Main Cast: Elvis Presley, Dodie Marshall, Pat Priest, Pat Harrington, Jr., Elsa Lanchester, Frank McHugh, Skip Ward
Release Year: 1967
Country: US
Run Time: 96 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Elvis Presley hits the high seas in this musical comedy. Ted Jackson (Presley) is a former Navy frogman who divides his time between twin careers as a deep sea diver and nightclub singer. Ted discovers what he believes could be a fortune in Spanish gold aboard a sunken ship and sets out to rescue it with the help of go-go dancing yoga expert Jo Symington (Dodie Marshall). However, Gil Carey (Skip Ward) is also after the treasure and uses his girlfriend Dina Bishop (Pat Priest) to foil Ted's plans. Elvis sings six tunes in this picture, including the deathless "Yoga Is as Yoga Does" and "The Love Machine." ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
Easy Come, Easy Go, Elvis Presley's 24th film outing, is not the worst of the "King's" screen offerings, but it's far from his best. By 1967, Elvis films had devolved into silly, rather tired affairs, and this is certainly the case with Easy. Worse, most of these later films feature the star singing songs that owe more to Broadway and to Hollywood pop than to rock & roll, and this is the case with Easy. While there's only one song that is a true, out-and-out horror -- the unforgivable "Yoga Is as Yoga Does" - it's also true that the rest of the score is nothing more than pleasantly serviceable. Elvis sounds good singing them, and he's at his most charismatic and engaging during the musical numbers, but they don't compare to his best work. When he's not singing, Elvis relies on his charm and charisma rather than any real acting; he coasts through the movie on his personality, which is really all that the material deserves anyway. The screenplay is poor, the kind of thing written by old fogeys who think they're being "hip," even when they're dealing with a beatnik subculture that by 1967 was horrendously out of date. Dodie Marshall is attractive but doesn't register as a performer; much better is Pat Priest, looking great and playing the bad girl with zest. There's some fun to be had from the sets and the fashions, but Easy is not one for the ages. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Allen Jenkins; Sandy Kenyon - Lt. Maily Schwartz; Ed Griffith - Cooper; Read Morgan - Lt. Tompkins; Mickey Elley - Lt. Whitehead; Shari Nims - Mary; Diki Lerner - Zoltan; Robert Isenberg - Artist; Elaine Backett - Vicki; Tom Hatten - Naval Officer; Jonathan Hole - Coin Dealer; Boyd "Red" Morgan - Lt. Tompkins; Kathleen York - Tanya
Credit
Hal Pereira - Art Director, Walter Tyler - Art Director, Paul Nathan - Associate Producer, David Winters - Choreography, Edith Head - Costume Designer, John Rich - Director, Archie Marshek - Editor, Joseph Lilley - Composer (Music Score), Joseph Lilley - Musical Direction/Supervision, Wally Westmore - Makeup, William Margulies - Cinematographer, Hal B. Wallis - Producer, Robert R. Benton - Set Designer, Arthur Krams - Set Designer, Paul K. Lerpae - Special Effects, Allan Weiss - Screenwriter, Anthony Lawrence - Screenwriter
An extended play record of the same title as the movie was recorded at Radio Recorders in Hollywood, California in September 1966 and released in May 1967. It was the final release of new material by Presley in the EP format. The EP contains the six songs performed in the film. A seventh song, "She's a Machine", recorded but unused, later appeared on the compilation album Elvis Sings Flaming Star.
Presley was reportedly unhappy with the quality of the songs selected for the film. According to Roy Carr and Mick Farren's retrospective, Elvis: The Illustrated Record, Presley is alleged to have referred to the songs as "shit" during the recording session and the writers label this their choice for the worst record Presley ever recorded.[1]
It is often reported[2][3] that Presley recorded "Leave My Woman Alone" for the film, but only an instrumental backing was ever recorded; Presley never recorded a vocal for the song.[4][5]
