It Happened At The World's Fair

Released April 3rd 1963

Ted Richmond Productions / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer   105 minutes

Produced by Ted Richmond

Directed by Norman Taurog

Music by Leith Stevens

Written by Si Rose and Seaman Jacobs

Cast:

Elvis Presley (Mike Edwards, cropduster pilot), Joan O'Brien (Diane Warren, World's Fair nurse), Gary Lockwood (Danny Burke, Mike's business partner), Vicky Tiu (Sue-Lin, a young girl befriended by Mike), Yvonne Craig (Dorothy Johnson), H. M. Wynant (Vince Bradley, Danny's crooked associate), Kam Tong (Walter Ling, Sue-Lin's uncle), Edith Atwater (Miss Steuben), Guy Raymond (Barney Thatcher), Dorothy Green (Miss Ettinger), Red West (Fred - uncredited), Joe Esposito (Carnival Man - uncredited), Kurt Russell (Young boy - uncredited).

Story:

Mike Edwards and his partner Danny Burke run a crop-dusting business until Danny's gambling debts force them to sell their plane, Bessie. If they can't come up with the money in twelve days, Bessie will be auctioned off to the highest bidder. Hitching a ride to Seattle with a Chinese man and his young niece they find themselves at the World's Fair where Mike falls for a nurse. He helps her to look after the young Chinese girl Sue-Ling, who has become separated from her uncle, while Danny proceeds to get them all involved in a money-making smuggling racket.

Notes:

Working titles: 'Mister, Will You Marry Me?', 'Take Me Out to the Fair' and 'Take Me to the Fair'.
Kurt Russell appeared in an uncredited speaking role as a boy who Elvis pays to kick him, giving him a chance to see Nurse Warren. Thirteen years later Russell was to play Elvis in the television film 'Elvis - The Movie'. He also provided Elvis' voice in 'Forrest Gump' and played an Elvis impersonator in '3000 Miles to Graceland'. Vicky Tiu grew up to become First Lady of Hawaii when she married Governor Benjamin J. Cayetano.

Songs:

Beyond The Bend / Relax / Take Me To The Fair / I'm Falling In Love Tonight / One Broken Heart For Sale / The Cotton Candy Man / A World Of Our Own / Happy Ending / How Would You Like To Be

Fun In Acapulco

Released November 27th 1963 (Europe from December 1963)

Hal Wallis Productions / Paramount Pictures      97 minutes

Produced by Hal B. Wallis

Directed by Richard Thorpe

Music by Joseph J. LilleyLeith Stevens

Written by Allan Weiss

Story:

Elvis plays Mike Winwood, who is fired from his job on a boat in Acapulco due to the bratty daughter of the owner. A young boy called Rauol, a waif shoeshine boy who seems to know a 'cousin' in every important position in town, helps him find work as a part-time lifeguard and a cabaret singer at a plush tourist hotel where he finds himself being pursued by a passionate lady bullfighter and a gorgeous ex-princess. It turns out that Mike used to be a trapeze artist who was involved in an accident and has come to Acapulco to take the high dive from 'La Quebrada' in an effort to get rid of the fear of heights that has afflicted him since. A rival lifeguard and champion diver has a mind for revenge when Mike takes some of his hours and attracts his woman. He decides to get even by setting Mike up to perform a death-defying dive off the 136-foot cliffs of La Quebrada.

Notes:

Working title: 'Vacation in Acapulco'. Although some exterior scenes were shot in Acapulco, Elvis' scenes were shot as back-projections in Hollywood. He never went to Acapulco. The Beatles went to see this movie at a drive-in theatre in Miami while on their first U.S. tour. Elvis chose to do many of his own stunts and actually did the opening scene, swinging from a high trapeze without a net. As a precaution, the studio scheduled the stunt to be performed at the end of production when all of his other scenes had been completed. One stunt Elvis did not perform was the thrilling 136-foot dive off the cliffs at La Quebrada.

Songs:

Acapulco / Viva el Amor / I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here / Life Begins When You're In Mexico / El Torro / Margherita / Pedro The Bull / No Room To Rhumba In A Sports Car / Bossanova / You Can't Say No / Guadalajara