The Trouble with Girls (1969)

That was an excellent one.

Good concept, poorly executed.

Fantastic!

Absolutely the worst movie.

In 1927, a "Chautauqua" (traveling troupe of entertainers and speakers) led by Elvis Presley (as Walter Hale) livens up an Iowa town. "The Trouble with Girls" ("...and How to Get Into It" for promotional lure) seems like the usual Elvis film for most of the running - flirty romances, cute kids, and plenty of songs in a carnival-type setting. A murder involving Dabney Coleman occurs later on, which doesn't mix well with the attempted comedy. Vincent Price turns up in a small "guest star" role. John Carradine gets to deliver the film's best line - about "pre-marital relations" in the Des Moines company...After a couple of promising films, Mr. Presley appears to have given up on acting. Looking great in tailored suits and smoking brown cigarettes, he shows zero evidence of having any idea about the film's setting and plot; he simply walks on set and says his lines. There are enough songs to fill a double soundtrack album, but few of them are sung by Presley. The first solo number is delivered by "Brady Kid" Susan Olsen. Elvis' hit from the film is the musically anachronistic "Clean Up Your Own Back Yard". Little Anissa Jones, her likewise cute pal Pepe Brown, and the folksy songs head up a limited appeal.*** The Trouble with Girls (9/3/69) Peter Tewksbury ~ Elvis Presley, Marlyn Mason, Sheree North, Edward Andrews

Elvis Presley runs a traveling medicine show that sweeps into a small Ohio town and stirs up the locals. Interesting (if not entirely convincing) 1920s production design (no one had hair like Elvis in the '20s...or so I've been told), cute kids running around (including Anissa Jones from "Family Affair" and an uncredited Susan Olsen from "The Brady Bunch"), Dabney Coleman doing his schmuck-thing (very well), and a hilarious Joyce Van Patten as an Olympic swimmer. Elvis drops out of sight for much of the proceedings; he's around to break up a fight or help pitch a tent, but the film is mostly about the wacky small town folk. In the final minutes, when Elvis gets up on stage with his guitar, the movie is suddenly no longer about these supporting characters--it's all about E.P. whipping the audience into a frenzy, and the cinematographer goes wild with his zoom-lens. "Girls" is misguided, oddly directed, and unsure of what audience to target, yet there are some good things in it, including an interesting milieu for its star. ** from ****

Although Elvis' fans may be disappointed at his lack of screen time here, he's actually in a role that is suitable to his persona -- a free-wheeling carnival organizer in turn of the century middle America. The festival he is promoting is no ordinary carnival, though -- it also features theater and philosophical dissertations (delivered by none other than then king of horror Vincent Price) and a kiddie talent show that motivates part of the plot. The rest of the plot is motivated by sleazy merchant Dabney Coleman, and his relations to the mother of a girl in the talent show.The children in the talent roles are really excellent performers, and this whole production has a quality and a care taken with it that no other post 1966 Elvis movies can boast of. The title is really a turn off, but this is a movie that not only would have stood on its own without Elvis, but which actually benefits by his performance. Solid quirky directing in all but the musical numbers, somewhat interesting movie.

While this film is not one of his all time best, it is certainly one of his better later films. It's interesting to see Elvis in a film set in the 1920's rather than the psychadelic 1960's. This movie had an interesting plot, but was marred by some rather bad acting. Elvis was okay and the scene with Vincent Price was interesting, but most of the acting was lame.