Live a Little, Love a Little

A talented young photographer (Elvis Presley) lands two jobs in the same building and slinks his way back and forth. One job is for a high tone advertising agency and the other is for a slick girlie magazine. Michelle Carey plays the sex starved landlady. Better than average Elvis flick featuring four good tunes. "Edge of Reality" song and scene are very memorable. So is scene of Presley and Carey in bed. This comedy also stars Don Porter, Dick Sargent and Rudy Vallee. Elvis' movie career on an up swing. Norman Taurog directs.

I recently viewed this underrated gem for the first time in many years and almost forgot what an entertaining ride it is - especially in that 'speed buggy' at the start of the opening sequence.

I very much prefer the movies Elvis was churning out towards the end of his movie career as opposed to the likes of "Harum Scarum", "Clambake" and "Easy Come, Easy Go".

"Live A Little..." gave us a more mature Elvis in his first adult-type comedy film role, and even though the script engages a series of weird scenarios that border on the insane, it's great to see EP make his mark in this type of movie. Elvis looks great physically and his wardrobe too has got to be admired - check out the scene were he is wearing those shades...so cool! The film boasts only four songs but they appear to be of a higher standard than most of his mid-60's vehicles. The two stand-out numbers are the No. 1 smash hit "A Little Less Conversation" and the dramatic dream sequence of "Edge of Reality".

The tag line of the movie is "Watch Elvis click with these chicks!" and that he most certainly does especially in the form of leading lady Michelle Carey and Co-Star, Celeste Yarnall ('Miss Little Less Conversation'). Elvis' pet Great Dane, 'Brutus' also gets a co-starring role and almost steals the show - his character is called 'Albert'! A fine male cast helps the proceedings too in the form of Dick Sargent, Don Porter and veteran singing 'heartthrob', Rudy Vallee. So, "Live A Little, Love A Little" is entertainingly weird and wonderful and along with "Charro", "The Trouble With Girls" and "Change of Habit" was the slight departure from his typical sixties musical that Elvis needed at this point in his career.

Finally, if you're only viewing this as just a curiosity piece then be curious enough to check out that amazing fight scene in the Newspaper printing warehouse - this has got to be the best fight scene in an Elvis movie ever staged!

During the making of the 1968 comeback Tv special, Presley was making a lot of changes and so was his manager. Here we get to see a new type of Elvis movie that although suited for kids has more of an adult theme than ever before. With a light hearted sexual theme and some better but fewer songs this Presley picture is better than most from his later career. After this, each of the last four films he ever did had a new slant to them that differed greatly from his early to mid 1960s movies. Nicely made with few little quiet jokes and generally good fun with a cameo from Elvis's father, Vernon. Lively entertainment thats better than Star Wars.

After the Doris Day/Rock Hudson era, America was moving into the era of the psychedelic sixties. Relationships in movies were less about playing the games of the fifties and more about being direct. So, you are more likely to see a woman be the aggressor in the later sixties. The female lead in this movie chases Elvis until he catches her. The dream sequence is less like a Dali painting than those in the fifties and more psychedelic in lighting. Some seem to equate "kooky" with the sixties, perhaps due to the influence of drugs, and that carries through in this plot and the characterization of the female lead. One might call this film a sex farce set midst the California lifestyle.

I enjoyed this film. Though the story was silly, the energy of the film was upbeat and fun. The women were beautiful, the music was consequential and Elvis actually seemed to be enjoying himself at times (did you ever notice how he seldom smiles in some of his films?). Yes, there are plenty of cinema clichés and some throwaway scenes, but I enjoyed the kooky chemistry between Elvis and Bernice. Injecting the obligatory Elvis fistfight does not help the story or the pacing, but Elvis manages to move the story along with his personality. See Viva Las Vegas for a film with real magnetism between the stars.

Nothing about the movie plot here, just the music and the newly revived Elvis. His sideburns were back, his body was slender and more muscular, looking better than he had looked in a movie since "Blue Hawaii". Michelle Carey is his costar, a buxom slightly kooky girl full of energy. There are only about three songs in the movie, but all are first rate, beginning with "Edge of Reality", which came out on a single as the flip side of "If I Can Dream", the single that came from Elvis' 68 comeback TV special. "Edge" is a very good off beat song that to many fans was better than "Dream" and helped make the record a double sided hit. The next is "A Little Less Conversation", an up tempo number that, as you all know by now, was remixed and re-released a couple of years back and became Elvis' 31st number one hit. Then there is "Almost in Love", a great quirky love ballad that is one of his better songs ever. This is a highly enjoyable movie and better than many of his others. See it.