Believe it or not, another Elvis anniversary is just around the corner. The King died on his throne on August 16, 1977, so we can at least be thankful it’s not an anniversary with a round number. Nevertheless, some folks will no doubt commemorate the occasion with a trip to Graceland or a nice dinner of peanut butter and banana sammiches. And then there’s Mark Hinson of the Tallahassee Democrat, who remembers the King thusly: “R.I.P., Elvis, but, man, you made some lousy movies.”
Now, I’ve been known to enjoy the occasional Presley picture – who among us can resist the charms of Viva Las Vegas? – and I’ve even known an Elvis movie connoisseur or two in my day. But it’s hard to deny the truth in Hinson’s claim, particularly when he’s willing to back it up in a fashion near and dear to my heart. Namely, sitting through a pile of crappy movies. “Because this year is an odd-number anniversary — and a gallon of gas costs more than a necklace made of unicorn horns — I'm not driving to Memphis this week to stand around in the August heat with my fellow weirdos,” Hinson writes. “Instead, I rented a stack of Elvis movies last weekend and paid tribute to the King with a full day of electrifying Elvis cinema.”
Hinson begins with the “sunny 1964 incest musical” Kissin’ Cousins, in which Elvis tests the limits of his acting chops in a dual role. “The dark-haired Elvis stars as an Air Force officer named Josh who's ordered to smooth talk his opossum-eating Tennessee cousins out of their property because the military wants to use it as a base for nuclear missiles. Elvis also plays Josh's mountain-dwelling cousin, Jodie, a blond-haired lug with a waxy complexion who may be a hillbilly golem… Let's just say it's not as convincing as Jeremy Irons playing identical twins in Dead Ringers.”
The marathon continues with such milestones of cinema as Harum Scarum, Tickle Me, and A Change of Habit, featuring Mary Tyler Moore as an undercover nun, but Hinson saves his highest praise for Clambake, which he dubs a “dung grenade.” I do think he’s a little hard on “Do the Clam” from Girl Happy, however. Judge for yourself:
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Forgotten Films: "Eat the Peach" (1986)
Original Vs. Remake: Ocean's Eleven