Roustabout **½ (1964, Elvis Presley, Barbara Stanwyck, Sue Ann Langdon, Joan Freeman, Leif Erickson, Raquel Welch, Teri Garr) – Classic Movie Review 4697

Director John Rich’s 1964 musical is a colourful but routine vehicle for Elvis Presley, though it is notable as one the few times that he had the support of a major star – Barbara Stanwyck.

She was persuaded by her old friend, producer Hal Wallis, to play tough old broad Maggie Morgan, the carnival owner who hires leather-jacketed biker Charlie Rogers (Presley) as a handyman. But he is so great as an entertainer that a rival carnival puts in a bid, until he is brought back by persuasive words from his girlfriend, Cathy Lean (Joan Freeman), daughter of grumpy broken-down drunk Joe Lean (Leif Erickson), who helps Maggie run the carny.

Alas, it is not much of a story, more of a simple familiar situation, a predictable conflict and an expected resolution, but the 11 songs (including Jerry Leiber-Mike Stoller’s ‘Little Egypt’, ‘Poison Ivy League’ and ‘One Track Heart’ [both written by Bill Giant, Bernie Baum and Florence Kaye]) and the lively production keep the pleasant enough movie going quite nicely. So do the performances. Presley is on good form, Stanwyck is an obvious asset, Freeman is appealing as the heroine and Sue Ann Langdon adds lustre as flirtatious fortune teller Madame Mijanou.

It was Stanwyck’s penultimate movie, before The Night Walker, and Raquel Welch’s first film (as a college girl) before A House Is Not a Home. Teri Garr is also a college girl dancer. Garr also appears in Presley’s Fun in Acapulco, Kissin’ Cousins, Viva Las Vegas and Clambake.

Also in the cast are Pat Buttram, Joan Staley, Dabbs Greer, Steve Brodie, Jack Albertson, Arthur Levy, Joel Fluellen, Ray Kellogg, Lester Miller, Norman Grabowski, Wilda Taylor, Jane Dulo, Marianna Hill, Howard Joslin, Billy Barty, Al Bain, Lynn Borden, Duke Fishman, Joy Harmon, Kenner G. Kemp, Richard Kiel, Lance LeGault, Kent McCord, Ron Nyman, Toby Reed, Bert Stevens, K.L. Smith, Sailor Vincent, Jesse Wayne, Red West and Beverly Adams.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 4697

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