Live a Little, Love a Little

[ColinB]

Not a film I sit & watch too often.

But I had the grandchildren round the other day [well, 4 of them anyway] & I put it on for them.

A pleasant surprise !

Not a great film, by any standard, but not one of his worst !

Some good points:

1] Actual location shots, close-ups of him driving look authentic [not sure all the long shots are him] together with beach scenes, and the 'factory' scene looks real too.

2] Some nice touches of realism: he finally wakes up after a few 'days' sleep & has stubble ! He has a fight & actually gets a cut & bruised face & dirty clothes........ even into the next scene !

3] Good songs, and a few nice comedy touches too.

4] Some ever-so-slightly more 'adult' scenes; we see him in bed with a girl; she later peeks at him in the shower..........

5] He looks trim, fit & well.

6] His hair looks good.

7] The plot is kinda complicated & weird, but a good supporting cast are on hand.

8] The obligatory fight scene is well choreographed, and actually quite brutal !

9] Certainly a refreshing change from the formulaic 'Elvis' films that preceded it.

I think if he had made this film and Change of Habit a few years earlier, they might [just] have saved his ailing film career.

As it was, it was a case of 'too little too late'...............

[Narek]

I like that one too. it's pretty funny and non-typical role. Betty(Bernise) is hot. She looksa bit like J-Lo

[ColinB]

I like that one too. it's pretty funny and non-typical role.
Betty(Bernise) is hot.
She looksa bit like J-Lo

Well, yes, I could have mentioned the 'tasty co-star' too, but that wasn't so unusual in an Elvis film, was it ?

This girl was certainly a good one...............

[jeanno]

Hey ColinB, I much enjoyed that one compared to other Presley movies of that time like "Charro", "Speedway" or "The Trouble with Girls". I think that "Live a Little, Love a Little", "Stay Away Joe" and "Change of Habits" are kinda pleasant to watch and pretty funny.

[Rob]

6] His hair looks good.

At least you mentioned the most important thing.

[ColinB]

6] His hair looks good.

At least you mentioned the most important thing.

Well, yeah, I know, I know, but it kinda pisses me off seeing that sort of 'black helmet' thing he sports in a lot of those 60's films !

A much more natural look in this one...................

[bajo]

In the aftermath, I've tended to like his later movies better than many of the previous "formula" movies.
To me, LALLAL, Stay Away Joe, Trouble With Girls, Charro and Change Of Habit. Strange as while the Elvis movies faded in popularity they somehow showed some promise!
So, whenever I watch any Elvis movie myself, now and then, it tends to be the 50's films or the ones mentioned above!
I have a 8 year old son and he actually digs the mid sixties ones like Viva Las Vegas, Roustabout and Tickle Me.
Which were among my favourites also!

[ColinB]

Glad to read some of you agree with me.

This film is too often 'lumped in' with the lightweight 'quickies' of the earlier 60's, and dismissed along with them, when it is actually not as dire as his worst efforts were...........

[likethebike]

I agree it's interesting Colin. I don't think it would have helped his career if it came earlier as it's not good enough. He needed something that would catch the public's attention and this was a diversion at best.

I don't give a whole ton of credit for location shoot. Elvis' worst IMO (PHS) was done on location. It does try and do something different. Elvis, himself though, isn't nearly so interesting as he appears in Stay Away Joe.

The slight adult themes you mention are what make the film interesting to me. It's also nice to see Elvis in the late 1960s in a setting that actually seems like the late '60s. Except for some clothing styles Clambake, Double Trouble, Speedway could have been shot in 1963 for all they owe to their era. I also like the movie's casual acceptance of era as well more than old grandpa "Get off my lawn, these kids are kooks" approach of Easy Come Easy Go.

[jeanno]

ColinB / Likethebike
"LALLOL" has an interesting detail in its plot: Elvis´ character is a responsible man. He is the boss and makes his decisions. No manager character like in previous movies (the worst of all being that awful little boy in "Fun in Acapulco" telling him what to do, where to sing, etc.) I think that seeing Elvis playing an adult person was somehow something pretty different. But it came too late...

