Memphis Mafia cameos: Sonny West as Jackson He-Crow, Joe Esposito appears as a workman.
Overall: After some lovely opening shots of Sedona, Arizona, it's an incomprehensible pile of stink, and its portrayal of Native Americans is practically indefensible by today's more enlightened standards.
Live A Little, Love A Little (1968)
Plot: Photographer Greg Nolan (Elvis) encounters a flighty woman (Michele Carey) who causes him to lose his job and his apartment, and he is forced move in with her. He works two jobs simultaneously, at a nudie magazine and an ad agency, to get her out of his life.
Quality of songs: "A Little Less Conversation", which became a worldwide #1 hit in a 2002 remix version, is sung during the party. "Edge Of Reality" offers some late-'60s psychedelic pop, a new direction for Elvis, but without the drugs.
Quality of women: Carey is the requisite beauty, but the others are inconsistent.
Sample dialogue: "You don't taste bad for a Sagittarius."
Memphis Mafia cameos: Joe Esposito, Red West and Elvis' father, Vernon Presley, appear as extras.
Overall: An attempt at a manic sex farce, but without the sex. As a result, it doesn't quite work, but it also isn't horrendous.
Charro! (1969)
Plot: An historic Mexican cannon is stolen by an outlaw gang and they have falsely accused Jess Wade (Elvis, with a beard!) as the thief. Elvis tries to clear his name and win back the love of the woman he left behind.
Quality of songs: Apart from the title song that plays over the opening credits, Elvis doesn't sing. Instead, there is a decent sub-Morricone score by Hugo Montenegro.
Quality of women: Ina Balin is rather unappealing as Elvis' love interest, and gets upstaged by one of the dancing girls.
Sample dialogue: "You are, without a doubt, the most beautiful woman I was ever not allowed to look at."
Memphis Mafia cameos: Charlie Hodge is uncredited as a Mexican peon.
Overall: Filmed shortly after the '68 Comeback Special, it's a surprisingly average Western. It's slow in spots, and occasionally overacted, but it conforms to the expectations of the genre, and Elvis is engaged throughout.
Article comments
1 - john saxon
Well Dave, Most of the films in that set are pretty dire. I would however like to make a few comments........ Kissin' Cousins was actually made AFTER Viva Las Vegas, even though it was released before, so it's not a pre- 'Vegas' movie. It is also known that Cousins was made in 2 weeks!
Tickle Me - the songs. Ok it's a lipsinc job but
did you know that some of those songs actually came from the classic Elvis is Back album? So they weren't all bad.
Stay away joe should be seen in the context of the day. Stereotyping was still quite normal in 1968. The rest is pretty fair comment.
2 - Brian Quinn
Personally I love Elvis' movies. Why? Because Elvis is in them. Period. I do not care about acting, plots etc. just that I have a chance to watch Elvis - the Greatest Entertainer who ever lived.
I saw them first time around on the big screen and the effect of seeing Elvis was magnetic. I could not take my eyes off him.
R.I.P. Elvis and thanks for the memories.
3 - Dave Lifton
Sorry, I'm just getting to this now.
Brian, I think that's precisely why they continue to get re-released and shown on the classic movie channels. Even in the worst of them (and I've seen about 25 of the 33), there's a presence, a charisma that's undeniable.
John, I did see it in that context, but that didn't make it any less creepy.
That makes sense about Kissin' Cousins. The reason I mentioned Viva Las Vegas is because, after that movie was when the Colonel started slashing the budget, so having one that cheesy come out beforehand didn't make sense. Thanks for clearing that up.