Because what I’m realizing is, my enjoyment of these movies is directly tied to how much I like the music. I enjoyed Roustabout and Kissing’ Cousins more than I would have because of the great songs.* Flaming Star and Wild in the Country suffered from lack of music (but also bad writing and acting…)

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So, yeah, Girl Happy still ranks in the top, because, dang it, the music is just so great. It starts off strong with “Girl Happy," which is a pop masterpiece.** It cuts from some amazing groovy 60s graphics to Rusty Wells (Elvis) and his band*** playing it in a club in Chicago. They are finishing out their last night in Chicago before moving on to a gig playing in Fort Lauderdale for spring break. 

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Except Big Frank, the tough guy club owner in Chicago, books them for another four weeks. Whether they want to or not, capeesh? Rusty is only able to get him to change his mind when he overhears Big Frank talking to his daughter, HSW Valerie, on the phone. She’s going to Fort Lauderdale instead of coming home, and Big Frank wants to have someone keep an eye on her. Rusty makes sure it’s him and the band.

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Now we’re off and running. Rusty and the boys in one car, and Valerie and her friends in another car, do a duet (plus 5 background singers) of another perfect gem, “Spring Fever.” They get rooms in the same motel, a great 60s place where all the rooms have sliding glass doors that face the giant pool in the middle.

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At first, Rusty and the band all take part in keeping an eye on Valerie, which is ruining their ability to spend time with the girls they immediately hook up with. That includes Rusty, who is seeing the HDW Deena. For once, Elvis has a character that is focusing on one woman and not bouncing around between two or more.

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Well, until Val starts spending time with Italian loverboy Romano. When Rusty starts spending time with Valerie to keep her away from Romano, he figures out what he really wants- her.****

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Before it gets worked out there’s a beach party. And a fight in a strip club. And a jailhouse reverse-breakout.***** And two dates in one hotel at the same time. And it’s all fine. Because while all that’s happening, so are “Wolf Call,” and “Startin’ Tonight,” and “Fort Lauderdale Chamber Of Commerce,” and “Do Not Disturb,” and “Cross My Heart And Hope To Die,” and “The Meanest Girl In Town,” and “Puppet On A String,” and “I Gotta Find My Baby,” and “Do The Clam.” Every single song is great, and whatever else is going on is fine. I’m glad that they didn’t test that by having  Elvis date a cousin or manslaughter anyone in Girl Happy. I think it will stay near the top of my list, even with 14 movies to go.

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ACTING: 7 Elvises******

MUSICAL PERFORMANCES: 10 Elvises

BEST SONG: “Spring Fever”

STUNTS: boat-napping, strip club fight with karate and broken bottles, date with Jack Tripper-ing, dressing in drag

CRINGE FACTOR: No other cultures were harmed in the making of Girl Happy.

KISSIN’: Some.

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*I probably should have clarified from the outset of this project what I mean by great songs. Not everyone is going to share my opinion that “One Track Heart” or “Frankfort Special” are great songs, but to me these two minute songs are pop gems. They are catchy and fun and played by some of the best musician in the business. They were written and produced at a breakneck pace and didn’t suffer for the assembly line way they were made. The fact that they were made under pressure, to fit a specific scene in a movie, just makes them all the better. A piece of trivia I left out of an earlier review- Leiber and Stoller were supposed to write four songs for an Elvis movie. Instead they toured New York City and drank. A record exec tracked them down and found out that they had done nothing. He pushed a sofa in front of their hotel room door and sat there and made them work. Three hours later, they had written four songs, including “Treat Me Nice,”  “(You’re So Square) Baby, I Don’t Care,” and “Jailhouse Rock,” the number 67 song on Rolling Stones Top 500 Rock Songs Of All Time.

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**There are two kinds of songs in Girl Happy- the ones Little Elvis plays, and the ones Little Elvis plans to play. We have talked for years about doing a show that is every song from Girl Happy. For now, I do “Startin’ Tonight,” and “Do The Clam,” Steve “Lucky” Marshall does “Girl Happy,” and sometimes “Wolf Call,” and Greg “Pacer” Baxter does “The Meanest Girl In Town,” and “Cross My Heart And Hope To Die.”

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***This is the first time that Elvis and the guys in his band actually hang out together. And not just a little. Like the whole movie. No doubt because Beatlemania had hit America and being in a band was in.

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****Rusty and Valerie’s first date is a near re-creation of Lucky and Rusty’s first date in Viva Las Vegas- water skiing, motorcycle riding, dancing. I guess Girl Happy Rusty couldn’t afford a helicopter ride. And yeah, he stole Ann-Margret’s name for his name in Girl Happy.

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*****Hard to explain, but here goes: Valarie gets arrested with half the girls in Ft Lauderdale. Rusty and the guys in Ft. Lauderdale use road construction equipment to dig their way into the jail so Rusty can get to Valerie. Tunnel collapses trapping Rusty in the jail. Unfortunately, Valerie’s dad had already sprung her. Rusty gets out by, and I’m not making this up, putting on some of the stripper’s clothing and a veil. Yep, Elvis did drag in Girl Happy.

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******In Girl Happy, Elvis finds a happy medium between being overly sweet and being an obnoxious jerk. He’d also done enough comedy to have the ability for a bit of subtlety. We’ll see what happens when Norman Taurog starts directing again. He may be able to get the old eye roll and camera mugging back. Hopefully not.​​​​​

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