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GIRLS! GIRLS! GIRLS! - Historical Analisys
The Established Formula - 1962-1964 The spring of 1962 saw Elvis at work on Paramount's Girls! Girls! Girls! with location filming taking place on the Kona coast of Hawaii. Originally the movie was titled Gumbo Ya Ya (also Cumbo Ya Ya) and was to be set in New Orleans. This odd Creole expression apparently means 'Everybody talks at once', and the significance of this as a title for an Elvis Presley film remains a puzzle. Four years before, the New Orleans-set King Creole opened with a pre-credit song called Gumbo - a spiritual number sung by black people, and not Elvis. In any event, with an altered title and an entirely different location, the cameras rolled. Norman Taurog again directed, and on his fifth outing as producer for Elvis, was Hal Wallis. The screenplay was written by Edward Anhalt and Allan Weiss, from a story by the latter. Edward Anhalt, an eminent screenwriter, has two Oscar Awards to his credit - one for Becket (1964) and the other for Panic in the Streets (1950) - and has written or co-written some notable screenplays, including The Boston Strangler (1968) and Jeremiah Johnson (1972). For some reason, possibly his own, he was not assigned to write another screenplay for Elvis Presley. The female co-stars were the sultry Stella Stevens and one Laurel Goodwin. Stella Stevens is an actress of some considerable merit, and on this occasion she even got the sing three songs herself. Representing the male support was Jeremy Slate (already seen in a brief role in 1960s G.I. Blues) who seemed to be always cast as a heavy. In the role of Sam, the nightclub owner, was Robert Strauss, the excellent character actor who received a well-deserved Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of 'Animal' in Billy Wilder's much-praised prisoner-of-war drama, Stalag 17 in 1953. Strauss was to appear with Elvis again three years later in Frankie and Johnny. In the story Elvis is Ross Carpenter, the skipper of a fishing boat. When not involved in maritime pursuits, he sometimes sings at a local nightclub. Robin Gantner (Stella Stevens), the resident songstress at the nightclub, and Ross have something of an indefinite relationship. Ross meets Laurel Dodge (Laurel Goodwin), and they begin to see each other more frequently. Meanwhile, the "West Wind", the boat which Ross and his late father lovingly built but which now belongs to someone else, becomes the property of yet another buyer. Ross goes to work for the new owner, Wesley Johnson (Jeremy Slate), in an arrangement whereby he hopes to be able to buy back the boat from him over a period of time. Johnson is an obnoxious employer, and he and Ross are constantly at odds. Laurel, it transpires, is from a wealthy family, and when she tries to show favor to Ross by purchasing the boat for him, he is appalled and rejects her 'gift'. Ross takes on a singing job as a way of earning more money, and this appointment delights Sam (Robert Strauss), but only serves to infuriate the jealous Robin. After a night with Johnson, Ross sees the error of his ways regarding Laurel, and is reunited with her. He now plans to build a completely new boat. Whilst Elvis's performance may not have elevated him to any lofty heights as an actor, he was certainly believable as a man whose first love and sole interest was his boat. Actually the innocuous title was rather misleading, for despite the presence of the two main female leads, the story had more to do with fishing and boats than with girls. Its commercial viability was far more important to the studio however, so as far as they were concerned, why shouldn't it have a catchy, enticing title? This logic succeeded, naturally. The film was a finantial hit and Paramount was pleased with the outcome. This success was to continue through a further four films for that studio. For a great deal of screen time Elvis appeared all in black, including yatching cap. He was extremely fond of his headgear, and many off-set photographs taken over the years show Elvis wearing such a cap. The soundtrack for Girls! Girls! Girls! was excellent. Thirteen songs were included on the album, although two of them, Where Do You Come From and I Don't Want To were cut from the final print of the film. In the cinema trailer, Elvis is seen singing part of I Don't Want To, and this just adds to the confusion. (This had also happened two years earlier, when Elvis was seen singing the song Forget Me Never in the UK cinema trailer for Wild in the Country - the song did not appear in the finished film). Having already recorded songs, or at least portions thereof, in languages other than English - Wooden Heart in German for G.I. Blues, and even Polynesian/Hawaaiian in Aloha Oe for Blue Hawaii, we were now treated to hearing Elvis sing in Chinese. Part of the song Earth Boy was sung in true Oriental style by Elvis in a scene with two small Chinese girls. As with Blue Hawaii, an overabundance of songs was recorded, and apart from the two album tracks cut from the film, there were other songs recorded which were shelved completely. These were Plantation Rock (this latter emerged on a bootleg album and was then officially released by RCA in 1983), and Mama, which was featured in the film, but not sung by Elvis. His version did not turn up on record until 1970, and then on a budget album. Two more songs were also mentioned at the time, these being Twist Me Loose and Potpourri, but have as yet to make an appearance. Elvis also sang part of a song called Dainty Little Moonbeams, which only came out officially in 1997. The exciting Return to Sender, taken from the soundtrack, was released as single, and in December 1962 hit the number one slot, the last song from an Elvis Presley film that would have this distinction. On the studio set in Hollywood, where they were recording the Return to Sender sequence, Elvis was met by British singing star, Billy Fury, there to present Elvis with a record award. Photographs of this meeting then appeared in UK music papers. Shortly after this, Billy Fury recorded and released as a single, the song Because of Love, which Elvis had sung in Girls! Girls! Girls! It was around this time that the press-named 'Memphis Mafia' (Elvis's coterie of personal friends and bodyguards) began to make noticeable appearances in Elvis's films. Since they were, in a sense, his 'family', perhaps he could have been accused of a form of nepotism. Most likely he was more at ease having them close at hand. In Girls! Girls! Girls! it was Red West who appeared with Elvis playing a boat hand - complete with dyed black hair. West was one of Elvis's earliest friends, having attended Humes High School in Memphis with him, then touring with him on his first singing dates as a kind of general roadie. He had also, at Elvis's request, spent much of Elvis's army service time with him in Germany. Of all the so-called 'Memphis Mafia', he was the most consistent performer in Elvis's films. Prior to Girls! Girls! Girls!, he was seen in G.I. Blues in a fight scene; had a role as Elvis's bullying brother in Wild in the Country in which he even had a few lines of dialogue; could be spotted in a party scene in Blue Hawaii; played a bank guard in Follow That Dream; and lay stretched out on the canvas as a defeated boxer in Kid Galahad. He was to feature in several other Elvis Presley films, and remained part of Elvis's entourage until their unfortunate and bitter parting as friends in 1976, when Red West was sacked along with his cousin, Sonny West (also in Elvis's employ for many years) and one Dave Hebler. They sought revenge on Elvis, and with the help of a journalist, Steve Dunleavy, published a scathing book, Elvis: What Happened?, which turned up in bookshops in August 1977, the month in which Elvis died. This suggests that Elvis's choice of friends was somewhat questionable, but that aside, many of these people had a fairly comfortable existence as extras in his films, and several of them remained on amicable terms with him to the end. Throughout Girls! Girls! Girls! Elvis plays his part pretty seriously, with only the odd moment of light relief thrown in. Jeremy Slate, as the hopeful Lothario, is given more of the sharp cynical dialogue. In an exchange with Laurel Goodwin, who clearly detests him, he remarks: "I know I don't have to push, I know I'm irresistible." Whatever Elvis's personal intentions regarding his screen career, at this point his ambitions were stifled. From Girls! Girls! Girls! on, Elvis became to all intents and purposes, imprisoned in 'formula' films. This situation is what no doubt gradually led to his artistic enervation. |