Musicals Blog

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.