Clambake is a 1967 musical film starring Elvis Presley and Shelley Fabares.
Plot
Scott Heyward is the son of a rich oilman. He decides to leave so he can discover life for himself. He runs into Tom Wilson, a water-skiing instructor who has no luck with the women. Tom offers to switch places with Scott so they can have a taste of what life is like in each other's shoes. Scott goes to work teaching water skiing for a Miami hotel, while Tom has fun pretending he is rich. Scott is taken with Dianne Carter, who is searching for a rich guy to snag. She decides to make a play for James J. Jamison III, owner of a pajama company and a boat-racing champion. Scott agrees to help her land Jamison, but in the process falls for her.
Production notes
Regarding Presley
This was the last film for which Presley was able to demand and receive a $1,000,000 salary. The relative lackluster box office performance of this movie, combined with his desire to do more serious, less commercial films, meant that studios were no longer willing to guarantee him a seven figure paycheck for his performance.
In her 1985 book, Elvis and Me, Priscilla Presley writes that by the time filming was to begin on Clambake, Elvis's growing distress with the quality of his films led to a despondency accompanied by overeating that saw his weight balloon from his normal 170 lb (77 kg) to 200 lb (91 kg). Possibly due to this, Elvis appears overweight, tired and looks sick. A movie studio executive ordered him to lose the weight in a hurry, marking the introduction of diet pills to his already excessive regimen of medications.
During this time, Presley was growing increasingly interested in religious studies and spirituality, and reading a great deal on the subjects. Colonel Tom Parker felt these pursuits were distracting Elvis from his performance, and he ordered the singer to not read any books while the film was being shot. There is no evidence that Presley complied with the command.
Production was halted for nearly two weeks in the middle of filming when Elvis fell and hit his head in the mansion he was living in during the shooting, resulting in his suffering a mild concussion.
Cast
Among the kids during the "Confidence" scene is a young Corbin Bernsen and renowned Southern California real estate agent Tony Yollin. The girl whom Elvis sings to, who is afraid to go down the slide, is Lisa Slagle, who later joined the Joffrey Ballet.
Harold Peary, who was famous for playing "The Great Gildersleeve" on radio in the 1940s, plays a bit part as the hotel doorman.
Locations
Although set in Florida, only some second unit stock footage was shot there. Virtually the entire film was shot in Southern California (resulting in the scene with the sun seemingly setting over the ocean in the East). Several exterior "Florida" scenes also have very conspicuous California mountains in the background.
Primary cast
Soundtrack
The soundtrack songs were released as a music album in November 1967 to coincide with the film. The film songs were augmented by several non-film recordings, including the recent hit singles "Guitar Man" and "Big Boss Man". RCA took the unusual move of programming the Guitar Man single to lead off the album, rather than the usual pattern of leading off with the film title track.
Track listing
Side 1
- "Guitar Man" (Jerry Reed)
- "Clambake" (Ben Weisman, Sid Wayne)
- "Who Needs Money" (Randy Starr)
- "House That Has Everything" (Roy C. Bennett, Sid Tepper)
- "Confidence" (Roy C. Bennett, Sid Tepper)
- "Hey, Hey, Hey" (Joe Byers)
Side 2
- "You Don't Know Me" (Cindy Walker, Eddy Arnold)
- "The Girl I Never Loved" (Randy Starr)
- "How Can You Lose What You Never Had" (Ben Weisman, Sid Wayne)
- "Big Boss Man" (Al Smith, Luther Dixon)
- "Singing Tree" (A. Owens, A. Solberg)
- "Just Call Me Lonesome" (Rex Griffin)
Recording musicians
Cultural impact
- In his song "Back to Tupelo", Mark Knopfler references Clambake as a turning point in Presley's career.
- Conan O'Brien has named Clambake as his favorite Elvis Presley film.
See also
References
External links
Movie reviews
DVD Reviews
