EVERYTHING AND THE KITCHEN SINK

I love the films from the 1950s and 1960s and this new book, Everything And The Kitchen Sink - UK Film, Music and TV Before The Beatles, written by Simon Matthews, looks in detail at a period whose movies, and TV programmes, have been classed as 'Kitchen Sink Drama'.

The term 'Kitchen Sink Drama' comes from a British cultural movement from the 1950s/1960s that used social realism to depict the gritty and everyday lives of working-class people. It focussed on many themes including social inequality, poverty, pregnancy, abortion, domestic struggles and created the disillusioned, rebellious working-class heroes who, frustrated with the hand they had been dealt in life, became 'Angry Young Men.'

The term originated from a 1954 article by an art critic on young painters who concentrated on mundane domestic scenes. The movement began in British theatre but soon spread to film and TV. 

Over seven main chapters Matthews gives the reader a detailed look at the many films released during the 1950s and 1960s including such classics as A Taste Of Honey, Saturday Night And Sunday Morning, Room At The Top, The Leather Boys, Look Back In Anger, Billy Liar and A Kind Of Loving.

There are details about how many of the films started life as books and stage plays, including where the plays were first performed. Problems finding distributors and the different actors who were considered for the lead and supporting roles are covered in comprehensive detail and make for fascinating reading.

The list of people mentioned in the book reads like a who's who with authors and playwrights (John Osborne, Alan Sillitoe, Shelagh Delaney), actors (Albert Finney, Alan Bates, Rita Tushingham, Leonard Rossiter) and producers and directors (Michael Winner, Richard Lester and Ken Loach) all featured.

There are too many other movies to list here but A Place To Go, The L-Shaped Room, Idol On Parade, The Loneliness Of The Long-Distance Runner, Lucky Jim and Only Two Can Play are just a few that are covered in similar detail to the rest.

Both Tony Hancock and Peter Sellers  work on TV, radio and films is covered with a look at Hancock's Half Hour, The Rebel, The Goon Show, Carlton Browne Of The F. O. and I'm Alright Jack among others.

During the late-1950s and throughout the 1960s there were many 'pop' musicals that featured the top artists/groups of the time. Most were simply vehicles to bring together a selection of current hits wrapped up in flimsy plots. However, they were very popular at the time and I have fond memories of many of them.

The book looks at a few of these... It's Trad Dad! (Helen Shapiro), Play It Cool (Billy Fury), What A Crazy World (Joe Brown), Serious Charge (Cliff Richard) and Expresso Bongo (Cliff Richard), the two Cliff Richard movies having a more serious storyline than many of the others. This all leads to The Beatles and A Hard Days Night.

A number of TV productions are also included, many of which I remember watching as a youngster... Z-Cars (one of my favourites), Dixon Of Dock Green, Danger Man, Coronation Street, The Avengers and Steptoe & Son.

As well as the 'Pop' musicals discussed earlier, a number of music programmes also get a mention... Oh Boy!, Six-Five Special, Ready Steady Go and Top Of The Pops.

One of my favourite movies from this period is Beat Girl, set in the Soho scene and starring Adam Faith, Gillian Hills, Noelle Adam and Christopher Lee with music by Adam Faith and The John Barry Seven and I was pleased to see it covered.

The book includes a foreword by Sir Tom Courtenay, a detailed list of commercially released music related to the films, theatre and TV productions mentioned in the book with details of singles, extended play releases and long playing albums and a comprehensive index to the books content.

There are so many great stories throughout the book and I'll leave it to the reader to find out more. However, I do want to mention one that I found very interesting, regarding The Beatles and their first film role. I have added additional information to that covered in the book.

In 1964 A Hard Days Night was released and became an instant and major success, as did the accompanying soundtrack album and singles that were released.

However it could all have been so different. The Beatles were first offered a chance to appear in the 1963 film The Yellow Teddybears, a slice-of-life drama whose plot was described as... 'A clique of girls in an English school who wore small yellow teddy bears on their uniforms to signify that they were no longer virgins!' The leader of the girls, Linda, fears she might be pregnant by her boyfriend, with the name 'Kinky', a wannabe singer.

The movie, directed by Robert Hartford-Davis with a script by Donald Ford and Derek Ford, had a cast that included Jacqueline Ellis, Georgina Patterson, Annette Whiteley, Jill Adams and Iain Gregory.

