Easy Come, Easy Go

In this movie Elvis plays a Navy Seal. This is not one of my favorite Elvis movies. It's not the worst movie that he did, but it is the best of the worst. There were some good scenes, and having Pat Priest in the movie made it worthwhile. There were some funny scenes but nothing great.

Easy come, Easy Go was released in 1967, two years before Elvis' last feature film, "Change Of Habit." Elvis plays a frogman who is about to complete his time with the U.S. Navy. He stumbles onto a sunken treasure on his final dive. One big problem..... someone else has made the same discovery. This makes for a fairly compelling story line.

Of course there are plenty of pretty girls. The cast was wonderful. Dodie Marshall, the beautiful Pat Priest, and the wonderful Frank McHugh who played the (frightened of water) Captain Jack. The whole cast was great.

The photography was stunning. Hats off to William Margulies for his incredible Cinematography. The scenery and settings were wonderful. The underwater scenes were very well done. This was a tough shoot. The credit goes to underwater photographer Michael J. Dugan.

The drawback in this film was the Yoga scene. This has to be one worst scenes ever shot in film history. What was John Rich thinking? For that matter what was film editor Archie Marshek thinking. This was a no brainer. That scene should have been cut. I really believe that if it wasn't for that one scene, This would be one of Elvis' best. It was really that good. Well acted and Elvis looked like he really cared. If you can overlook the (Yoga) scene, this film is well worth watching.

By 1967 Elvis Presley had long since had enough of the formula of his movies, where he would triumph over the bad guys, kiss the girls and sing songs to all and sundry. Even when a good Presley movie surfaced, and there are a few bona fide good ones, casual film fans are required to be in a light and unforgiving mood to enjoy the malarkey on offer. Easy Come, Easy Go is pretty average stuff, both in quality of narrative and performances and that of the tunes within. Dialogue is unleashed in scattergun fashion without due care and attention for dramatic worth, there's no strong female lead for Presley to bounce back and forth from, and the humour is tired and weary.

Yet for all of the evident problems, it's a safe enough recommendation to those after a time filler who are armed with the knowledge this isn't going to tickle the cranium! It's all very colourful with nice exterior work at Long Beach Naval Station, Presley looks just terrific in uniform and the cast is spruced up by the presence of Elsa Lanchester and Jack McHugh; the former of which sings a bit and gets the giggles as a hippie type yoga teacher who ties "The Pelvis" in knots. Stand out tune is I'll Take Love, while the race for buried treasure plot remains airy enough to let the adventure yarn breathe.

Foot tapping assured and unintentional giggles, too, set the dial for family friendly fodder and wallow in the froth. 6/10

Elvis Presley was coming to the end of his cycle as a big name movie box office star when Easy Come, Easy Go was made for Paramount. We were deep in the flower power era by 1967 and Elvis was ceding his top spot to the lads from Liverpool and their imitators.

The one thing about Elvis films were was that the whole film was sold on the personality of its star. If it was a good script with an intelligent story line that was gravy. Easy Come, Easy Go was a steak tartar of a film.

No hit songs came out of this movie, but Colonel Tom Parker as he always did made sure the King was always given a good supporting cast of veteran Hollywood players. In this case we have two of the best. Elsa Lanchester has a brief bit as a yoga instructor who literally ties the King in knots. And she even sings a line or two with Elvis. Not a duet combination anyone would ever have dreamed.

Also Frank McHugh plays Captain Jack who owns a marine supply store who's never been to sea. Mr. McHugh graced just about every other Warner Brothers film during the hay day of the studio system and was always a welcome whimsical presence. He's no less welcome here in what turned out to be his feature film swan song. McHugh's problem is that he gets seasick in a row boat.

Elvis is a Navy Seal who on his last day in the service discovers some buried treasure at the same time some other folks have. He enlists the help of his former partner Pat Harrington, Jr. and McHugh in trying to get to the treasure. Of course Elvis has a couple of girls after him, Dodie Marshall and Pat Priest.

It's pleasant and entertaining enough, but not up to the standards of stuff like Blue Hawaii or Jailhouse Rock for Elvis.

we must presume Elvis wanted to make this movie about as much as he wanted to...listen to Robert Goulet. (look it up!).

a lot of complaints about a real B-movie look, and no hit songs > but to me, it flows nice 'n easy > with just six tunes, as weak as they all are, but just enough...12 songs was pretty ridiculous even when Elvis movies were smashes. the storyline is pleasant enough, and...big point...we get excellent support from Pat Harrington, Jr., (his good buddy who plays trumpet, which is predominant on the tracks!), oldf-timers Elsa Lanchester, and FRank McHugh; and for fans of THE MUNSTERS, a beautiful, bikini-clad Pat Priest, playing the evil "distraction" to Elvis' team finding lost treasure, in the deep blue sea. Finally, a chance in 1966, to see *more* of this sitcom babe (always dressed like a Librarian in that weird sicom!) So...not too many laughs, with many wonderful opportunities thrown overboard > very embarrassing to watch Elvis "lampoon", with one of the worst songs we've ever heard, Yoga ("Yoga is as Yoga Does") when we know he was very interested in such disciplines >>>> but the veterans and newcomers mix in well to the crazy California scenario.

in the end, not good, not bad...better than many Presleys................. and many more to EASY come! yikes!