Customer Reviews

Easy Come, Easy Go

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Elvis Presley stars as Lieutenant Ted Jackson, a Naval SCUBA diver, who discovers a sunken ship while deactivating a mine. He decides not to re-enlist and teams up with his former band member and partner Pat Harrington, the notorious maintenance man of "One Day at a Time" fame, to help him find a possible treasure in the shipwreck. However, the best character in this movie is yoga teacher Elsa Lanchester, who played the Bride of Frankenstein, co-starring with Boris Karloff. The soundtrack is excellent, with Elvis singing and strumming six wacky tunes, including the unforgettable "Yoga Is as Yoga Does".

Yesterday (10-11-01) I saw Easy Come, Easy Go for the first time. As it got underway with Elvis in the Navy in charge of getting rid of mines, I thought it had a chance to be one of Elvis' best, particularly with the catchy title song and the fact that Elvis had trimmed down some from his 1966 efforts (he probably also did it as he was getting ready to marry Priscilla.)

The basic storyline had potential, and I was really getting into the movie until the "Yoga" song and the portrayal of the beatnick theme that was popular in the 1960s. After that, you think "Elvis just going through the motions again. How can he let himself be treated this way by the Colonel?"

The movie does make somewhat of a recovery as the race to the treasure begins and Elvis gets into one of his best fight scenes on the opposition's boat.

Definitely boilerplate Presley vehicle that, with a few changes, could have been deemed among his top five movies out of the 33 he made.

If Easy Come, Easy Go is not the worst film Elvis ever did, it is one of his worst. Not that his performance is bad, but the script and storyline are. It was obvious that Colonel Tom was cutting back on the what he was paying script writers inorder to try to make a quick buck. Even the songs in this one are not very good. Movies like this one are what killed Elvis' movie career and reputation as an actor. His management should have been fired for getting him into this one!

Pass on this and get one of his early movies (Jaihouse Rock or King Creole are good) or maybe Blue Hawaii or GI Blues (they are far better than this one).

I remember managing to find a drive-in that was showing the first run ECEG; and I remember my girlfriend not saying a word while we watched. She was too kind. In retrospect, it was so totally wrong for the time that one almost has to respect it. I say almost. It was a numbing experience then and the most one can say for it now is: At least the Elvis impersonators will leave it alone. The story is weak, the co-stars are painful, and the soundtrack so bad, the weakest selling record of Elvis' career managed to kill of the Extended Playing record. But , for all that, it is Elvis, and the true beliver will find something in it worth carrying away. Its just best watched alone.

"Easy Come, Easy Go" is a likeable in some sense. Elvis is a Navy frogman who's on a search for buried treasure hidden in a sunken ship under the sea. He finds it's linked to Dodie Marshall and with her help he tries to find it. But, there are some unwelcome searchers looking for it too. One of them being the enticing Pat Preist of "Munsters" fame. When the treasure is found, it's all in copper. But, they're able to get some money out of it. A good thousand or so dollars. Elvis' characters were never money hungry. This film has got all the '60s fads and fashions: yoga crazes, body painting, spaghetti/body art, swinging dance moves, swinging music, and a wheel full of girls called "The Love Machine". That one's a great movie song that's often looked down upon. It's so '60s themed like the Bond movie "Casino Royale" is. Take about 95 minutes out of your life and see this swinging flick.

Go-Go dancin' Dodie Marshall is an 'anything goes' type o' chick when it comes to guys rubbing women in paint and rolling said women on paper and calling it art. And she doesn't judge overweight British women married to Charles Laughton for their unusual Yoga instruction, or...just about anybody! But if you look for gold on a shiprecked vessel, man you are nowhere! Elvis was nowhere. He got nowhere when he got digits from the Love Machine. He got nowhere when making time with a blonde adventurous dish. And he got nowhere when trying to rent sea venture equipment from a TV show hasbeen who belongs on the short bus (if you know what I mean). But Elvis has his pride, has his charm, has his swagger, and has his bravado. And he entertains in this movie in spite of some slow points and some real clunkers, when the movie decides to pay too much attention to the ridiculous kiddie show captain.
Good music, funny looks at beatniks making a scene, and Elvis getting camera time are all reasons to see this movie. And if you wanted to catch a little more Dodie than what you saw in Spinout (yep. She was the hottie who played drums at the end of Spinout. Mama Mia!) then this is worth the trip. It's average on the Elvis Movie-O-Meter. It won't be your favorite, but it's a good enough addition to the library.