In the movie The Beatles would be required to sing six songs, none of which would be written by them. It was also going to be released with an alternate, and less-appealing, title... Gutter Girls!

Manager Brian Epstein, and no doubt the band themselves, turned the offer down. Paul McCartney, in later interviews said, "We were excited but it turned out that the fella involved was going to write all the songs, and we couldn't have that." John Lennon also had a few words of his own, "We didn't even want to make a movie that was going to be bad, and we insisted on having a real writer to write it." Fortunately Alun Owen wrote a screenplay that did appeal to the band... A Hard Days Night and the rest, as they say, is history.

Taking a slight detour I wanted to mention a Hidden London Tour I went on a few years ago... Euston Underground - The Lost Tunnels. What has this to do with the book I hear you say. Well, the tour included walks along old running tunnels, passenger walkways and old lift shafts, all of which hadn't been accessed by passengers for many years.

One tunnel was a fascinating trip into the past with the walls covered in adverts and original movie posters from the 1950s and 1960s. One poster was for 1962's A Kind Of Loving and is shown above. There were many others advertising titles like West Side Story, Psycho and The Terror Of The Tongs, although none of these fall into the 'Kitchen Sink Drama' category. 

I really enjoyed this book and it bought back so many memories and has prompted me to add many of the films mentioned in the book to my Blu-Ray collection. I also learnt so much more about the films, directors, authors, artists, screenwriters and fascinating background to the making of the films, especially locations used.

If I had one minor complaint, and it takes nothing away from the text in the book, is the lack of illustrative material. Yes, there are a handful of great black & white, period photos but a book like this would have benefitted from more images including original posters, lobby cards, advertising material, cinema ads and publicity photos. I have included a collage of several of these above to help illustrate my review/article.

Despite the above comment, this book gets five-stars from me and is highly recommended... I'm now off to watch A Kind OF Loving.

ELVIS ARTICLES

I have been a fan of Elvis Presley since 1970, when I first saw Elvis - That's The Way It Is at my local cinema in Worthing. In the years that followed my collection of vinyl singles, extended play and albums expanded and it was not long before I had a complete collection of his recorded output including several bootleg albums and tapes.

 

Over the years I have replaced all my vinyl with CDs and added all his films on DVD or Blu-Ray and built up a comprehensive library of books and magazines which I refer to regularly, especially during my work here on my blog.

I continue to collect most of the latest releases, especially those on the Follow That Dream collectors label, although I have passed on the constant stream of live recordings and the vinyl re-issues. My most recent addition is the The Making Of G. I. Blues set which I am currently working through.

I have been fortunate to have had articles on Elvis published in magazines and also worked on a live compilation CD, writing the liner notes.

In 1998 I was fortunate to visit Memphis with my wife Carole and we visited both Graceland and Sun Studios which were just two of the highlights of our holiday which also included time in Nashville.

I recently visited the Direct From Graceland exhibition at the Arches London Bridge and it was interesting to see all the memorabilia and artifacts.

I decided to write this latest article to promote the various Elvis Presley articles I have featured on this blog over the past few years. They are listed below with the title, date first published, an image from the article, a short excerpt and the link to the full article.

Enjoy!

FROM ELVIS IN NASHVILLE

First published 20 November 2020

By June 1970 Elvis was riding high and achieving the critical acclaim he had not received since the early 1960s. Following the 1968 Elvis TV Special he had returned to Memphis in 1969 and for the first time recorded at the famous American Sound Studios under the guidance of Chips Moman and backed by the legendary 827 Thomas Street Band. August of that year saw him back in front of a live audience for the first time in almost nine years during a month long, sold-out engagement at the International Hotel in Las Vegas. He returned for another run of sold-out shows in February 1970 and contracts had been agreed for him to return in August, and it would be filmed and recorded for a new documentary and album.

The material he had recorded in Memphis turned his career around. The album From Elvis In Memphis was a major success as were the singles released at the time... In The Ghetto, Suspicious Minds, Don't Cry Daddy and Kentucky Rain. Everyone expected him to return to Memphis for his next planned sessions but unfortunately it wasn't to be. Several reasons have been given, among them issues over publishing rights.

