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Girl Happy - 2007 Edition

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Girl Happy - 2007 Edition
Rating:
3.2 / 5
Released: 2007/08/07 by Warner Home Video
Elvis portrays Chicago club singer Rusty Wells, who, when not wowing the crowds, has the added task of watching over the overly exuberant daughter of his mob boss while she’s on vacation in Fort Lauderdale. Shelley Fabares, Presley’s favorite leading lady and a singing star in her own right (her 1962 tune Johnny Angel was a #1 hit), plays the daughter. And the lively songs include "Do the Clam," "Good News," "Puppet on a String," the title tune and eight others.

ElvisNews review

Girl Happy remains, for me, the most memorable movie in the Elvis Presley catalogue. Why you ask? Sometime during my 15th year on this earth I screwed up the courage to actually ask a girl out on a date. The gods must have been in a good mood that day as she agreed. What better place to go than to the newest Elvis Presley movie playing at the Park Movie House in Woonsocket, R.I. The movie was Girl Happy. While the girl, whom I would take to my prom several years later, and the Park are long gone; Girl Happy retains a wonderful place in my memory bank of life.

Girl Happy was an excellent outing for Elvis. The movie actually made sense as Elvis was a singer who was sent to Florida to look after his boss’ daughter who was there for spring break. Shelley Fabares played the daughter and while the chemistry between her and Elvis may not have been of the Ann-Margret caliber, I do consider her to be number two on my list of Elvis’ romantic movie interests. Shelley could act, she could sing and she looked fabulous.

The soundtrack from the movie was issued March 1, 1965 and reached Number 8 on the national charts and earned Elvis another Gold Record. The music is strong and works well within the context of the film and on its own as a stand alone album.

“Girl Happy" is a fine up-tempo pop number that still makes a person smile 40-plus years later. Elvis is in fine vocal form as he belts out what could have been a successful single release. It is vocals that like this one by which Elvis should be remembered.

“Spring Fever,” in the movie, was a duet between Shelley Fabares and Elvis. The album release contained just an Elvis vocal. The duet was superior and did not surface as an official release until it was added as a CD bonus song decades later.

Four more songs conclude the first side of the original LP release. “Startin’ Tonight” “Wolf Call” and even “Fort Lauderdale Chamber Of Commerce” are acceptable pop. Elvis seems to be inspired and really trying as the vocals are crisp and the tracks well produced. “Do Not Disturb” is an excellent ballad in the Presley tradition. All in all this six song set remains one of the best of any contained on his movie soundtracks.

There were two singles released from the album and both probably deserved better than the re-action they received from the record buying public. “Do The Clam” only reached the top twenty for Elvis. The song is not as bad as the title implies. It was a bongo (yes bongo) driven up-tempo song that worked. It even came with a picture sleeve that is quite rare today. “Puppet On A String” may not have been as strong but was certainly better than many of the mid-sixties songs that graced Elvis’ soundtrack albums. Elvis slows the tempo down and just allows his smooth baritone voice to carry the song along.

Girl Happy remains one of the better Elvis Presley movies ranking just below Viva Las Vegas. The soundtrack is also excellent throughout and holds up well. So for an enjoyable evening, grab some popcorn and watch Girl Happy. Better yet, find a date and watch it together.

JerryNodak wrote on June 10, 2007
One of my faves from thje '60s. Lookin forward to having this on DVD, and with the Startin' Tonight sequence restored. C'mon now everbody, Do The Clam!!
old shep wrote on June 19, 2007
Why bother, the film was poor even by Elvis' standards and the soundtrack was awful. Do The Clam, did anybody?
Rating: 3 / 5
JerryNodak wrote on June 20, 2007
Why bother? Because I like the film very much. Poor film? Nah. That would be Harum Scarum. And I'm be generous in calling it poor.
Rusty wrote on June 24, 2007
'Girl Happy' is no worse than any other beach movie from the sixties you have to judge it by 1965 standards not by 2007 standards life was much different back these were escape movies, as a beach movie it works very well it has a good plot and a lot of the songs are very good
Rating: 3 / 5
Mystery Rider wrote on June 29, 2007
seems like thisx cover looks like all the other covers in this series. suppose all elvis 45 covers looked alike none would be desireable to collectors.
JerryNodak wrote on June 30, 2007
Yes, all the covers do have the same basic design. This is to be expected since these movies are being sold as a set. Although you can buy each separatly. They do each have a different picture on them. So, they are NOT the same.
JimmyCool wrote on July 04, 2007
They are half the same anyways...
Rating: 3 / 5
OtisBlue22 wrote on July 12, 2007
Anyone know why the Warner Bros DVD boxset isn't being released in Europe? GH was a beach movie and was never meant to be taken seriously. Just enjoy for all it's worth. At least you know it's part of a set with the almost identical cover art.
Rating: 4 / 5
Jumpin Jehosaphat wrote on July 29, 2007
if you need this in your collection of forgetable movies you can buy it for 7.32 including shipping at deep discount dvd, it may have gone for 10.00 if it had a decent cover.
Rating: 1 / 5
JerryNodak wrote on August 06, 2007
With an attitude like yours, Jumpin' you've got to be related to Mystery Rider.
Mystery Rider wrote on August 09, 2007
To Jerry, he's my cousin, and i'll tell you if you ever saw his collection of RCA and Sun records youd flip, records from all over the world 45 78 LP he has 10 original SUN 209 78's unplayed in a vault at the bank. he's a little nuts but business smart. the majority of his material is 5 or more copies of each. do you think he should have his head examined.
Iron Man wrote on August 13, 2007
Yeah, Mystery Rider, he surely does. Silly movie, but this is Elvis. And I am glad to finally have it in my collection
Rating: 4 / 5
nigelgoo wrote on September 06, 2007
Although some may not rate this film, I do, probably because I remember going to see it at the cinema when it was originally released. We had just broken up from school and three of us went to see it that afternoon. So to have this again but now in good quality for me is great as brings back happy memories of watching Elvis on the big screen and going straight to the record store afterwards to get the soundtrack album. What bothers me is that they can get a good quality release with this film, but not with This Is Elvis. The second disc is simply appalling quality and the one I have is faulty every time you go to the next chapter, the picture wobbles and shakes, so I am wondering why one film can have good quality and the other can't. Doesn't make sense!
Rating: 3 / 5
ext_mnx wrote on October 30, 2007
I love the picture
Rating: 5 / 5