Clambake (1967)

Elvis goes to Florida to water ski and compete in a boat race

The rich son (Presley) of an oil tycoon (James Gregory) takes off to Florida. On a lark, he trades places with an amusing man of low status (Will Hutchins) to see if he can find a woman who loves him just for himself rather than for his wealth. Shelley Fabares plays his love interest, Bill Bixby his rival and Gary Merrill a boat entrepreneur.

“Clambake” (1967) was Elvis’ 25th movie and he would only do six more before leaving cinema for good. After the release of this film he only had 10 more years to live.

It’s a fun flick and shows that not all of his late 60’s movies sucked. While it’s not on the level of “Blue Hawaii” (1961), "Kid Galahad" (1962), “Roustabout” (1964) and “Viva Las Vegas" (1964), it’s entertaining as an innocuous half-serious, half-campy drama/musical. It’s certainly more compelling than “Fun in Acapulco” (1963), “Kissin’ Cousins” (1964) and “Spinout” (1966).

Elvis’ sidekick Will Hutchins helps make this one so fun and it’s always good to see Bixby and Merrill. Meanwhile Fabares is winsome, but too shapeless to hold my interest. On that note, there are several notable women in the periphery, like Angelique Pettyjohn and Marj Dusay.

The clambake song & dance scene is a highlight in a swinging 60’s way; it’s just all-around well done and iconic of the era. The playground sequence with the kids and the quirky song "Confidence" is cute and warmhearted.

Elvis started to struggle with his weight around this time and wasn’t happy about doing musical fluff when he wanted to do more serious stuff. To add insult to injury, the less-than-stellar performance at the box office ensured that this was the last movie he could insist on his $1 million price tag. Despite all this, Elvis looked bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. There’s no doubt he still had his charisma.

The film runs 1 hour, 39 minutes, with the second-unit scenes shot in Miami, the Florida Keys & the Everglades, Florida, while all the Elvis scenes were done at Universal Studios & Van Nuys, California.

GRADE: B-/B