 

Read the full article here...

https://peter-lewry.blogspot.com/2020/11/from-elvis-in-nashville.html

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ELVIS - BACK IN NASHVILLE

First published 14 November 2021

For Elvis Presley the start of 1971 saw him accepting an award which must have meant so much to him. He was named one of the 'Ten Outstanding Men' by the Junior Chamber of Commerce (Jaycees) and accepted his award at a special banquet held in Memphis. The award recognised young men who had made great achievements in their particular field and over the years recipients had included John F. Kennedy, Orson Welles and Howard Hughes, so he was in good company. During his acceptance speech Elvis said, "I learned very early in life that, 'Without a song, the day would never end; without a song, a man ain't got a friend; without a song, the road would never bend, without a song', So I keep singing a song."

The previous two years had seen his career take a dramatic turn with sessions in Memphis in 1969 and Nashville in 1970 producing hit singles, including In The Ghetto, Suspicious Minds, Don't Cry Daddy, Patch It Up, I've Lost You along with a run of successful albums, From Elvis In Memphis, Back In Memphis, Elvis Country and That's The Way It Is.

Read the full article here...

https://peter-lewry.blogspot.com/2021/11/elvis-back-in-nashville.html

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STANDING ROOM ONLY

First published 12 April 2022

Back in January and February Elvis had played a month-long engagement at the International Hotel in Las Vegas, his sixth season in the city since his comeback shows in August 1969. During the season a number of new songs were recorded live for possible inclusion on a future album including The Impossible Dream, Never Been To Spain, You Gave Me A Mountain, It's Over and the show-stopper An American Trilogy.

Released as a single in early-April, An American Trilogy, failed to achieve the kind of success they had hoped for when it stalled at #66 on the Billboard Hot 100. The sleeve advertised the Standing Room Only album stating it was a summer release and would be a live album. This, as we shall see later, never materialised and the live material along with those recorded at the March session would end up spread out over several singles and albums. There wouldn't be another single release until August, four months after the tour ended.

Read the full article here...

https://peter-lewry.blogspot.com/2022/04/standing-room-only.html

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PRINCE FROM ANOTHER PLANET

First published 9 June 2022

Mid-1972 and despite his popularity and following across the entire United States Elvis had never played an actual concert in New York City, although he had made television appearances back in the 1950s. However, that would change on 9 June when he undertook his second tour of the year. On this, the fiftieth anniversary, we look back at the concerts and the albums that have been released over the years.

The tour, promoted by Jerry Weintraub in association with RCA Record Tours, would open in New York at the famous Madison Square Garden. Originally only three concerts were scheduled, an evening show on Friday 9 June and afternoon and evening shows on Saturday 10 June.

Tickets went on sale on 8 May and even before the box office opened there were 2,000 people lined up ready to purchase their tickets.

Read the full article here...

https://peter-lewry.blogspot.com/2022/06/prince-from-another-planet.html

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ELVIS - A LEGENDARY PERFORMER

First published 21 October 2022

Throughout Elvis Presley's long career his record company had never, intentionally, released any previously unreleased material. However, an alternate version of Old Shep had been issued in error on some early import pressings of his second album, Elvis, released in October 1956. A second mistake occurred in 1973 when, after releasing the studio recording of Stay Away, Joe in 1970 on the budget release Let's Be Friends, the movie version was included in error on the budget album Almost In Love. This was soon corrected on later pressings.

All this would change in 1974, long before the advent of the Follow That Dream label which has given fans a wealth of unreleased material over the past twenty-plus years.

In the mid-1970s RCA Records created a new series of albums with the generic title A Legendary Performer. Artists that were featured in the series included Jim Reeves, Perry Como, Glenn Miller, Henry Mancini, Bing Crosby, Jimmie Rodgers and Elvis Presley.

Read the full article here...

https://peter-lewry.blogspot.com/2022/10/elvis-legendary-performer.html

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CHRISTMAS WITH ELVIS

First published 12 December 2022

Christmas was a special time for Elvis and every year he decorated Graceland, inside and out, with an impressive display of lights and decorations to celebrate the festive season. With his love of the season it seemed an obvious move for him to record a selection of Christmas songs for release on an album, or at least The Colonel and RCA thought so.

In the 1950s artists including Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Perry Como and even Gene Autry had all recorded and released Christmas albums. However, Elvis wasn't that excited about the thought of recording a selection of festive material.

