Child Scene Stealers in Elvis Movies - Part II
by Claire J Rottenberg
Elvis made four films that co-starred young children.
In an earlier post, I discussed the first two of
these films, "It Happened at the World's Fair" and
"Fun in Acapulco," both made and released in 1963.
Several years later, Elvis' films once again featured
adorable young co-stars, first, Donna Butterworth in
"Paradise Hawaiian Style" in 1966 and then Victoria
Meyerink in "Speedway," filmed in 1967 but not
released until 1968.
Paradise Hawaiian
Donna Butterworth, age 10 when she appeared in
"Paradise Hawaiian Style," was the oldest of Elvis'
co-starring child performers. She began her short
film career the year before, in 1965, with a starring
role in "The Family Jewels." Her acting in that film
had earned Butterworth a Golden Globe award
nomination for Most Promising Female Newcomer.
However, Butterworth's promising career did not last
long. After "Paradise Hawaiian Style," she appeared
for a year on television shows, including several
performances on "Disneyland." She disappeared from TV
shows and films after 1967.
Donna Butterworth was not just a talented actress.
She was also a gifted musical entertainer and she had
the chance to sing in "Paradise Hawaiian Style,"
first in two numbers with Elvis and then in a solo
number singing the well-known song, "Bill Bailey."
She also displayed her dancing talents in the three
numbers. Like other child stars in Elvis movies,
Butterworth played a clever child who manages to
think like an adult.
"Paradise Hawaiian Style," like most of Elvis'
movies, was weak on plot with scenes supplemented by
mostly bad songs. The film begins, as some of his
others did, with a short scene that introduces Elvis'
character and the storyline, and then is followed by
the characteristic Elvis song accompanying the screen
credits.
Elvis' character in "Paradise Hawaiian Style" is not
a particularly nice person. He plays a cad who
romances and uses women and whose romantic escapades
risk his friend's money and future. Of course, in the
end, Elvis changes and becomes a hero who saves his
friend and sticks with one woman.
"Paradise Hawaiian Style," although it has a silly
plot and fair to poor songs, does have some good
scenes. The movie was filmed in Hawaii, much of it at
the Polynesian Cultural Center, and the scenes at the
Center and the beautiful Hawaiian scenery are
enjoyable to view. Donna Butterworth's performance is
also a pleasure to watch, especially when she sings
"Bill Bailey."
Speedway
Victoria Meyerink was already a successful and
well-known child star when she appeared with Elvis in
"Speedway." She began her career at the age of only
four as a guest on Danny Kaye's TV show. She was
adorable and quickly became a favorite of viewers of
the show.
By the time she made "Speedway" with Elvis at the age
of 6-1/2, Meyerink had already appeared in three
movies. She continued acting on a regular basis until
1978. Four years later, at the age of 22, she became
the youngest female film producer with her first
film, "Young Warriors." Since that film, she has
produced at least three others. Of the four child
performers who co-starred with Elvis, Meyerink is the
only one who stayed in the film business.
"Speedway" is one of Elvis' worst movies, with a
silly plot, bad songs and corny dialogue. One trend
in mid-1960s and later Elvis films was to cast him as
a racer, either with cars or boats. This role led to
films with long racing sequences, often using 1/4 to
1/3 of the film's time on races. "Speedway" fits this
formula, and a significant portion of the film is
wasted watching Elvis speeding around a
racetrack.
One of Elvis' co-stars in "Speedway" was Nancy
Sinatra, whose main claim to fame is her famous
father. Unfortunately, she did not inherit his talent
and her acting in the film is poor and her singing
is, at best, fair.
The songs in "Speedway" are typically bad Elvis film
songs. The only exception is "Your
Time Hasn't Come Yet, Baby"
which Elvis sings to Victoria Meyerink and her little
sisters.
Although Victoria Meyerink was adorable in
"Speedway," her performance was not enough to save
the film. Her part was small and she only appeared in
a few scenes in the film. Also, her acting was not as
good as that of Elvis' other child co-stars and not
sufficiently good to offset the film's
weaknesses.
Of the two films reviewed, "Paradise Hawaiian Style"
is worth watching for Elvis' fans, partly due to the
excellent performance of Elvis' child co-star, Donna
Butterworth. On the other hand, "Speedway" is not
saved by Victoria Meyerink's small part and it
remains a film that might only be minimally enjoyable
to car racing fans.