Elvis Presley was a hugely influential performer with one of the most distinctive singing voices of anybody. He embarked on a film career consisting of 33 films from 1956 to 1969, films that did well at the box-office but mostly panned critically (especially his later films) and while he was a highly charismatic performer he was never considered a great actor.
Some of his films, well a vast majority of the films before 'Girls! Girls! Girls!' (when his films became much less consistent), are actually pretty good and a few of them close to great. Particularly good are 'King Creole', 'Jailhouse Rock', 'Flaming Star' and 'Loving You'. 'It Happened at the World's Fair' is hardly one of Elvis' worst however, if anything it's a middling effort, patchy but decent.
There are good things here in 'It Happened at the World's Fair'. The locations are colourful and beautifully shot, the archive footage is very nostalgic and is inserted well. A few of the songs are great, the big one being "One Broken Heart for Sale", with "They Remind Me Too Much of You" and "How Would You Like to Be" on the same level.
Elvis is good natured and charismatic with his singing beautiful and distinctive as ever. Vicky Tiu is adorable and never gets on the wrong side of annoying, Gary Lockwood is charming and Kurt Russell makes an interesting screen debut with two of the film's best scenes.
However, 'It Happened at the World's Fair' is overlong and rather slight, with a couple of subplots either needing elaboration, in need of a trim down or excision. The ending wraps everything up far too patly too. Of the songs, three of them are great while the others range from good to forgettable and vary in how well they fit, though none of them are disposable (like the worst songs in 'Blue Hawaii', 'Girls! Girls! Girls!' and Elvis' worst films).
As to be expected, considering that it is rarely a strong suit in Elvis' films with a couple of exceptions ('King Creole' and 'Flaming Star') the dialogue is corny with mawkish sentimentality and humour that sometimes is fun but too often falls flat. Joan O'Brien is flavourless window dressing, and Norman Taurog's direction is routine at best.
To conclude, a decent if patchy middling Elvis film. 6/10 Bethany Cox
Some of his films, well a vast majority of the films before 'Girls! Girls! Girls!' (when his films became much less consistent), are actually pretty good and a few of them close to great. Particularly good are 'King Creole', 'Jailhouse Rock', 'Flaming Star' and 'Loving You'. 'It Happened at the World's Fair' is hardly one of Elvis' worst however, if anything it's a middling effort, patchy but decent.
There are good things here in 'It Happened at the World's Fair'. The locations are colourful and beautifully shot, the archive footage is very nostalgic and is inserted well. A few of the songs are great, the big one being "One Broken Heart for Sale", with "They Remind Me Too Much of You" and "How Would You Like to Be" on the same level.
Elvis is good natured and charismatic with his singing beautiful and distinctive as ever. Vicky Tiu is adorable and never gets on the wrong side of annoying, Gary Lockwood is charming and Kurt Russell makes an interesting screen debut with two of the film's best scenes.
However, 'It Happened at the World's Fair' is overlong and rather slight, with a couple of subplots either needing elaboration, in need of a trim down or excision. The ending wraps everything up far too patly too. Of the songs, three of them are great while the others range from good to forgettable and vary in how well they fit, though none of them are disposable (like the worst songs in 'Blue Hawaii', 'Girls! Girls! Girls!' and Elvis' worst films).
As to be expected, considering that it is rarely a strong suit in Elvis' films with a couple of exceptions ('King Creole' and 'Flaming Star') the dialogue is corny with mawkish sentimentality and humour that sometimes is fun but too often falls flat. Joan O'Brien is flavourless window dressing, and Norman Taurog's direction is routine at best.
To conclude, a decent if patchy middling Elvis film. 6/10 Bethany Cox