At this time his priority was to attempt the song Treat Me Nice again, in an effort to produce a better version than the one he'd recorded a few months earlier for Jailhouse Rock, and also make a further attempt at One Night. There was also My Wish Came True and another song, the ballad Don't, from the song-writing team of Leiber & Stoller who had already provided several hits for him.

Read the full article here...

https://peter-lewry.blogspot.com/2022/12/christmas-with-elvis.html

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ELVIS ON TOUR

First published 8 February 2023

Written, produced and directed by Pierre Adidge and Robert Abel, Elvis On Tour, Elvis' 33rd movie, was released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on 1 November 1972.

Colonel Parker had already planned the next major event in Elvis' career, the televised Aloha From Hawaii via Satellite special, which had been scheduled for mid-November. To avoid clashing with the release of Elvis On Tour, MGM executive James T. Aubrey, requested that the special be delayed. Fortunately Parker agreed and the special was postponed until January the following year.

Unlike his previous concert film, That's The Way It Is, which concentrated on his August 1970 Las Vegas appearances, the new concert documentary followed him on his fifteen city spring 1972 tour.

Read the full article here...

https://peter-lewry.blogspot.com/2023/02/elvis-on-tour.html

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TAKE ME TO THE FAIR

First published 6 April 2023

Released in April 1963, It Happened At The World's Fair was Elvis' twelfth motion picture and to celebrate sixty years since its release we look back at the movie and the soundtrack.

Elvis travelled to Hollywood on 28 August for pre-production work on It Happened At The World's Fair. It was the first film in a four-picture deal with MGM. The film's producer, Ted Richmond, wanted to follow the success of previous Hal Wallis produced Elvis movies, choosing colourful locations in which to set the story. He also called on the services of Norman Taurog, Elvis' favourite director. The screenplay was written by Si Rose and Seaman Jacobs.

Read the full article here...

https://peter-lewry.blogspot.com/2023/04/take-me-to-fair.html

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Hope you enjoy the articles and please support my work and follow me here. You can also add your comments to the various articles. If you have any questions or suggestions you can message me through the Contact Form on the main page of this blog. 

Look out for more Elvis related articles in the future.

COLLECTING MUSIC & FILM MEMORABILIA

My love of music dates back to the early-seventies and over the fifty years that followed my music collection has gone from vinyl and cassettes to Compact Discs and, despite not being a great fan of the medium, digital downloads.

Anyone that knows me will know that I have a wide taste in music and listen to everything from rock 'n' roll to blues, country, Americana, country rock, pop and even jazz and orchestral. To be honest the only styles I am not interested in are rap and opera.

Just a few of my favourite artists are Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris, Gram Parsons, Fleetwood Mac, The Beatles and The Beach Boys, although this is only a small section of my music tastes.

I also enjoy films although my tastes are the films from the 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s rather than the big blockbusters from the past few decades. However, there are still some favourites from the later years with Die Hard being top of my list. My favourite male and female movie stars all date back to the great days of Hollywood... James Stewart and Gene Tierney. You can read more about Gene Tierney here on my blog in the article Gene Tierney - Hollywood Beauty.

Although not an avid collector who has to have everything, I do collect items of music and film memorabilia including promo CDs, press photos, sheet music, lobby cards and press books. A few items from my collection are pictured below.

This brings me to books on collecting music and film memorabilia of which I have several in my library including The Lyle Price Guide - Film & Rock 'n' Roll Collectables by Tony Curtis,  The Elvis Collector - An Introductory Guide To Collecting UK Film Memorabilia 1956-1977 and The Elvis Collector - An Introductory Guide To Collecting UK Memorabilia 1956-1977 the latter two compiled and written by Harry Carrigan.

I recently received three books from Schiffer Publishing which cover Elvis Presley, The Beatles and Sheet Music from the 1960s, all three of which are reviewed below.

Elvis Presley Memorabilia - An Unauthorized Collectors Guide (Sean O'Neil) (Schiffer Publishing 2001 - ISBN 0-7643-1382-7) 

Following a brief introduction which covers prices and counterfeit items the 160-page book is split into seven chapters which cover Elvis' career - Elvis In Concert, Elvis Presley Enterprises and Novelty Items, Sun Records and RCA Victor Records, Magazines, The Movies, One-of-a-Kind and Autographs, Photos and Other Paper. Each chapter opens with a short introduction.

