Girls!, Girls!, Girls!
Paramount 1962
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By: For Elvis Fans Only
Source: EPE
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Girls!, Girls!, Girls!
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Elvis' eleventh film was "Girls! Girls!
Girls!" (Paramount, 1962). Elvis
reported to the studio on March 26,
1962.
With the huge success of "Blue Hawaii"
(Paramount 1961), producer Hal Wallis
had decided to promote Elvis as an
entertainer rather than the rebel actor,
reminiscent of James Dean, as Elvis had
been seen in "King Creole" (Paramount
1958). Thus another script was set in
scenic Hawaii. The working titles for
"Girls! Girls! Girls!" had been "A Girl
In Every Port," "Welcome Aboard,"
"Jambalaya," and "Gumbo Ya-Ya,"which is
said to be a Creole expression for
"everybody talks at once."
Elvis' eleventh movie was the story
of Ross Carpenter and his dream to own
the sailboat his late father had built.
In this quest to buy the boat, Ross is
busy by day working on a fishing boat
and by night as a nightclub singer,
leaving little time for the "girls" who
are pursuing him. He does manage a brief
trip to visit his adopted family, the
Yungs of Paradise Cove.
The story was written by Allan Weiss,
who also worked on the Elvis films
"Blue
Hawaii",
"Fun In Acapulco"
"Paradise,
Hawaiian Style",
"Easy Come, Easy Go"
and
"Roustabout." For "Roustabout" he
received a 1965 nomination from the
Writer's Guild of America for Best
Written American Musical. Also working
on the script was Edward Anhalt, who won
Academy Awards for his screenplays for
"Becket" and "Panic In the Streets." He
received an Academy Award nomination for
"The Sniper."
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Elvis sings Return To Sender in
Girls!, Girls!, Girls!
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On March 26, 1962, Elvis began three
days of soundtrack recording at Radio
Recorders in Hollywood.
The title song "Girls! Girls!
Girls" had been written in 1960
by Leiber and Stoller
for The Coasters. Elvis was not pleased
with the direction his career was headed
and wasn't pleased with the prospect of
singing to shrimp or any other sea
creatures ("Song of the Shrimp" is a
soundtrack song). However, one great
classic Elvis song came from this film's
soundtrack. It was the Otis Blackwell
and Winfield Scott composition "Return
To Sender." The song had not been
written for this movie, but when Colonel
Parker heard it he knew it would be
perfect for Elvis and made sure he heard
it as well. And in the scene of the
movie when Elvis sings the song, you can
see in his movements the influence of
one of his favourite entertainers, Jackie
Wilson.
Two of the songs Elvis recorded in the
soundtrack sessions were not used in the
film. It was the group The Amigos'
version of "Mama" that was used instead
of Elvis' rendition. The group consisted
of Jose Vadiz, Pedro Berrios, Miguel
Alcade and Felix Melendes. "Plantation
Rock" was cut as well.
With the music recorded, it was time to
go to Hawaii for the location portions
of shooting the film. Elvis wanted to go
to Hawaii by ship, however, a strike
forced him to fly. The decision placed
the production behind schedule. Later,
when Paramount sent a check for two
extra days of Elvis's time, Colonel
Parker refused the payment as it had
been Elvis's reluctance to fly that had
caused the filming delay. The check was
never cashed.
On April 7, 1962 , Elvis and his
entourage arrived in Hawaii on Pan Am
flight #817. Elvis then took a
helicopter ride to the Hawaiian Village
Hotel where he would stay. Approximately
8,000 fans were on hand for his arrival
and in the 100-yard walk between the
helicopter and the hotel he lost his
yachting cap, his jewel-tipped tie clasp
and a diamond ring that he especially
liked. The next day, a young girl called
the hotel and said that his ring had
come off in her hand and that she wished
to return it. She did leave the ring at
the front desk of the hotel.
At this time Elvis was very much into
karate and actively practicing -
breaking up to 40 boards a night. Hal
Wallis put an end to it for the duration
of the production for fear that Elvis
would break his hand and hold up the
production schedule.
Principal photography began on April 9,
1962. Shooting in Hawaii included
locations such as the Bumble Bee Tuna
plant near Waikiki Beach and the Ala Wai
Yacht Harbour. On April 26, 1962 location
shooting was finished. Elvis and the
production team returned Hollywood where
filming resumed on Stage 5 at the
Paramount Studios on May 1, 1962.
After location shooting in Hawaii was
finished, filming resumed on May 1, 1962
back in Hollywood at the Paramount
Studios. On weekends Elvis and the guys
would play football in the local De Neve
Park with friends and other actors such
as Ty Hardin, Bob Conrad, Ricky Nelson,
Pat Boone, Gary Crosby and Max Baer, Jr.
