ELVIS MONTH Day 23 Easy Come, Easy Go (1967)

Year: 1967

Age: 32

Movie: 23rd

The songs aren’t nearly as good as in the last film (Spinout), we are heading into the last quarter of the 60’s and things are starting to change. The fashions, the outlook, the music, the people, the everything.

I have alway adored the title song, and I don’t have a clue why. it’s pretty catchy though…can everyone say biased? Well Love Machine will proove that I’m not biased (much), it’s a pretty lame song, I’m not saying that I don’t sing to it when it gets played, it’s just blah. Elvis plays a frogman in the Navy, and they get notice that there is a possible mine for then to do whatever frogman do to mines. Hmmm it’s actually ticking, strange. So whilst deactivating the mine Ted (Elvis) gets distracted and follows the chain to the bottom, where he finds a shipwreck of course, and what do you suppose is in the shipwreck? TREASURE! Hahaha and a locked treasure chest. Not to self: Never board a seagoing vessel that has a locked treasure chest aboard because you just know you’ll be meeting up with old Davey Jones (not the Monkee, cause that would be awesome).

The shop fronts actually look like they come from the local amusement park. Ted meets up with Captain Jack, played by Frank McHugh, he is such a cute character. Ted need some information about the treasure he found so he is sent to see Jo Symington and we also meet Elsa Lanchester as Madame Neherina who is very recognisable from Mary Poppins. Then we get the abomination Yoga Is As Yoga Does, followed up by some performance art. The world of film, indeed the world itself, could have done without that scene.

You Gotta Stop, very groovy song, with a funny close up of not Elvis’s fingers playing that beautiful red guitar. He takes Jo home from the club and she is wearing a sexy red dress, by the time she gets home she is wearing a very funky plastic jacket (very wearable these days too) and white pants.

So Ted has quit the Navy so he can salvage the treasure for himself but it seems that he isn’t the only one with that idea. Ted partners up with Jo and Judd to try to find the treasure before the other blonde dummy finds it. Zoltran the artist reminds me of Ben Stiller. They borrow Zoltans car which looks like something Matchbox has made. It also is The Joker’s car from the Batman series.

So they end up at sea to fight over the treasure. Some decent underwater photography too. And we are witness to the very first underwater Elvis fight scene, complete with a crow bar and a knife. Then an underwater argument with signals. Ted and Co. end up with the dough (read it again, it ryhmes) and no hard feelings, even after a knife fight.

Well, it turns out that the coins are only worth a few thousand and they decide to open the art house. A strong finish with I’ll Take Love…a good strong groovin’ song.