The Concert section features early press ads, photo albums that were sold at the concerts, ticket stubs and much more. Moving into the seventies there are more ads and souvenir photo albums, a few which I still have in my own collection.

The items produced by Elvis Enterprises ranges from the sublime to the ridiculous with record cases, photo cards and record players to jewellery and even  'I Like Elvis' and 'I Hate Elvis' badges, the Colonel certainly catered for both camps.

The Records section was of special interest to me as I love the old RCA ads and various sheet music featured.

Of the remaining sections there are various magazines from the 1950s through to the 1970s, movie posters, lobby cards and advertising, rare items that don't fit in any other part of the book, so are given their own chapter and finally some festive items. Christmas was a special time for Elvis and every year the Colonel produced a postcard, some classy and others less so... Elvis in a jumpsuit by a Christmas tree!

The book is beautifully produced, with mostly colour illustrations and includes a brief description of each item along with the then current values.

The Beatles Yesterday & Tomorrow - A Collector's Guide To Beatles Memorabilia (Courtney McWilliams) (Schiffer Publishing 1999 - ISBN 0-7643-0852-1) 

A preface explaining condition of memorabilia and an introduction that covers the early days of the group in Liverpool and Hamburg is followed by nine chapters covering various areas of collecting. Over 210-pages  the book covers - Vintage Beatles, All Movie Memorabilia, Fan Club Memorabilia, Jewellery, The Beatles As Art, Music Mediums, Ephemera, Solo Efforts and Something New.

Following the same format as the Elvis book this is a treasure trove of Beatles memorabilia, beautifully illustrated with an introduction to each chapter and every item has a brief description and guide to value.

I really enjoyed the sections on the movies with all the posters, lobby cards, press ads and stills. The records section includes the well known UK releases but also the albums released on Capitol in America, Beatles '65, The Early Beatles and Beatles VI. The infamous 'Butcher Cover' which was originally planned to be the cover of the Capitol album The Beatles Yesterday and Today is also included. One of the rarest Beatles items that nowadays is almost impossible to find and is worth at least the $6,000 - $12,000 value quoted for a copy in mint condition.

Like Elvis Presley there are items that fall into the same category... from the sublime to the ridiculous. Beatles wigs, masks, lunch boxes, thermos flasks and, depending who your favourite band members was, badges with 'I Love Paul', 'I Love John', 'I Love George' and 'I Love Ringo'. I couldn't see any 'I Hate The Beatles' badges and maybe none were ever produced.

A chapter on their solo work seems to devote more pages to John Lennon than Paul, George or Ringo which is had to understand when you look at the amount of solo work released by the other three ex-Beatles.

The final chapter, Something New, covers some of the more recent items available and those issued after the break-up in the 1970s.

Collecting Rock 'n' Roll Sheet Music Of The 1960s  (Valerie Carallo) (Schiffer Publishing 2006 - ISBN 0-7643-2373-3) 

Split over 176-pages this book includes an introduction which explains what sheet music is, the differences between USA, UK and Australian sheet music and value and condition. The book then covers seven different genres of music - Twist and Shout (The Beatles), Wipe Out (Surf and Folk), Psychotic Reaction (Garage, Hard Rock and Psychedelia), Lightnin' Strikes (Pop and Rock), Going To A Go-Go (R&B, Soul and Motown), Catch Us If You Can (The British Invasion) and Thank U Very Much (Bubblegum, Girl Groups, Novelty Songs etc).

I particularly enjoyed the chapter on The Beatles with many great cover images and designs including those for Ask Me Why, A Day In The Life, Till There Was You, Girl and Back In The U.S.S.R. A few foreign items are displayed... Tu Mano Cogere (I Want To Hold Your Hand) from Spain, Elle (Il) T'Auime (She Loves You) from France and the German issue of Twist im Blut (Twist And Shout).

Many of my favourite artists are covered in the book with The Beach Boys featured heavily with Sloop John B, Dance Dance Dance, The Man With All The Toys, God Only Knows and my personal favourite sheet music cover from the group, Surfer Girl.

