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| Girl Happy | |
|---|---|
| Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Boris Sagal |
| Produced by | Joe Pasternak |
| Written by | Harvey BullockR.S. Allen |
| Starring | Elvis PresleyShelley Fabares |
| Music by | George E. Stoll |
| Cinematography | Philip H. Lathrop |
| Edited by | Rita Roland |
| Production company | EuterpeMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Release date | March 12, 1965(Alabama)[April 14, 1965 (USA) |
| Running time | 96 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $3,250,000 (US/ Canada rentals) |
Girl Happy is a 1965 American musical romantic comedy and beach party film starring Elvis Presley in his eighteenth feature. The movie won a fourth place prize Laurel Award in the category Top Musical of 1965. It featured the song “Puppet on a String“, which reached #14 on the Billboard Hot 100, #3 on the Adult Contemporary chart and in Canada, and was certified Gold by the RIAA.
Although MGM presented Girl Happy as a beach party film (“Elvis brings his beat to the beach!” “Elvis jumps with the campus crowd to make the beach ‘ball’ bounce!”) and while Presley had previously appeared shirtless in films prior to this, he never appears without a shirt at any time throughout his many scenes at the pool and on the beach in Florida, wearing long sleeves for most of the film – even while water-skiing
Filming began on June 22, 1964 and finished in late July.[ Even though the film is set in Fort Lauderdale, Presley did not film any scenes in the city. Primary shooting was done at the MGM studios, while the beach scenes were filmed in southern California. Only second unit filming was done in Fort Lauderdale.
Alternate titles considered were The Only Way to Love and Girl Crazy. Joe Pasternak had produced the similar spring break movie Where the Boys Are, which was also set in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in 1960.
Shelley Fabares, Mary Ann Mobley, and Chris Noel had each appeared in a beach party film movie prior to Girl Happy: Fabares in Ride the Wild Surf, and both Mobley and Noel in Get Yourself a College Girl. Shelley Fabares sings “Spring Fever” in a duet with Elvis and Nita Talbot sings the song “Read All About It”.
This would the first of three movies in which Fabares would co-star with Elvis. Dan Haggerty, who plays Charlie, would later appear in The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams movie and TV series.
Howard Thompson of The New York Times felt that the film “meanders familiarly,” and that “the steady stream of tunes, as rhythmical as they are unoriginal” were its “saving grace.” Variety called it “another musical winner,” adding, “A story line unburdened by anything but lightness and a dozen song numbers belted out in singer’s customary style provide the type of pleasant fare which Presley’s fans have come to expect.” Margaret Harford of the Los Angeles Times called the film “another ‘beach musical’ that looks livelier and fresher than most.” The Monthly Film Bulletin called it “very much a standard Presley vehicle. In other words, Elvis is the only really interesting thing about it.”
Watch the movie ” Girl Happy”
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