Elvis has been entertaining us for decades, both with his music and with his movies. Even though he has been gone for many years, we still enjoy what he had to offer.
One of the movies that he is well-known for is from 1961. It is a musical, Blue Hawaii, and we can’t help but see his charisma in almost every note that he sang.
When it comes to music, Elvis Presley was in a class of his own. He was also well known for his good looks and he could put on quite a performance. It was his performance in Blue Hawaii that many people consider to be his best, although experts usually put it closer to the bottom.
If you haven’t watched the movie Blue Hawaii or if you haven’t seen it recently, it really is worth the time to watch. There are many funny moments throughout the movie and you can see Elvis is not only a singer, he’s quite a comedian as well.
Despite the fact that some critics give it mixed reviews, it is the 10th top-grossing film of 1961. At the box office, it earned $4.2 million, which was quite a payday in the 60s. It wasn’t just the fact that Elvis was playing a former G.I. that gives up his father’s business to give people beach tours, it’s the soundtrack that really catches our attention.
One thing that many people tend to overlook or perhaps never saw were the bloopers and behind-the-scenes problems that are a lot of fun to watch these days. Here are a few of the gems for the next time you watch the flick.
Did you know that Elvis’s character in Blue Hawaii did not have a real reason to sing? Chad Gates would break in the song, but he would do so and unusual and unexpected moments. This could include rowing the boat or lounging on the beach.
After Blue Hawaii did so well, both as a movie and as a soundtrack, the producer decided to use it as a blueprint for any more Presley films that came out. Essentially, hire a few beautiful costars, put Elvis in an exotic location, and have them sing a lot of songs. It really worked!
When Chad steps off the plane, you can actually hear hundreds of fans screaming in the background. They were there to watch the scene being shot, and you have to turn the sound up to hear it, but you can definitely hear it.
It wasn’t only about Elvis Pressley, Joan Blackman also played her role in the movie as well. She also was not the first choice for the movie. That honor went to Juliet Prowse.
Juliet didn’t make the movie because she wanted a makeup artist from another studio and she wanted them to pay to have her secretary flown to Hawaii. She decided to walk away after her requests were turned down.
You may not consider Elvis to be one of the best actors, but he was genuinely good on the silver screen. In the case of Blue Hawaii, Anne Fulchino said that he found the experience humiliating to a certain degree. She would know because she was a publicity director who worked with him.
She said: “It was a while before he came over and talked to us, and when he did — you see at the beginning I used to call him Chief and I said, ‘Hi, Chief,’ and he just looked at me like he wished I hadn’t come.”
I said to myself, ‘If I was making these crappy pictures, I wouldn’t want to see anybody from my past either,’” she said. “That’s the reason I didn’t hang around.”
“He was obviously uncomfortable with what he was doing, he was frustrated and disgusted — it was all in his face,” Fulchino continued. “The emotion I respected most was that he was ashamed of it, which meant that he knew better — but you could see that he was trapped.”
Elvis Presley had a few problems as he was filming Blue Hawaii as well. Fans would crowd around to try to catch a glimpse of him and security was always at a high stress level. Elvis needed protection everywhere he went, so he didn’t get to enjoy a lot of the tourist spots on the island.
One thing that he did make sure to do was to take pro-golf lessons from Gary Player.
Gary said: “After I won my first Masters in 1961, I received an invitation telegram from Elvis – The King. A telegram, not as easy as a text is today. We were playing in Los Angeles and I went to the set of ‘Hawaii’ where Elvis was filming. He saw me walk in the room and yelled ‘CUT!’ The gentleman he was, Elvis went and put a jacket before he came to shake my hand. Elvis was just starting to play golf and asked for a few swing tips. He gave me a practice swing, and I swear, it was like a cow giving birth to a roll of barbwire. So, I adjusted his grip and told him he really had to use his hips during the downswing. He said, ‘Baby, you’re talking to the right man.’ And gave us all a little shake.”