[Rob]

(the worst of all being that awful little boy in "Fun in Acapulco" telling him what to do, where to sing, etc.)

Oh, man! THAT was nauseating.

[jeanno]

Rob

nauseating

That was the perfect word.

[ColinB]

Rob

nauseating

That was the perfect word.

It just made me feel sick..................................

[Liverbobs]

(the worst of all being that awful little boy in "Fun in Acapulco" telling him what to do, where to sing, etc.)

Oh, man! THAT was nauseating.

It has the same affect on me when a fat ol' bloke does the same to him....oh wait that was real wasn't it?

as for the films, one of the better ones in my opinion, not as funny as Stay Away Joe IMHO, but very good nontheless

[Peter Franks]

Live a Little, Love a Little has always stood out to me as one of Elvis' more entertaining movies, a sort of best-of-the-rest. I haven't seen it in a while, but I remember there being some genuinely funny moments (often with Nolan, Bernice and Harry Baby in the same room) contrasted with some serious acting from Elvis. In one scene he says something along the lines of, "Bernice, or Mrs. Baby or whatever the hell your name is!" and we see a more convincingly angry and cranky character than Elvis portrayed in most of his other films, which comes as a bit of a surprise when considering the light tone of the rest of this film (and his earlier films).

The adult themes - mostly Nolan's profession as a risque men's magazine photographer - must come as a bit of a surprise to viewers expecting a film like G.I. Blues and is indeed one of the more interesting aspects of the film. Other notable sexy scenes include the shower scene, the continual references to the division of the bed, and the scene where Bernice reveals that she's not wearing anything under the fur coat. Nolan is also more his own man and "boss," as jeanno puts it, although only to an extent: he still spends much of the film being manipulated by Mr. and Mrs. Baby.

Perhaps most interesting is the beach buggy opening sequence, because it's very similar to the dune buggy scene in The Thomas Crown Affair (1968). I wonder to what extent the latter influenced the Elvis film, or whether this is just a coincidence. The Thomas Crown Affair came out in June in the United States, whereas the Elvis film came out four months later in October. However, Elvis had finished principal photography in May - a month before the McQueen film hit theaters - which means that director Norman Taurog could not have used the final print of that film for inspiration for the Elvis film (insider connections excepted). Taurog/Elvis could have been influenced by the film's trailer, which did include several seconds of footage of dune buggies on the sand but I'm not sure how likely that is. Or was there a larger dune buggy craze in 1967/1968 that inspired these scenes? If the McQueen film was indeed the inspiration for the Elvis film, that's particularly interesting because it is one of the very few times that an Elvis entity (outside of live appearances) directly acknowledges contemporary popular culture. In none of the other films (as far as I can recall) was popular culture acknowledged, at a time when even James Bond commented on popular music (The Beatles, in 1964's Goldfinger).

[GIRL HAPPY BOY]

LALLAL was always one of my favorites elvis' movies, always liked to to it
Its funny, good looking king, fine suites, albert the dog , great songs...
to me thios is the last entertaining feature of the king...never cared about THE TROUBLE WITH GIRLS, CHARRO or CHANGE OF HABIT
i find myself more enjoy looking at LALLAL
and that girl in the party when E sings her A LITTLE LESS CONVERSATION...mmmm...Shes hot man...to bad for him he couldnt have her all the way because his Co star...
Any way i like this movie
Have a good night
Lior

[Narek]

and that girl in the party when E sings her A LITTLE LESS CONVERSATION...mmmm...Shes hot man...to bad for him he couldnt have her all the way because his Co star...
Lior

I always though she needed a nose surgery. That way she would've been real hot

[musiclover1979]

A confusing movie.

And, why did he go along with all that crazy stuff from that crazy woman?
No sensible man would ever put up with all that sh*t.
Here comes a woman out of nowhere and starts doing what she want with a man's life.
If it'd been me I'd run away from this woman as fast as possible!
Hell, he don't even get to bed with her... (That is, has sex...)
As I see it, it's a no win situation. Why would he take up two jobs at the same time just to cope with this woman?
She's even whining through most of the movie.

This movie don't make much sense...

Here's the good:
-Elvis looked good.

