VIVA LAS ELVIS!
In honor of Elvis Presley’s birthday, Turner Classic Movies is running an all-day marathon of his movies on Sunday August 16. Below are some of the films being aired, with brief comments from some of the starlets who worked with the King:
6:00am Viva Las Vegas
“He was the sweetest, nicest, most insecure guy I ever met. He liked the same people around him all the time. Lori Williams, Drive-in Dream Girls
7:30am Spinout
“Elvis was extremely good-looking, very sexy, and a major gentleman. He was a joy to work with especially in the scenes when he’d sing to you. Can you think of anything nicer than to be serenaded by Elvis?” Diane McBain, Fantasy Femmes of Sixties Cinema
9:15am Blue Hawaii
“My first reaction was that I thought he was just so handsome. Elvis was also extraordinarily polite with me because I think I was the only girl there that he didn’t date.” Darlene Tompkins, Drive-in Dream Girls
11:00am Girls! Girls! Girls!
“Elvis did not like Girls! Girls! Girls! He was very uncomfortable with performing. He also felt very unsure of himself as far as acting went. He deferred to me continually because he felt I knew more about acting, whatever the hell that is.” Laurel Goodwin, Drive-in Dream Girls
4:30pm Girl Happy
“On the set, Elvis’ guys in his entourage kept inviting me to his house and I kept declining because I was still doing Under the Yum Yum Tree on stage at night. But even if I could have gone I wouldn’t have. I wasn’t familiar with Elvis Presley’s music and wasn’t interested in hearing it. Not knowing much about him (except that he was very friendly and polite to me), I wasn’t aware of his importance at the time.” Gail Gerber aka Gail Gilmore, Trippin’ with Terry Southern
6:15pm Clambake
“Elvis Presley was divine—what a dream! He was so sweet and a total gentleman. He also paid attention to you if you had a problem, like I did. While we’d be waiting for a shot to be set up, we’d talk in a corner and he’d listen. He wasn’t just fluff.” Suzie Kaye, Drive-in Dream Girls
8:00pm It Happened At the World’s Fair
“When I arrived at the World’s Fair, I saw Elvis whom I had never met before over the heads of all these people. You talk about crowds! It was unbelievable. People everywhere! After we finished the first morning’s sequences they had an electric car for Elvis and me to use. They had to set up barricades and use hundreds of policemen to hold back the crowds just to get us out of there.” Joan O’Brien, Fantasy Femmes of Sixties Cinema
2:00am Roustabout
“My little snotty comments to my agents about every Joan in town [Joan Blackman, Joan O’Brien, Joan Freeman] working with Elvis except me helped me land this film. Elvis was fun to work with. He was just a nice, nice man.” Joan Staley, Fantasy Femmes of Sixties Cinema
4:00am The Trouble with Girls
“Elvis was so polite and such a southern gentleman. Throughout the film, if Peter Tewksbury [the director] wanted a certain reaction from you during your close-up, he’d tell the other actor off-camera to do whatever he needed to do to get that reaction. So sometimes there were just crazy things going on off-camera that the audience just has no idea. Peter did that a lot with Elvis. Peter would tell me, ‘I don’t care what you do but this is what I need from him.’ I’d do things but Elvis was so spontaneous to work with.” Marlyn Mason, Drive-in Dream Girls