G.I. Blues - WikiHQ

G.I. Blues is a 1960 American musical comedy film directed by Norman Taurog and starring Elvis Presley and Juliet Prowse. The moviePresley's fifth, but his first after discharge from the US Armywas filmed at Paramount Pictures studio, with some pre-production scenery shot on location in West Germany while Presley was stationed there. The movie won a second-place Laurel Award in the category of Top Musical of 1960.

Plot

U.S. Army Specialist Tulsa MacLean is a tank crewman with a singing career. Serving with the 3rd Armored Division in West Germany, MacLean dreams of running his own nightclub when he leaves the army, but such dreams don't come cheap. Tulsa and his buddies have formed a band and perform in various German "Gasthauses", night clubs, and on an Armed Forces stage. In one bar, he even discovers the record "Blue Suede Shoes" on a jukeboxsung by some guy named Elvis Presley.

To raise money, Tulsa places a bet that his tank commander, Dynamite, can spend the night with a club dancer named Lili, who is rumoured to be hard to get since she turned down another soldier, Turk. Dynamite and Turk have vied for women before when the two were stationed in Hawaii. When Dynamite gets transferred to Alaska, Tulsa is brought in to take his place in the bet. He is not looking forward to it, but must go through with it.

Tulsa uses his Southern charm and calls Lili "ma'am." She at first sees Tulsa as another Occupation Duty GI. Then after a day on the Rhine, Lili begins to fall for him. Tulsa's friend Cookie, meanwhile, falls in love with Lili's roommate, Tina from Italy. In the end, Rick's and Marla's baby son Tiger helps Tulsa win the bet for the outfitand Lili's heart.

Cast

In addition, in uncredited roles, Edson Stroll appears as Dynamite, while Presley's real bandmates, Scotty Moore and D. J. Fontana, and his regular backup singers, The Jordanaires, perform onscreen in those same roles.

Background

Elvis Presley's Army career began in 1958, and by 1960 it had been two years since Presley had made his last film, King Creole. Despite his previous three films being mostly slammed by the critics, they warmed to King Creole and its star.

Presley returned to the U.S. in March 1960 and began work on the film in late April. Variety remarked that the film "restores Elvis Presley to the screen in a picture that seems to have been left over from the frivolous filmusicals of World War II" and called it "rather juvenile." Harrison's Reports graded the film as "Fair-to-good ... The cast performs well and direction and production values are good. A prime attraction, aside from Juliet Prowse is the beautiful scenery of Europe in wondrous Technicolor." John L. Scott of the Los Angeles Times wrote in a generally positive review, "I wouldn't actually call Elvis sophisticated in the picture, but he has grown up, for which we give thanks. And he's learning how to act, too, particularly in the lighter sequences. I'm certain most mature theatergoers will welcome the change in Presley. Now as for his squealing teenage fans—it is hoped they also will go along with the metamorphosis." Richard L. Coe of The Washington Post write that the film "probably will satisfy the audiences for which it has been so awarely, if depressingly, created." The Monthly Film Bulletin dismissed the picture as "a series of numbers loosely strung around a trite and thin and terribly insubstantial plot. Juliet Prowse manoeuvres her superbly engineered torso through two meagre dances with infectious exuberance, but she deserves a better rôle and a more mature leading man; certainly one with more genuine fire than Presley."

The film opened at the Victoria Theater in New York City on November 4, 1960 After opening in more cities in Thanksgiving week, it reached number 2 on Varietys weekly national box office chart. It finished the year as the fourteenth biggest box office grossing film of the year generating $4.3 million.