With over 600 illustrations there are too many to cover in this review. However, besides those already mentioned these are just a few of my personal favourites... Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 (Bob Dylan), Mrs Robinson (Simon & Garfunkel), I'm A Boy (The Who), These Boots Are Made For Walking (Nancy Sinatra), Alternate Title (The Monkees), A Boy Named Sue (Johnny Cash) and Ode To Billy Joe (Bobbie Gentry). The latter has the title misspelled as the title is actually Ode To Billie Joe.

Being a big fan of Linda Ronstadt I couldn't end this review without mentioning the inclusion of Different Drum by The Stone Poneys which features the lovely Linda on the cover.

Many of those, me included, who collect sheet music are not buying them because they can read music but because of the images featured on the covers many of which were rare and differed from the image featured on the 45rpm single. 

Like the Elvis and Beatles books this one is beautifully produced, illustrated in full colour and printed on high quality, glossy paper. Each chapter has a brief introduction and, like the previous books, includes a description of each item featured along with a guide to the value.

I really enjoyed going through these books and seeing the amount of items that were produced with the names Elvis Presley and The Beatles, some tacky and some very collectable. I wonder how many of the items have survived in their original packaging and in mint condition. Likewise, the sheet music book, was a fascinating insight into what is still a very collectable market.

Although all three books were originally published between 1998 and 2006 they can still be found on various sites on the internet and if you are like me and find this kind of information fascinating then I recommend checking them out.

With thanks to Victoria Hansen at Schiffer Publishing Ltd for providing copies of the books for this article.

TAKE ME TO THE FAIR

Released in April 1963, It Happened At The World's Fair was Elvis' twelfth motion picture and to celebrate sixty years since its release we look back at the movie and the soundtrack.

Elvis travelled to Hollywood on 28 August for pre-production work on It Happened At The World's Fair. It was the first film in a four-picture deal with MGM. The film's producer, Ted Richmond, wanted to follow the success of previous Hal Wallis produced Elvis movies, choosing colourful locations in which to set the story. He also called on the services of Norman Taurog, Elvis' favourite director. The screenplay was written by Si Rose and Seaman Jacobs.

Concerns were raised early on that shooting might have to be delayed due to Elvis having a bad cold. This also cut short a recording session held on 30 August at Radio Recorders in Hollywood.

Feeling better, the following day Elvis reported to MGM for a wardrobe fitting. The total cost of his wardrobe for the movie amounted to almost $10,000 and included ten suits and two cashmere coats.

Location shooting started on 4 September in Seattle during which time Elvis and his entourage stayed at the Doric New Washington Hotel. Among the locations in Seattle were the Seattle Center Monorail and The Space Needle. Other scenes were filmed near Camarillo in California.

With location shooting completed by 13 September they all returned to Hollywood where filming would continue at the MGM studios throughout the remainder of September and into October. Filming would end on 9 October and the rest of the day was allocated to a series of publicity stills.

With only two songs, Relax and Happy Ending, completed and an unsuccessful attempt at Take Me To The Fair, at the August recording session a second session had been booked at Radio Recorders on 22 September. All the remaining songs required were completed on this day during a session that lasted just over eleven hours.

Musicians on the session were, Scotty Moore (guitar), Billy Strange (guitar), Tiny Timbrell (guitar), Ray Siegel (bass), D. J. Fontana (drums), Frank Carlson (drums), Dudley Brooks (piano/organ), Clifford Scott (saxophone) and The Mello Men (vocals). The Jordanaires provided vocals on the earlier recordings but were unavailable for the 13 September session and The Mello Men took their place.

Songwriter Don Robertson, who had written two of the songs for the movie, I'm Falling In Love Tonight and They Remind Me Too Much Of You, was also invited to the session and played piano and organ.

It was the two Robertson compositions that were tackled first. Having already recorded four of his songs previously, it was obvious he was one of Elvis' favourite songwriters and this showed in the recording of the two love songs recorded on this day. Elvis was determined to produce the right feeling for both songs and worked hard to create satisfactory masters, recording eight takes of I'm Falling In Love Tonight and nine of They Remind Me Too Much Of You. There was no debate that these were the two best songs recorded for the album.

One Broken Heart For Sale was recorded with and without the extra verse that was included in the film. Not in the same class as Return To Sender, also written by Otis Blackwell and Winfield Scott, it was the best of the rest.

