20 Elvis Movies on TV in July

 

There are five Thursdays in July, and cable channel Turner Classic Movies is airing four Elvis movies on each of them.  They are grouped into different categories each night.  For example, this Thursday, July 1, the theme is “Seeing Double.” The films sort of fit:

Kissin’ Cousins – Elvis plays two distant cousins who look alike

Double Trouble – The title says it all

Clambake – Rich Elvis trades places with a poor water-ski instructor

Live A Little, Love a Little – Elvis struggles to keep up with two jobs

 

Here is the complete line-up for all five Thursdays in July on TCM:

My only complaint is that the movies are aired at 8, 10, Midnight, 2am.  If they are going to feature Elvis movies, why not show them at times we fans can actually see them.  I’ll watch the 8pm shows, but after that I’ll be in bed.  And they are not repeating any of them a second time at a friendlier hour.

 

Anyway, if you plan to watch “Kissin’ Cousins” at 8 this Thursday, you might enjoy an Elvis Movies 50th Anniversary Pictorial I posted back in 2014

 

Serious reviews of Kissin’ Cousins lament that it was the start of a bad trend in Elvis movies – low-budget, quickie-filmed, light-weight fluff. Some even call it his worse movie. I don’t care. I like Kissin’ Cousins for one reason: Yvonne Craig.

Elvis Kissing Yvonne in Kissin' Cousins

I don’t think any other actress sizzled on screen with Elvis as hot as she did. Those two radiated lust in Kissin’ Cousins and also in It Happened at The World’s fair.

Elvis Kissing Yvonne Craig in World's Fair

 

Although Kissin’ Cousins was filmed after Viva Las Vegas, it was released first on March 6, 1964, making it Elvis’ 14th movie. Sources say it was filmed in three weeks at a cost of only $800,000. By comparison, Viva cost $4,000,000 and took two months to film. Guess which one made more profit for the studio, Elvis, and Col. Parker. After Kissin’ Cousins, the dye was cast for future Elvis movies.

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Movie Posters:

 Poster

 Kissin Cousins 3

 

Shots from the Movie:

Elvis as Josh and Jody

Elvis Presley plays a dual role in Kissin’ Cousins. Dark-haired Elvis plays Air Force officer Josh Morgan, but as blond-haired Jodie Tatum, he appears as a girl-chasin’ mountain Romeo. Josh is assigned the task of persuading the Tatums, his distant relatives on his mother’s side, to sell their Tennessee mountain land for use as a missile site.

 

Yvonne and Pam Standing in Jeep

Jodie’s two cousins are Selena and Azalea Tatum, played by Pam Austin and Yvonne Craig. Both vie for Josh’s attention, but Azalea wins out about halfway through. Josh pulls off a little match-making with one of his Air Force buddies and Selena, getting her out of the competition.

 

Tatum Girls Painting Their Nails

Most Elvis movies have pretty girls parading around in scanty bikinis, but they are usually on a beach in Hawaii or Florida. In Kissin’ Cousins we get them in the Smokey Mountain woods and inside the Tatum cabin.

 

Lobby Cards:

 Lobby Card 1

Lobby Card 2

 Lobby Card 3

 Lobby Card 4

 Lobby Card 5

 Lobby Card 6

 Lobby Card 7

 Lobby Card 8

 

Publicity Shots:

 Elvis Picking Up Yvonne and Pam

Oops, there’s those bathing suits again.

 

Elvis Running with Yvonne and Pam

Hey, this is starting to be a trend.

 

Elvis With Lovlies in Kissin' Cousins

Come on. Is this the only kind of publicity shots they took? (No, just the ones I chose)

Elvis as Jodie and Josh in Kissin' Cousins

Okay, okay. Here a little trick photography of the two characters Elvis played.

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Back Stage Photo:

Elvis On Set With Pam and Yvonne

If you study this photo for a moment, it appears Yvonne might have had some designs on Elvis away from the script, too.

 

Foreign Posters:

 

French Poster

French Poster

German Poster

German Poster

I used Google Translate to look up the translation of this title to English. They said it is The Wild Broads of Tennessee. Seriously – check it out.

 

Italian Poster

Italian Poster

This one translated to The Mount of Venus.

 

Strange Language

I don’t know how to type this title into Google Translate, so who knows what it means.

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Kissing the Co-Stars:

 Elvis Kissing Cynthia Pepper

Both of Elvis’ characters wound up with the girl. Here, Jodie is kissing Army Corporal Midge Riley, played by Cynthia Pepper.

Elvis Kissing Yvonne Craig in Kissin' Cousins

And Josh about to lock lips with Azalea. But you have to go back to It Happened at the World’s Fair for the best kiss between Elvis and Yvonne Craig.

Elvis kissing Yvonne Craig in World's Fair

Well, that’s it. Did I mention that I really like Yvonne Craig?

 

© 2014   Philip R Arnold, Original Elvis Blogmeister, All Rights Reserved www.ElvisBlog.net

 

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