Elvis Movies - Roustabout
by Claire J Rottenberg
Although most Elvis movie musicals of the 1960s had
silly plots, terrible songs and wasted time on car or
boat races, a few of his films were better than the
typical Elvis film. Some of these movies had
exceptionally talented co-stars, reasonably
well-developed plots or better than average songs.
This week, I'll profile some of these films and give
my reasons for why I think they are better than most
of Elvis' movies of the 1960s. My first choice is
"Roustabout."
"Roustabout" was released in 1964, right in the
middle of some of the worst of Elvis' films. It had
one of Elvis' best co-stars, Barbara Stanwyck, who,
as always, gave a great performance. The film also
co-starred Leif Erickson who was an above average
character actor. Jack Albertson, another good
character actor, had a bit part in
"Roustabout."
In addition to very good acting by Stanwyck and
Erickson, the story has more of a plot than most of
the Elvis films of the 1960s, and the plot is not
centered on Elvis' character. This shift in focus
from just a "boy chases girl" story makes
"Roustabout" a more interesting movie.
The villains in "Roustabout" are more complex and
less two-dimensional than the villains in other Elvis
movies. In "Roustabout," the characters have
realistic motivations that drive their "sleazy"
actions. Even Elvis' character has more depth and
complexity than the characters he played in his other
films in the 1960s.
"Roustabout" also has better songs than most of
Elvis' other movies. Particularly enjoyable are "One
Track Mind and One Track Heart" and
"Big
Love, Big Heartache."
The song "Little
Egypt"
was used by Elvis as a production number in his 1968
comeback TV special.
In my opinion, "Roustabout" is a better than average
Elvis movie because it has:
(1) very
good acting from talented co-stars Barbara Stanwyck
and Leif Erickson
(2) a plot that is focused on a realistic situation
rather than on Elvis' character
(3) realistic
characters with human complexities and
flaws
(4) better
than average songs
If you haven't seen "Roustabout," why not view it
tonight. You might be surprised at how good it
is.