in the film and really looks great if not a true reflection of the times, but the only song of note is his rather nifty rendition of "Clean Up Your Own Back Yard", one of the film's highlights. Someone really made a mistake in coming up with this extremely inappropriate title, though -- this is not one of Presley's typical formula films about girls, girls, and more girls ... it's misleading and doesn't do the movie justice. **1/2 out of ****

Walter Hale (Elvis Presley) is the manager of a traveling show, a Chautauqua, in the 1920's. Amongst the entertainment, trouble starts to develop. Hale is troubled by a Worker's Union rep, played by the gorgeous Marlyn Mason. A college girl played by Nicole Jaffe, wants to go on the road with the show. And a female citizen kills a man in self defense only to become the highlight of the Chautauqua. A cigar smoking Elvis, dressed in white sings a few novelty tunes and the hit song, "Clean Up Your Own Backyard". This comedy/drama also stars Sheree North, Joyce Van Patton and Vincent Price. A fun movie and a whole lot better than the bad rap it has received.

The Trouble With Girls was much maligned on its original release in 1969.However it has a strong plot, excellent cast, interesting direction and very good use of camera angles (very unusual for an Elvis film). What a treat to see horror maestro, Vincent Price, in an Elvis film! There is also good chemistry between Elvis and leading lady, Marlyn Mason. The pacing is quite slow but this is one of the few Elvis films which can be viewed in "film critical" mode. Sadly, by the time The Trouble With Girls came out, both critics and the public had tired of Elvis films. Yet it together with Stay Away, Joe; Live A Little, Love A Little; Charro!; and Change of Habit were a positive step in redefining what Elvis' film career could have been.

Although this film is ultimately a dreary, draggy bore, it is not an embarrassment, providing as it does a distinct change of pace from the swivel-hipped singer's wretched films of the mid-60s. Set in the 1920s, the only bikini in sight is a one-piece worn by "guest star" Joyce Van Patten, and the few songs are performed in an appropriate setting--a stage (a rarity in the later Presley movies). Elvis is the manager of a travelling tent show rocked by mini-crises and a murder. It's all very lightweight and lethargic, but it does mark a significant change from the godawfal tripe to which Presley lent his name and talent in previous years. M-G-M, however, apprehensive that an Elvis movie called "Chataqua" was too drastic a change for his fans, re-christened the film "The Trouble with Girls" (and added a subtitle--"and how to get into it"--that does not appear on screen), which has nothing to do with the movie and makes it sound like another Presley potboiler. It's a little better than that, though it now ranks as nothing more than a memento, as significant to his accomplishments as one of those scarves he doled out to the adoring females who populated his Las Vegas performances. It's a souvenir that says nothing of the man's talent or his revolutionary achievements.