-Michele Carey looks hot in all those costumes. Only a girl as crazy as her would change clothes that often or even wear those oufits at all! She looked too sexy in those outfits! (Don't get me wrong. I like her looks!)

-It was shot on location. (Unfortunately that doesn't make this lame comedy much better.)

-In one scene Elvis cracks up and smiles/laughs for real. (It's just as he sees that plank between the beds).

-That dog is fun for a little while.

-The soundtrack songs are very good, but the staging / filming of them could have been much better.

I'd rather watch 'Kissin' Cousins' for the fourth time than this one.

Mr. Even B, Norway.

[Tony Trout]

I'd read somewhere that the dog in the movie was Elvis's real-life dog, Brutus. Has that ever been confirmed?

FWIW, I actually liked this movie very much.

And, no, the long shots of him driving/jumping the 'dune buggy' are not him. That's his stunt double, a man named Bob Curtis.

[ColinB]

A confusing movie.
And, why did he go along with all that crazy stuff from that crazy woman?
No sensible man would ever put up with all that sh*t.
Here comes a woman out of nowhere and starts doing what she want with a man's life.
If it'd been me I'd run away from this woman as fast as possible!
Hell, he don't even get to bed with her... (That is, has sex...)
As I see it, it's a no win situation. Why would he take up two jobs at the same time just to cope with this woman?
She's even whining through most of the movie.
This movie don't make much sense...

Ever hear that song "When a Man Loves a Woman" ?

He has the hots for her !

That answers all your questions !

[bethann]

A confusing movie.
And, why did he go along with all that crazy stuff from that crazy woman?
No sensible man would ever put up with all that sh*t.
Here comes a woman out of nowhere and starts doing what she want with a man's life.
If it'd been me I'd run away from this woman as fast as possible!
Hell, he don't even get to bed with her... (That is, has sex...)
As I see it, it's a no win situation. Why would he take up two jobs at the same time just to cope with this woman?
She's even whining through most of the movie.
This movie don't make much sense...

Ever hear that song "When a Man Loves a Woman" ?

He has the hots for her !

That answers all your questions !

When it comes to women, men don't always use the brain between their ears........they use the other one..........which, of course, is usually the cause for unfortunate circumstances.........

Maybe Colin could eloborate more on this...........

[ColinB]

When it comes to women, men don't always use the brain between their ears........they use the other one..........which, of course, is usually the cause for unfortunate circumstances.........

Maybe Colin could eloborate more on this...........

Well, who am I to refuse a lady ?

Err........................................ what did you want to know, exactly ?

[bethann]

When it comes to women, men don't always use the brain between their ears........they use the other one..........which, of course, is usually the cause for unfortunate circumstances.........

Maybe Colin could eloborate more on this...........

Well, who am I to refuse a lady ?

Err........................................ what did you want to know, exactly ?

All I was saying was that when a man is in love with a woman, such as you suggest in this movie, the man generally stops thinking rationally and starts thinking with his 'other' brain' and that is why women can sometimes act the way Michelle Carey does and still garner the male's full attention.....

But you're correct Colin......who are you or any gentleman, for that matter, to refuse a lady........(gentleman being the operative word here)........

[Monique]

I'd read somewhere that the dog in the movie was Elvis's real-life dog, Brutus. Has that ever been confirmed?

FWIW, I actually liked this movie very much.

And, no, the long shots of him driving/jumping the 'dune buggy' are not him. That's his stunt double, a man named Bob Curtis.

It wasn't Brutus. He looked a lot like Brutus, but he was a real actor. Priscilla confirmed that when asked in an interview.

About the movie; I like it much more than Clambake, Fun in Acapulco, It happened at the worlds fair, Speedway, Paradise Hawaiian Style, etc., but that's not only because of the plot...Elvis just looks much better in this movie, and the songs are much better.

[musiclover1979]

You guys are right that love's ways are strange. It can make a man go kinda crazy.
On the other hand he sings "I'm almost in love, tonight" later on in the movie.
So, he may not be totally captured by her intoxicating love (to put it that way).

Can a man get so insensible just because he loves her?
Maybe so.

Mr. Even B.