It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
Girls! Girls! Girls! (1962) – Musical #824

Studio:
Paramount Pictures

Director:
Norman Taurog

Starring:
Elvis Presley, Stella Stevens, Jeremy Slate, Laurel Goodwin, Benson Fong, Robert Strauss, Guy Lee, Frank Puglia, Lili Valenty, Beulah Quo, Ginny Tiu, Elizabeth Tiu, Alexander Tiu, Mary Treen (uncredited), Gavin Gordon (uncredited)

Plot:
Ross Carpenter (Presley) has dreams of buying his own boat, but in the meantime, he’s having too earn his money by working as a fishing guide in Hawaii. However, when his employer, Papa Stavros (Puglia), becomes ill, Ross is going to have to find other means of employment. He goes to share his sorrow with his sexy girlfriend, Robin (Stevens), where he meets wealthy but sweet Laurel (Goodwin), which causes issues with Robin. When wealthy Wesley Johnson (Slate) buys Stavros’s boat, Ross battles him for access to the sailboat and also the affections of Laurel.

Trivia:
• The song “Return to Sender” was written for the GIRLS! GIRLS! GIRLS! soundtrack
• First film of Laurel Goodwin.
• Fishing scenes were filmed in Hawaii, and the premiere was held in Honolulu, Hawaii.
• Working titles were “A Girl in Every Port,” “Welcome Aboard” and “Gumbo Ya-Ya.”
• Sibling performers Ginny Tiu, Elizabeth Tiu and Alexander Tiu appear in the film. This was their only film appearance, though they also made TV appearances.
• Elvis Presley hated “Song of Shrimp,” according to the Elvis Presley estate.

Highlights:
• Technicolor cinematography by Loyal Griggs
• Appearance of siblings Ginny Tiu, Elizabeth Tiu and Alexander Tiu, especially Elvis performing with Ginny and Elizabeth.
• Benson Fong and Beulah Quo as married couple, like on “My Three Sons.”

Notable Songs:
• “Return to Sender” performed by Elvis Presley
• “Earth Boy” performed by Ginny Tiu, Elizabeth Tiu and Elvis Presley
• “The Nearness of You” performed by Stella Stevens
• “The Walls Have Ears” performed by Elvis Presley

My review:
I grew up watching Elvis movies with my family, so imagine my surprise when I started this movie and realized it was one I hadn’t seen yet.

GIRLS! GIRLS! GIRLS! (1962) is one of those higher quality Elvis movies where everyone still seems to be trying, from Norman Taurog, Hall B. Wallis and Elvis Presley. Later on, you can tell they feel like they are just going through the movies, but on the heels of BLUE HAWAII, everyone is still trying to make a good product.

The story itself here is just okay and a bit convoluted (the issue is a boat? A girl? Both?), but the soundtrack is fairly decent and visually stunning.

In the film, Elvis plays Ross Carpenter, who is both trying to earn money to buy his own sailboat and is also running in between two women – sexy singer Robin (Stevens), who he has history with, and innocent Laurel (Goodwin), who is a bit mysterious about herself, because she has money. Ross is passionate about sailing and the sea, but when his employer sells his fishing business to Wesley Johnson (Slate), it throws a wrench in his plan about owning a sail boat.

What’s confusing is that it doesn’t seem like Ross cares about either girl and I’m confused why he ever went on a date with Laurel Goodwin’s character. She doesn’t seem like his type.

Elvis had three movies alone released in 1962: Girls! Girls! Girls!, Follow That Dream and Kid Galahad. However, none of these recapture of the magic of BLUE HAWAII, though of this grouping, GIRLS! GIRLS! GIRLS! comes the closest.

It is visually lush, filmed on location in Hawaii with a similar Elvis movie formula. Instead of the film starting with him driving a red race car, he’s on a fishing boat, the King Fisher, and singing.

Still pretty early in her feature film career, Stella Stevens is underutilized in the film, playing Elvis’s long suffering girlfriend, waiting for him to move forward with him, but knowing he only comes to her when he has trouble. Within an hour of the film, she only has three scenes. Publicity photos show Stevens in a pink bathing suit, embracing Elvis on a boat but they never share that much intimacy or romance in this film. Stevens does have the opportunity to sing several solos which is rare in an Elvis movie. His leading ladies, usually sing duets. It was mainly only Ann-Margret in VIVA LAS VEGAS who also was able to sing solos.

In her first film role, Laurel Goodwin plays the fresh faced socialite, who is also interested in Elvis. Goodwin reminds me of a mix of Cindy Carroll and Dolores Hart. She’s cute but lacks much film charisma.
Jeremy Slate is a handsome secondary leading man, who looks a little like a poor man’s James MacArthur. His character is always drinking, which is curious because I’m not sure if this is supposed to add comedic value. It frankly doesn’t, and feels a bit passe. This humor maybe worked for some before films like THE LOST WEEKEND (1945) or THE DAYS AND WINE AND ROSES (1962), but isn’t funny here. Especially when he makes an AA joke.

The real highlight is Benson Fong and Beulah Quo playing husband and wife. I always love to see Fong, and if you’re a fan of the TV show “My Three Sons,” they play husband and wife on the show too.

IIt’s also fun to see sibling singers Ginny Tiu, Elizabeth Tiu and Alexander Tiu. It’s always charming when Elvis interacts with children in his film, so when he sings with the Tiu sisters, which is adorable.

There is, of course, the standout song, “Return to Sender,” and that is the key song in the film. There are some odd songs for Elvis, such as “Thanks to the Rolling Sea,” which has a sailor feel.

Overall, GIRLS! GIRLS! GIRLS! is just alright, but a better installment than many Elvis films. At least it’s colorful.

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