"Easy Come, Easy Go" (1967) was Elvis Presley's final movie for producer Hal Wallis, who didn't win any awards for this routine effort. Presley trimmed down for this film and he looks great. Despite the usual Wallis formula, Elvis gives a surprisingly adept performance and sings a few catchy tunes. However, the "Yoga Is as Yoga Does" number with Elvis and Elsa Lanchester must be seen to be truly believed. A far cry from the days of "Loving You" and "King Creole."

Easy Come, Easy Go (1967) is a fairly comedic adventure featuring Elvis Presley as a financially challenged ex-Navy diver, looking to recover some underwater treasure.

Presley is Ted Jackson, who while on his last mission as a demolitions expert for the US Navy, discovers some treasure in a sunken ship. Unfortunately Gil Carey (Skip Ward), another diver in the area, snaps a photo while he is making the discovery. Upon getting his release from the service, Jackson begins making plans to go treasure hunting, partnering with Navy buddy Marty Schwartz (Sandy Kenyon) and Judd Whitman (Pat Harrington Jr.) a beatnik type who owns the bar, Easy Go-Go. He rents diving equipment from Captain Jack (Frank McHugh), and enlists Jo Symington (Dodie Marshall), to join the treasure hunt. Cary and his rich girlfriend Dina Bishop (Pat Priest) figure out that Jackson may be after underwater treasure, and begin shadowing Jackson and his partners, trying to beat them to it.

This is not one of Presley's best efforts, but the film's ocean settings and underwater scenes at least offer a nice change of scenery. After being in Presley's Spinout (1966), Dodie Marshall is elevated to a starring role, the first and last, in her brief acting career. After being sweet Marilyn Munster on TV, Pat Priest displays a lot of skin, and a little avarice in her role. The songs are average at best, with the corny performance of "Yoga Is As Yoga Does" featuring a grating duet with yoga instructor Elsa Lanchester.

If you got Elvis Presley and Dodie Marshall and put them in the same film you will have Easy Come Easy Go, an Elvis Presley that people who like boats or sailing or both will love. But anybody that hates boats or sailing and is an Elvis Presley fan will be un-happy. And Elvis' leading lady in this film is Dodie Marshall which I guess is a re-make of a film with the same name came out in 1947. And this is one of final films that Elvis sings the same song with somebody else, and the song is Yoga Is As Yoga Goes. He sings that with Elsa Lanchester who plays a not very nice yoga teacher. If you are an Elvis Presley fan, then buy or rent Jailhouse Rock on video or dvd.

For all you Munsters fans' who watched it only for the 200 to 1 chance that Pat Priest would show up in a bikini and you were unaware of this effort, well, here's your chance - 45 years later.

Her co-star is Elvis Presley, in one of his wierdest "worst" movies, actually a much better than average effort from that "lazy" late '60s Elvis era.
Just six songs, none lousy...but none good enough for a hit single. Or a "B"-side...you see kids, back in the days of plastic.......

A groovy story, with very agreeable support from Pat (the guy who played the Janitor in that MacKenzie Phillips sitcom...gimme a break, I'm 60), and veteran Hollywooders Elsa Lanchester, and Frank McGrath.

Interesting tidbit, with Elvis taking the bandstand to sing with his old group. He prefaces the action, cueing them by saying "Stop, You're Wrong Again", the original title of the tune, and the title that Elvis had thrown out in favor of "You Gotta Stop"!

Some cute, good-natured satire on Western California live in the mid-'60s, the new "fads", like yoga, body art, etc. In reality, Elvis was deeply absorbed in Eastern philosophy, so the production number "Yoga Is As Yoga Does" must have been painful.

The Extended Play soundtrack from this flick sold 30k! Not good. But, relatively speaking, not bad: time to make a "real" Elvis movie! It took about two years for Colonel Tom Parker, RCA, and whoever else to say...time for something different for the dude who turned the tables on the entertainment industry about 10 years before. That something different came in the form of a Television Special......

[Got it - Pat Harrington and "One Day At A Time"!].