The remaining tracks were bland, movie songs and material that Elvis should never have recorded... Cotton Candy Land, How Would You Like To Be, Relax, Beyond The Bend, Happy Ending and a re-recording of Take Me To The Fair. The latter was originally going to be the title of the movie but when changed to It Happened At The World's Fair all the effort in re-recording the song was wasted.

Alongside Elvis, the movie also starred Gary Lockwood, Joan O'Brien, Yvonne Craig and the young Philippine born actress Vicki Tiu. In an interview she talked about working with Elvis and how nervous and lonesome she felt being so far away from home. Recalling how they had to do thirty takes of a scene during which she kept forgetting her lines, she said, "He showed a lot of compassion. I will never forget his kindness and patience."

Tiu wasn't the only youngster in the movie. A young lad, Kurt Russell, appears in a  scene where Elvis, who wanted to see a nurse he fancied, pays him 25-cents to kick him in the shins. Elvis wore a pad as it took more than one attempt to get it right. Russell would go on to be a successful Hollywood actor and, in 1979, would play Elvis in the movie Elvis. In an interview with GQ, Russell talked about his role in the movie, "One time I got close to the edge of it and he looked at me, because he really trusted me, and went 'stay on the pad.' What a nice guy he was. He was 27 years old. He was really cool. An incredibly nice guy."

In the movie Elvis played Mike Edwards, a crop-duster pilot who, along with his partner Danny (Gary Lockwood), find themselves in a dilemma. Danny has spent the money Mike had saved to pay off their debts. If the debt isn't paid they would lose their aircraft, which had been taken by the local sheriff. They were given one week to settle or the plane would be auctioned.

Hitch-hiking they are picked up by an apple farmer, Walter Ling (Kam Tong), and his niece, Sue-Lin (Vicky Tiu) and end up in Seattle, at the World's Fair.

With her uncle called away on business, Danny persuades Mike to look after Sue-Lin and take her around the fair. During a visit to a doctor Mike sees, and falls for, an attractive but stubborn nurse, Diane Warren (Joan O'Brien) but she resists his advances.

In an effort to go back and see her, Mike pays a boy 25-cents to kick him in the shin. Diane is persuaded to give him a lift back to his apartment. They have dinner at the top of the Space Needle but unbeknown to Diane, he is also courting Dorothy Johnson (Yvonne Craig), a previous acquaintance.

More problems arise when Walter fails to turn up the next day to pick up his niece. Having to stay with Mike, Sue-Lin, realising he likes the nurse, pretends she is ill so that Diane will come to the apartment and see Mike again.

When she realises he is not related to Sue-Lin, she informs the welfare department who take the girl away. Meanwhile Danny has fallen in with a smuggler Vince Bradley (H. M. Wynant).

Everything works out in the end when Mike and Danny, along with local law officials, subdue the smuggler and Sue-Lin is reunited with her uncle.

The movie has a 'Happy Ending' with Mike and Diane finally realising they are in love with each other.

It Happened At The World's Fair opened in Los Angeles on 3 April 1963 and nationwide on 10 April 1963. In the United Kingdom it opened on 30 May and other countries first saw the film in the months that followed. By the end of the year it had box-office receipts totalling $2.25 million and was ranked #55 in Variety's top grossing films of 1963.

Reviews weren't great with Variety writing, "This is apt to be tedious going for all but the most confirmed of Presley's young admirers. The 10-count-'em-10 tunes he sings may be cause for rejoicing among his most ardent followers but, stacked up proportionately against the skinny story in between, it seems at least three too many. Admitting the slim scenario, so many warbling interruptions upset the tempo of the yard and prevent plot and picture from gathering momentum." However, they did go on to praise the stars, "Presley effortlessly executes his customary character -- red blooded wolf on the crust, clean-cut nice guy at the core. Lockwood, as his gambling-chum, makes a good impression. O'Brien is easy to look at. Little Miss Tiu is tiu precious for words."

Writing in the Los Angeles Times, John L. Scott had a similar view, "It must be said that unless you're a Presley fan, the 10 songs he offers while plinking a guitar or ukulele can grow tedious, while the frivolous backgrounding story is turned on and off between tunes."

The New York Times were just as scathing in their review, "Elvis Presley's budding dramatic talents have been neatly nipped in the Seattle story, which emerges as a dismal parody of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musicals of old. Burdened with a dozen tuneless songs and a plot requiring him to play guardian to a mercilessly cute Chinese waif, the crooner merely swivels ingenuously through a morass of cliches."

