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But, we go to the movies with the Elvis we have, not the Elvis we want or wish to have at a later time. 

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So let’s see. Elvis is Charlie Rogers. He starts off singing a great song, “Poison Ivy League” in a bar to frat boys. They start a fight with him, he karates(!) three of them, gets fired and arrested, and we’re off.

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Heading out of town on his motorcycle, he sings another great song, “Wheels On My Heels,” then flirts with Hot Safe Woman Kathy Lean in the back of a Jeep. Her dad runs Charlie off the road. His motorcycle is ruined, so they give him a ride and offer him a job at their family’s business, the Morgan Carnival.

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So now Charlie is a carny. Actually, no, that’s not true. He is a roustabout, which is like a carny but with all of their teeth.

 

That’s not actually true either. In 1964, or this movie, or whatever, “carny” is just short for “carnival.” We learn this when Kathy goes over all the neat carny lingo with Charlie.

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As Charlie walks around the “carny,” doing pretty much no work, he meets Madame Mijanou, a fortune teller and Hot Dangerous Woman. They make out almost immediately.

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From here it’s just Charlie being a jerk to, well, everyone, while bouncing back and forth between Kathy and  Madame Mijanou. Kathy puts up with it because it’s in the script. Charlie starts singing in the big carny show, and he’s a big hit. So big that he may save the struggling Morgan family from bankruptcy. Until he goes to a rival carnival. And never ever comes back! The end. Yeah, right… 

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Along the way there are good songs. A lot of them. Like, more than I ever expected, and more than this movie deserves. Standouts include “Hard Knocks,”* "Little Egypt,”** "Big Love, Big Heartache," "Wheels On My Heels,” and my favorite "One Track Heart.”***

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Sadly, the version of "Roustabout" they use for the title track is not very good. On the soundtrack album they replaced it with a more rocking version that is a thousand times better. There are also some songs which I never really liked like "Carny Town,” and "It's Carnival Time” that work much better in the context of the movie. About the only song that really sucks is "There's a Brand New Day On the Horizon.” The melody, and I’m not kidding, is “This Little Light Of Mine.” Barf.

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If you decide to watch Roustabout, it could make a good drinking game. Get a bottle and pour yourself a drink whenever you see any of these (mostly as yet to be discovered) stars: Pat Buttram (Mr. Haney from Green Acres), Jack Albertson (making a brief appearance after having an actual role in Kissin’ Cousins), Billy Barty, Richard Kiel (Jaws from James Bond movies), Kent McCord (Adam-12), Teri Garr, and Raquel Welch.

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ACTING: 3 Elvises

MUSICAL PERFORMANCES: 9 Elvises

BEST SONG: “One Track Heart”

STUNTS: Karate!, getting slapped (twice), letting Kathy’s dad beat him up (once), SHOUTING!, motorcycle riding in “Cyclodrome” 

CRINGE FACTOR: Little Egypt has got some stereotypes going on

KISSIN’: A lot, mostly with the fortune teller

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*I sing “Hard Knocks” in Little Elvis

**Sung by Steve “Lucky” Marshall in Little Elvis

***"One Track Heart" is one of three songs I’ve been working on for Little Elvis. Once I master singing and playing the bass line together it’s getting added to the set.

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