50th Anniversary Movie Pictorial — Girl Happy

Girl Happy opened nationally on April 14, 1965.

When I started posting these Elvis movie pictorials, I would always watch each one again on the TV and make notes about things that interest me.  Now I watch on the laptop, and I make heavy use of pause, single frame advance (or reverse), and screen grab.  You can discover a lot of fun shots this way.

 

Here we have Mary Ann Mobley showing off her acting talent.

I must admit, she’s the reason I can watch Girl Happy over and over.  Too bad they couldn’t find a way for Elvis to wind up with her at the end.  The scenes with Elvis pursuing Mary Ann just sizzle.  These two beautiful people are hot for each other.

 

On the other hand, the Elvis and Shelly Fabares scenes are sweet and tender.

He sings to her.

He takes her dancing.

 

So far, we have seen Elvis in five pictures, and he is wearing a different long-sleeve shirt in each one.  In fact, he wears nothing but long sleeve shirts the whole film.

Even when he is sunbathing around the motel pool.

Even when sail boating.  Doesn’t Shelly look dreamy?  No, thanks.  I’ll take Mary Ann.

Even when water skiing.  Did Elvis have some mysterious rash on his arms during filming?

 

Here are some odds and ends pictures that caught my fancy.

Elvis and the boys in the band playing peeping-toms.

No everything went well between Elvis and Mary Ann.  She let her feelings be known when Elvis disappeared to rescue Shelly for the third time.

 

A lot of the action took place at the Seadrift Motel.  Lots of eye-candy for the male viewers.

Somehow Elvis miraculously came up with a pick-up truck and boat trailer to pull this boat into the motel pool.

He also commandeered a spotlight to search for Shelly on the beach.

But his biggest coup was getting a backhoe to help break into jail where Shelly was being held.

Here’s Elvis trying to break into jail.  How convenient that the Ft. Lauderdale jail had a wooden floor he could saw through.

And after he got in, Elvis had to dress in drag to get out.  Not exactly the high point of Elvis’ acting career.

 

Shelly Fabares’ character changed quite a bit from what Elvis thought she looked like to what she actually did.

 

She looked great in this musical number.

And she’s a riot when she gets drunk and wants to try her hand at stripping.

 

I had a friendly dispute with another fan about whether Teri Garr appeared in five or six Elvis movies.  The film in question was Girl Happy.  He said the shots I provided of her dancing on the beach during “Do the Clam” were inconclusive, because it was dark and she moved too fast.  Now, I’ve got some new screen grabs proving Teri Garr did appear in Girl Happy.

Here she is in the jail scene.

Here’s Teri Garr doing the Clam.  Not as clear, but she is wearing the same top as in jail.

 

The guy on the right playing guitar is Joby Baker, but look back one picture and see him playing sax.  The sax solos on several songs including “I’ve Got to Find My Baby” and “Do the Clam” are excellent.  No wonder — they were actually performed by Boots Randolph.

 

Here’s a brief diversion from the screen grabs to look at a Girl Happy poster from Turkey.  The title translates to “Guardian of My Daughter,” which does fit with the theme of the movie.  Those Turks knew who to pair with Elvis in the picture – Mary Ann Mobley.

 

I always end these pictorials with a shot or two of Elvis kissing his leading lady.  Mary Ann beat Shelly 3 to 2 in this department.

 

But in the end, Elvis wound up with Shelly Fabares.

The movie closes with this kiss.

 

Oh, well.  Elvis will have another chance with Mary Ann Mobley in Harum Scarum.

 

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