Also during this time Elvis's name in
connection with the filming of "Girls!
Girls! Girls!" was used without
authorization in a Coppertone suntan
lotion ad in the June issue of "Ladies
Home Journal" magazine. Colonel Parker
had Hal Wallis stop the ad.
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Stella Stevens & Elvis Presley
in Girls!, Girls!, Girls! |
One of Elvis' leading ladies in this
film was Stella Stevens,
born Estelle Eggleston in Mississippi in
1936. Ms. Stevens attended Memphis State
College where she became interested in
acting and modelling. Her film debut was
in the 1959 "Say One For Me." It was the
voluptuous beauty's role of Appassionata
Von Climax in the film "Li'l Abner" that
got her noticed and she was soon the
Playboy Playmate of the Month for
January 1960. She shared a Golden Globe
win in 1960 with Tuesday Weld, Angie
Dickinson and Janet Munroe as Most
Promising Newcomer-Female. In Elvis's
movie "Girls! Girls! Girls!" she played
a nightclub singer. However, her three
solo songs in the movie, "Never Let Me
Go," "The Nearness of You" and "Baby,
Baby, Baby" were all sung by vocalist
Gilda Maiken with Ms. Stevens
lip-synching. Ms. Stevens would go on to
play numerous roles in film and on
television, working with such stars as
Bobby Darin in "Too Late Blues," Glenn
Ford in "The Courtship of Eddie's
Father," Jerry Lewis in "The Nutty
Professor," and Dean Martin in "The
Silencers." Her son Andrew Stevens is
also an actor.
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Laurel Goodwin & Elvis Presley
in Girls!, Girls!, Girls! |
Elvis' other leading lady was played by
Laurel Goodwin and this
film was her movie debut. She went on to
have roles in the films "Papa's Delicate
Condition," "Stage To Thunder Rock" and
"The Glory Guys." Her roles on TV have
included "Star Trek," "The Virginian,"
"Get Smart," "Mannix" and "The Beverly
Hillbillies."
Elvis' nemesis Wesley Johnson was played
by Jeremy Slate, who had also played in
the Elvis movie "G.I. Blues." Mr. Slate
has had roles in films such as "Wives
and Lovers," "The Sons of Katie Elder"
and "True Grit," as well as numerous
television roles in such series as
"Police Story", "Petrocelli", "The
Rookies" and "Wonder Woman."
Robert Strauss played Sam, the owner of
the Pirate's Den. You might recognize
him as Blackie in the Elvis movie
"Frankie and Johnny." He also had roles
in "Stage To Thunder Rock" with Laurel
Goodwin and in "Li'l Abner" with Stella
Stevens. This gravelly voiced actor was
the son of a theatrical costume designer
and started his career on Broadway,
where, among other productions, he
played in "Stalag 17." He reprised his
Broadway role of Stanislas 'Animal'
Kasava in the 1953 film production of
"Stalag 17" and earned a 1954 Academy
Award nomination as Best Supporting
Actor.
Papa Stavros was played by Frank Puglia.
The Sicilian born actor's career started
at age 13 when he began to appear in
Italian opera. He moved to the U.S. in
1907 at age 15 and joined an Italian
theater group in New York. In his career
he played character roles in over 200
movies and TV shows. One such role was
the rug merchant in the movie
"Casablanca."
Polish born actress Lili Valenty played
Mama Stavros. This character actress was
often cast as a gypsy or a grandma in
movies and TV series.
Twins Barbara and Betty Beall played the
Stavros twins Leona and Linda. Their
career had few roles. They were always
cast together as twins.
Kin Yung, the wise family patriarch, was
played by Benson Fong. Mr. Fong, a
native of California may be best
remembered for his long running role as
Tommy Chan, son of the famous detective
Charlie Chan, in the popular movie
series made in the 1940s. He also had
roles in films such as "Flower Drum
Song," "Our Man Flint," and "The Love
Bug," as well as in TV series such as
"Kung Fu." The son of a wealthy
Sacramento merchant who had lost
everything in the Depression, Mr. Fong
had no plans to become an actor. He had
planned to open a grocery store. But,
one night while he was out to dinner, a
talent scout approached him and his
thirty-year career as an actor soon was
underway. He also owned a chain of
popular California restaurants called Ah
Fong's.
Beulah Quo played the even wiser Yung
matriarch. Ms. Quo's career garnered her
an 1978 Emmy Award nomination for
Outstanding Supporting Actress for
"Meeting of Minds." She had many roles
on TV, including a long-running role on
the TV series "General Hospital." Her
movie career included films such as
"Love Is a Many Splendored Thing,"
"Flower Drum Song," "The Sand Pebbles"
and "Chinatown."
