Stationed in West Germany, soldier Tulsa McLean hopes to open up a nightclub when he gets out of the army. Tulsa may lack the capital for such a venture, but a chance to raise the cash comes his way through a friendly wager. Local dancer Lili (Juliet Prowse) is a notorious ice queen, and Tulsa bets everything he has that a friend of his can earn her affections. But, when that friend is dispatched to Alaska, it's up to Tulsa to melt Lili's heart.
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Too much of everything
Sorry, this movie sucks
Excellent but underrated film
best movie i've ever seen.
By far my favorite Elvis movie. Love him in uniform and the story line is so believable.
This Elvis movie, the first one after his discharge from the army (and after the Sinatra Timex Special) simply is one of the better ones from his sixties movie career. And by that I mean, the movies with say 12 songs, like he used to make them.Sure, this one has a lot of music, but the setting for those songs is just right, and even if one does not like a song like Wooden Heart, seeing it midway this story, it works very well.Elvis as we all know spent his army years in Germany, Bad Nauheim and Friedberg. But we never see Elvis himself actually in Germany in this movie. Yes, it seems like we do, but no, Elvis did not make a movie outside of the US. Elvis plays Tulsa, a GI stationed in Germany, like he was in real life, and he has a combo with 2 army buddies, not including the sergeant, one that they pull jokes on.Can somebody hand me my soap during the shower scene sums it up pretty well. The guys all throw their soap at the Sergeant. A scene that always made my dad laugh, and me too.The movie of course is a musical comedy with lots of scenes like that. Real Hollywood Elvis style, but not as slick or "cheap" like later years, the years Elvis started to dislike his own movies.Juliet Prowse as the female lead is just perfect, and she works well with Elvis. They both look great, and she was just perfect for that part back in those days. Songs: of course as I mentioned Wooden Heart, the number one hit worldwide. But also good ones like the title song, and Frankfurt Special, Shopping Around, Doin The Best I Can and What's She Really Like, Didja Ever and more.Fun part is the song Blue Suede Shoes, which Elvis recorded himself of course. It is played on a jukebox when Tulsa (Elvis) is singing. That guy who put it on wanted the original. Of course that ends in a fight.I could go on about this movie, but I will say this for now (my first review on IMDb) if you like Elvis and his music, this is one to see. It has all the fun you would expect from an Elvis movie from that era. Great stuff!
Funny, but when Elvis and The Beatles were hot I didn't care very much for them. Today I can appreciate their music on a whole different level. Now with Presley, the films are another thing. No one's going to claim this is Oscar caliber stuff, so that's not the reason anyone is going to tune in.When I counted them off, there were ten tunes performed by Elvis in the story, not counting the one in the shower. That one actually didn't sound very good, but then he got rolling with the title song along with his band members Ricky (James Douglas) and Cookie (Robert Ivers). The story line is loosely built around the idea that Presley's character Tulsa wants to buy a night club back in the States once they muster out.I can't remember the last time I saw Juliet Prowse, but it has to be on one of those ubiquitous variety shows back in the day. She can really wow 'em when it comes to her dance routines, and it helps that her legs go all the way to there. Prowse joins Presley in a duet on a ski lift doing 'Pocket Full of Rainbows', but it sounded to me like her voice went through a synthesizer.As for The King himself, he sounded great (except for the shower), and I thought 'Wooden Heart' was done pretty creatively with the puppet routine. But the best was his last number 'Do You Ever Get One of Them Days, Boys?", flexing those Elvis knees that made all the girls go gaga way before there was anyone going by that name. This is a fun flick and should appeal to Elvis fans, with an actual nod to 'Blue Suede Shoes' when a fellow G.I. makes a selection on the juke box.
GI Blues was Elvis Presley's fifth picture and first one since his return from the Army as America's most celebrated draftee of the Fifties. It also marked his first film with director Norman Taurog who did nine films with the King.Taurog like so many in Hollywood in front of and behind the camera was getting less and less employment and taking what he could get. These were the kind of people that Elvis's manager Colonel Tom Parker made sure helped his meal ticket in any way possible. Norman Taurog won an Oscar in 1931 for Skippy and was nominated for his direction of Boys Town in 1938 which won Spencer Tracy an Oscar. Over the years Taurog directed such musical performers as Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, Mario Lanza, Eddie Fisher, and Debbie Reynolds. This man was most assuredly a help to the King's career and I've no doubt Parker was behind getting him. Parker is a controversial figure, especially among Elvis's legion of fans as to whether he helped or hindered Elvis's career. He might have done a little of both, but one thing the man was always sure of is that in Presley's movies, he made sure that he got the best support in front and behind the camera. Norman Taurog extended his own career via the King. Everybody made out here.The Colonel also was a master at keeping the publicity going while Elvis was a $78.00 a month GI serving in Germany. So much so there was a tremendous about of advance publicity about this film which was about a young rock and rolling soldier who finds love in Frankfurt.Elvis gets hooked into a Guys and Dolls type bet that he can't spend the night in Juliet Prowse's apartment. Prowse is a local entertainer at one of the clubs in Frankfurt and she's got a reputation as one cold lady. But you know she ain't got a chance with the king.Part of the publicity surrounding this film was Juliet Prowse's relationship with another guy she did a film with that year, Frank Sinatra. She and Sinatra were quite the item and they announced their engagement and then broke it off just as quickly. Juliet was quite the dancer both in GI Blues and in Can-Can. I remember all of this quite well as a lad. And it was always a special treat in Elvis films when he got a female co-star who was also musical like Ann-Margret, Nancy Sinatra, or Juliet Prowse.Elvis had a bunch of songs in the film including his own Blue Suede Shoes playing on a jukebox during a bar brawl. One song I really liked was Pocketful of Rainbows which he sings to Juliet while riding in a cable car. It should have been a bigger hit for him.GI Blues was a fine jump start for Elvis's return to the big screen and to his loyal legion of fans.