Spinout (1966)

In this Elvis outing not only does he sing lead in a band, but he also drives race cars!Two ladies are out walk down the aisle with Elvis, which one will win him over? Or will Elvis win the race and avoid the marriages?Cute, but at some point all the Elvis movies seem like a carousel. Nonetheless enjoyable!

In this film, Elvis "does battle" with Shelley Fabares (again) and two other women who are determined to marry him. In fact, the entire film is about whether or not Elvis will wed. His bandmates want him to stay single so that their band will remain intact.The film includes fast cars, of course, and some of them are impressive, but the big road race scene feels like a cartoon.Carl Betz, who plays Shelley Fabares' father in "The Donna Reed Show" from 1958-1966, plays her father in this film as well.Sometimes I cringe when films include those scenes on the beach or around the pool where bunches of bikini-clad girls go-go dance, but it did not bother me in this film. The dancing styles are like a time capsule of current choreography.Some of the supporting cast are used for (more) comic relief. The comedy is fairly sophomoric, but Jack Mullaney and Jimmy Hawkins have some genuinely funny moments.Does anyone care if Elvis marries or who he marries? Not really. Well, maybe his young female fans who want to carry the illusion of his availability. Maybe that's why the film ends as it does.

Elvis Presley's 22nd film (from the year England won the World Cup!!) is far from one of his best, although at least he had restored his good look, looking slimmer and fresher than in a few of his previous films from "Paradise, Hawaiian Style". It's ruined, in truth, by an annoying support cast consisting of three of Elvis (Mike McCoy)' bandmates (the two guys are terrible actors) who fake - badly - their playing of instruments. The annoying girl on the drums doesn't convince you at all that she's really playing them. The two leading ladies chasing Mike (Shelley Fabaras and Diane McBain) are typically beautiful and both are hellbent on making him theirs, leaving him with a tough decision to make. For most of the movie, his choice looks obvious. Irritated by spoilt Cynthia (Shelley Fabaras) who gets her millionaire father to force Mike into performing a song for her for her birthday AFTER she's already ran him off the road at the start of the film. The highlight of the film is a race at the end of it, that pits Elvis in a clunker substitute car after having his own race car stolen by another annoying supporting cast member - the millionaires butler - and the millionaire himself in his new "supercar" the 'Fox 5'...despite starting about 10 minutes behind everybody else, Mike catches the field...and of course takes the chequered flag first...right at the end. Never doubted him for a second! All that remains then, is for the three single ladies looking for love to finally land there ideal man...but who gets who I hear you ask? Well I could tell you...but I've already told you the outcome of the race, I've got to keep something in suspense for you...

This movie was released in a year that wasn't a particularly good one for Elvis Presley but it's still, in my opinion, an excellent film. I like it because I think it has some very funny moments and an awesome movie sound track. Very much enjoyed from start to finish.