Customer Reviews

Elvis Presley Musicals (Kissin' Cousins / Live a Little Love a Little / Girl Happy / Tickle Me)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This 4 pack of Elvis treats was an Elvis fan delight.It starts with Kissing Cousins with double the Elvis. Elvis is surrounded by a passel of beauties. He gets to sing to his hearts delight and still gets into a fight with himself. With the movie "Live a little,Love a little" you have one of the most adult Elvis movies. It streches the boundries of reality with vivid weird dreams and boundless sexual humour. It's nice to see Dick Sargent and Rudy Vallee in this movie, but Don Porter seems miscast. Elvis's dad makes a quick non-speaking cameo. Blink and you may miss him. Overall a good Elvis movie. (his dog is neat too).In "Girl Happy" we have the classic Elvis as a singer. He then falls for Shelly Fabares. Shelly is wonderful in this role! We also have the sultry Mary Ann Mobley who steals the spotlight with her gorgous acting. This is a fun filled singing Elvis farce that will delight almost all Elvis fans. Int h final film, "Tickle Me" we have fun filled Elvis romp in the desert fat farm. Elvis gets to sing and help young female clients lose weight.Of course he drawn to one of the co-workers. The very co-worker who doesn't want anything to do with him. He wins her over with music and charm. Watch for Elvis magic guitar that seems to start to play drums and trumpets and all sorts of music, even when Elvis puts it down to sing even better. Other than that, this is a fun filled boy meets girl Elvis fim. Four fun filled "Elvis" movies packed together to make any Elvis fan happy.

Hey, I'm an Elvis fan, so I'm not here to trample everything he did like some Beatles fans do to his stuff. But these four films are NOT anywhere NEAR the best of his movies, and generally are quite embarrassing. Look them up in a good movie guide and see what I mean. Three of the four are from the mid-60s, which was the low point of his film career since by then most of his "travelogue" types of films had declined in quality with poor scripts, weak songs, and usually low production values. I do think that "Girl Happy" is a fairly fun film, but most of the music in it is embarrassing. The one here from the late-60s, "Live a Little, Love a Little," has some decent scenes and songs (such as "Almost in Love," "A Little Less Conversation," and "The Edge of Reality"), and for his films was unusually frank in dealing with sexual matters. Yet again, the film is undermined by a poor script. So unless you're either an Elvis completest or you already know you like these films, stick to his best: King Creole, Wild in the Country, Follow That Dream, Jailhouse Rock (Deluxe Edition), Loving You, Flaming Star, and Viva Las Vegas (Deluxe Edition). Also pretty good, though not among Elvis's very best films, are Change of Habit, Fun in Acapulco, and Roustabout.

Where else can one get 4 Elvis flicks for a bargain? Here we have 4 great movies for the price of one. If you're just starting your Elvis movie collection or re-building in DVD, start here. "Live Alittle, Love A Little" is my favorite.

i have not seen all the movies as yet but the one that I have was very good. I have seen otherson TV.

I really only wanted the movies Girl Happy and Tickle Me. However, with this set I got two extras! Very well done and great price. Thanks Amazon.com!

All "A" typical Elvis movies -- all about he same format -- but like millions of others I love the Elvis films for some reason.

I ordered these close to Elvis Week and received them very fast. I would purchase from here agian.

A fun collection with excellent audio-video. This is a blast for those baby-boomers who saw these Presleys in the movies in the 1960s, then watched facsimilies on TV (bad reception, tinny sound) in the 1970s; then passable dubs on VHS in the 1980s. You know the storylines and the songtitles.

Best: LIVE A LITTLE, LOVE A LITTLE. Must be surmised that the powers-that-be finally decided to make a contemporary vehicle for the star: although production values approximate a Made-For-TV in 1968, we have an adult movie with adult themes, and just three songs in the course of the story. The only fantasy part is a production number of a dream scenario. Although Elvis could have cut loose a bit more, he looks fantastic, hair in a '50s pompador, trimmed way down. No "Do The Clam" here! His acting at times is surprisingly strong - he must have appreciated the change, the maturation of his screen character. His comic timing and body English surely evaded those lazy critics at the time. I doubt Brando or Cary Grant fans would find any issue with what Elvis accomplished here.
An interesting aspect is in the location shots, I surmise, in and around Beverly Hills. Gives one a chance to imagine what an Elvis TV series might have looked like! We see Elvis driving down a real street, running on a real beach. It's different!

Worst: GIRL HAPPY. As a Beach Movie, it's one of the best, but for a star seriously near age 30, and for his co-star, an excellent actress, Shelley Fabares, also past the age to play a 20 year old, it's pretty embarrassing. A plus, however, are some production numbers with real '50s Rock and Roll - when the camera decides to focus on Elvis for more than two seconds, it's pandemonium. But Gary Crosby faking bass and the other band guys mugging it up are too much.

Funniest: TICKLE ME features Elvis in great form, doing physical comedy as well as anyone, then or now. A curious mix of slapstick and adult situations but the thing hangs together. Although it's been said he had to be dragged onto the set, something kicked in, and we have a pretty solid comedy.
(For those who analyze in depth, that risque line Lonnie says to Mrs. Radford in the jeep is cut).

Grooviest: KISSIN' COUSINS, another non-favorite amongst the literary elites, has a great soundtrack and a funky, off-kilter feel about it; a decent script, though things go a little haywire in the last 10 minute or so; strong performances by Jack Albertson, as Elvis' Military superior, also Cynthia Pepper as the Typist sent from the Pentagon to keep records - turns out she becomes the only one to keep a semblance of order, as the mission to secure a military site on a Mountain inhabited by reluctant mountaineers constantly veers off course; only about *one* too many songs.
Though it's apparent Elvis is not as engaged as he could be, it's not surprising, as this was the first official "quickie" in his career - and involved Elvis playing his own cousin and wearing a blonde wig. Producer Sam Katzman, known as "The King of the 'Quickies'", did his thing: this film was reportedly completed in 18 days.
For those who study the music, "Smokey Mountain Boy" is on the soundtrcak - was not on a VHS edition; and, disappointingly enough, a great meium soul rocker, "Catchin' On Fast", shows up in the *record album* version! (The movie version is heard in the "Extras", featuring original movie trailors).

I purchased this as a gift and it was a big hit with my mom.

Purchased as a gift for my brother who is a die-hard Elvis fan. He loved it.
I loved it. Good quality and price. Has 4 musicals with Elvis at his best.