The press may have been less than impressed but the cinema owners had a different view based on comments made to Box Office. One said, "This is a very good picture. I hope the film companies continue to make big productions out of the Presley's. He is my top star and there is nothing else that comes close to him." Another commented, "Elvis is always box office for me and he did it in this one too. The shots of the World's Fair were good. My people are always satisfied."

The film was released under a number of different titles in other territories, as shown in some posters reproduced above. In France it was titled, Blondes, Brunes et Rousses which translates to Blonde, Brown and Redheads while those in Spanish speaking countries would have gone to see Punos Y Lagrimas, which in English would be Punches and Tears.

Other foreign titles, and their English translation, included Austria - Bruchlandung in der Ehe (Marriage Crash), Denmaek - Elvis i den syvende Himmel (Elvis In The Seventh Heaven), Finland - Sydan tarjolla (Heart Available) and Germany - Ob blond, ob braun (Whether blond, whether brown).

Several publicity items were produced to promote the movie including posters, a 12-page press book and various publicity stills. There were also lobby cards produced for the UK and USA for use in the cinemas with two different sets available, one featuring eight cards and another with twelve cards. The set of twelve featured the same cards as the set of eight with four additional cards. On the movies re-release a set of black and white lobby cards were produced, featuring eight different scenes from the earlier colour sets.

Publicity material included the tag lines - 'Elvis singing, swinging, romancing in It Happened At The World's Fair' and 'Swinging higher than the Space Needle with the gals and the songs at the famous World's Fair.'

Several movie and music magazines featured images from the movie on their covers including, Photoplay, Film Review, Kine Weekly, Records Magazine, Pop Pics and Hit Parade. 

The soundtrack album (LSP/LPM 2697) was released in April containing just ten songs. It reached #4 although, with sales of around 300,000, it must have been a major disappointment when compared to the previous soundtrack album, Girls! Girls! Girls!, which shifted more than double that quantity.

The Colonel had been pushing for the album to be released in a gatefold sleeve with a photospread. RCA, needing to cover the additional cost, planned to sell the album under their deluxe series allowing them to charge an additional $1 over the standard cost of an album. Whilst the increase in price would benefit both RCA and Elvis, the Colonel soon backtracked, wanting to continue his belief that the fans were given value for money... the album only contained ten songs and had a running time of just over 20 minutes so charging an extra $1 would have been a step too far!

The previous soundtrack album, Girls! Girls! Girls!, had dispensed with the use of filmstrips as part of the cover design. However, the design element returned for It Happened At The World's Fair although, unlike the Blue Hawaii soundtrack album and the Follow That Dream and Kid Galahad extended play releases, the film strips on the back sleeve contained the track titles along with other text and not just photos.

The only single released from the album paired One Broken Heart For Sale with They Remind Me Too Much Of You (RCA Victor 47-8134) and with a running time of just one minute and thirty seconds it became the first Elvis single that failed to reach the top ten, stalling at #11.

In 2003 the soundtrack was released on the FTD label as part of their 'Classic Album' series, although it is hard to categorize the album as a classic. Along with the original ten tracks there was a wealth of bonus tracks, alternate takes and false starts including the version of One Broken Heart For Sale with the extra verse, alternate takes of Beyond The Bend, Cotton Candy Land, Relax and Happy Ending. An acetate copy of Take Me To The Fair, from the August session, is also included but the quality is poor compared to the other tracks. The highlights from the bonus tracks has to be the two Don Robertson songs. Listening to the album you can tell how much Elvis loved the songs and it shows in his efforts to produce a satisfactory master.

The twelve-page booklet included session details, a brief synopsis of the film and a day-by-day look back at the few months during which the film was made and released. A mix of colour and black & white images along with lobby cards, record sleeves and other memorabilia completed the package.

If there are enough unreleased outtakes for it to be included in the FTD 'Sessions' series remains to be seen, but I'm sure if they can scrape together a few minutes of unreleased material it is a possibility. 

Over the years It Happened At The World's Fair has been issued on video, DVD and Blu-Ray in varying quality.

While It Happened At The World's Fair is far from being one of my favourite Elvis movies or soundtracks it was fun to watch again and listen to the soundtrack during the writing of this blog.