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.
'Live a Little, Love a Little' is not one of Elvis' overall best, 'King Creole' and 'Flaming Star' in particular are two of few exceptions to have good stories and scripts, elements that tended to be the weak links. It is a long way from being one of Elvis' worst, with a couple of exceptions like another one of his best 'Viva Las Vegas' Elvis' film career declined a lot between 'Kissin' Cousins' and this, 'Harum Scarum' and 'Stay Away, Joe' being especially poor.
If anything, 'Live a Little, Love a Little' is one of Elvis' better later films and his best since 'Viva Las Vegas'. By all means it's far from flawless. The second half lacks the energy of the first half, instead it drags and gets on the wrong side of weird. The dream sequence is rather bizarre and feels out of place. The script is not a strong suit, being a little clunky and forced.
However, after some cheap-looking films mid-late career, 'Live a Little, Love a Little' is a welcome return to the very nicely filmed and mounted films seen earlier pre-'Kissin' Cousins'. As far as the soundtrack goes, it's the most tuneful and consistent one since 'Viva Las Vegas'. After some pretty bad soundtracks, tending to have few memorable songs, some disposable ones and ones that one really wants to forget as long as they live, all the songs are good, especially "A Little Less Conversation".
Story-wise, the first half is full of energy and very compelling, so much so that it is such a shame that the second half doesn't live up. Elvis gives one of his most confident and enthusiastic performances of his mid 60s-late 60s films, having phoned it in due to clearly knowing how bad a lot of his material had gotten. Michelle Carey is charming enough with good chemistry, while the dog is a sheer scene-stealing delight.
Overall, surprisingly good later effort. 7/10 Bethany Cox
'Live a Little, Love a Little' is not one of Elvis' overall best, 'King Creole' and 'Flaming Star' in particular are two of few exceptions to have good stories and scripts, elements that tended to be the weak links. It is a long way from being one of Elvis' worst, with a couple of exceptions like another one of his best 'Viva Las Vegas' Elvis' film career declined a lot between 'Kissin' Cousins' and this, 'Harum Scarum' and 'Stay Away, Joe' being especially poor.
If anything, 'Live a Little, Love a Little' is one of Elvis' better later films and his best since 'Viva Las Vegas'. By all means it's far from flawless. The second half lacks the energy of the first half, instead it drags and gets on the wrong side of weird. The dream sequence is rather bizarre and feels out of place. The script is not a strong suit, being a little clunky and forced.
However, after some cheap-looking films mid-late career, 'Live a Little, Love a Little' is a welcome return to the very nicely filmed and mounted films seen earlier pre-'Kissin' Cousins'. As far as the soundtrack goes, it's the most tuneful and consistent one since 'Viva Las Vegas'. After some pretty bad soundtracks, tending to have few memorable songs, some disposable ones and ones that one really wants to forget as long as they live, all the songs are good, especially "A Little Less Conversation".
Story-wise, the first half is full of energy and very compelling, so much so that it is such a shame that the second half doesn't live up. Elvis gives one of his most confident and enthusiastic performances of his mid 60s-late 60s films, having phoned it in due to clearly knowing how bad a lot of his material had gotten. Michelle Carey is charming enough with good chemistry, while the dog is a sheer scene-stealing delight.
Overall, surprisingly good later effort. 7/10 Bethany Cox