Guy Lee played Chen Yung. Mr. Lee also
had roles in the films "Gidget Goes
Hawaiian" and "Flower Drum Song," among
others. He appeared in guest roles on a
number of TV series, including
"Bonanza," "Honey West," "The Wild, Wild
West" and the "The Odd Couple."
The Ling children that Elvis's character
sings to in this film were played by the
Tiu siblings. Ginny Tiu played Mai Ling,
Elizabeth Tiu played Tai Ling and their
brother Alexander Tiu played the unnamed
little brother. Their sister Vicky Tiu
would play a leading role in the next
Elvis movie "It Happened at The World's
Fair." Their father William was a
teacher from Hong Kong. The children
were musically gifted and appeared on
stage and in a number of variety shows
on television.
Mary Treen played Mrs. Figgot and
Marjorie Bennet played Mrs. Dicks, the
two women customers in the hat store.
Both ladies were long-time character
actresses with hundreds of roles between
them. Mary Treen had roles in films like
"It's A Wonderful Life" and "The Errand
Boy" as well as roles in the Elvis films
"Fun In Acapulco" and "Paradise Hawaiian
Style." Marjorie Bennett's career
included parts on many TV series, as
well as in movies such as "What Ever
Happened To Baby Jane?," "Sail A Crooked
Ship" and "My Fair Lady." She was also
the voice of Duchess in the original
version of the animated film "101
Dalmatians."
Gavin Gordon played the hat shop
manager. He was near the end of a
three-decade career in films, having had
roles in such movies as "White
Christmas," "High Society," "The Ten
Commandments," "The Matchmaker" and "The
Nutty Professor," among many others.
Linda Rand played a village woman in
"Girls! Girls! Girls!" and also can be
seen in the Elvis films "Fun In
Acapulco" and "Roustabout".
Kenneth Becker was Mack, the drunk in
the Pirate's Den. You can also spot him
in the Elvis films "G.I. Blues" and
"Roustabout."
While Frank Atienza (Ito in the Elvis
film "Blue Hawaii's") plays an
uncredited role.
Look closely and you'll see Red West
from Elvis's entourage as a bongo
playing crewman on the tuna boat. And
entourage member Alan Fortas catches a
tuna that Elvis's character throws his
way. Elvis's recording session drummer
Hal Blaine is seen as a drummer in the
lounge band, Elvis's stand-in Lance
LeGault is playing the bass.
Principal photography wrapped by June 8,
1962 and Elvis was done with looping and
his publicity stills by June 12th. The
movie premiered in Honolulu on October
31st. and opened nationwide on Nov.
21st., peaking at #6 on the Variety
National Box Office Survey. Even though
it only came out a few weeks before the
year's end, it was #31 for the year on
the list of the 50 Top Grossing Films of
1962. Elvis was voted that year as "Top
Box Office Draw" by the movie industry
of America, having three of the top
grossing films that year. Besides
"Girls! Girls! Girls!" at #31, "Kid
Galahad" was #37 and "Blue Hawaii" was
#14.
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Girls!, Girls!, Girls! |
Soundtrack
- Girls, Girls, Girls
- I Don't Wanna Be Tied
- A Boy Like Me, A Girl Like You
- Earth Boy
- Return To Sender
- Because Of Love
- Thanks To The Rolling Sea
- Song Of The Shrimp
- The Walls Have Ears
- We're Comin' In Loaded
- Mama (Cut)
- Plantation Rock (Cut)
Recorded at:
Radio Recorders Studios, 7000
Santa Monica Boulevard, Hollywood.March
1962
Musicians:
Elvis Presley (vocals), Scotty Moore,
Tiny Timbrell, Barney Kessel (guitars),
Ray Seigel (bass), D.J. Fontana, Hal
Blaine, Bernie Mattinson (drums), Dudley
Brookes (piano), Boots Randolph (sax &
vibes), the Jordanaires and the Amigos
(vocals).
A newcomer to the musicians was Barney
Kessel, a widely popular electric jazz
guitarist who would feature on several
of Elvis' later film soundtracks.
Girls!, Girls!, Girls!
Paramount 1962
Directed: Norman
Taurog
Writing Credits: Allan Weiss
(story), Edward Anhalt
Producer: Hal Wallis
Cast Overview
Elvis Presley .... Ross Carpenter,
Stella Stevens .... Robin Gatner, Jeremy
Slate .... Wesley Johnson, Laurel
Goodwin .... Laurel Dodge, Benson Fong
.... Kin Yung, Robert Strauss .... Sam,
Guy Lee .... Chen Yung, Frank Puglia
.... Papa Stavros, Lili Valenty ....
Mama Stavros, Beulah Quo .... Madam
Yung, Ginny Tiu .... Mai Ling, Elizabeth
Tiu .... Tai Ling, Alexander Tiu ....
Mai Ling's Brother
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