Year: 1964
Director: John Rich
Country: US
Language: English
Studio execs, his manager Col. Tom Parker and Elvis Presley himself was worried about how his music and movies would do in the face of the "British Invasion", a period in time in the 60's when British musicians like The Beatles, The Who and The Rolling Stones took over the American music scene. Surprisingly, Roustabout reached #1 on the billboard charts during this time which was quite an accomplishment.
Charlie Rogers (Elvis Presley) is a leather-jacketed biker who's fired from a singing engagement after getting into a fight with a group of college toughs. While riding his cycle to the next gig, an irate dad runs him off the road when he flirts with his daughter. He's forced to hook up with a traveling carnival until his bike can be fixed.
Roustabout can be placed somewhere in the middle between Elvis’s best and worst feature films. The carnival setting was new, but Elvis reprised the basic role that had worked best for him in the past. In the first six of his seven movies he had played an angry youngster who wanted to rebel against the world. This role was perfect for him in his 20's, but here he was 30 and the role was getting a little bit stale.
Decked out in black leather and sporting a perpetual sneer, Elvis’s character had the bad boy look down pat. Indeed even though he is older and his roles are getting a little stale the man still has quite the charisma and sexual energy. The script is problematic as its loaded with cliches and a bit paint by the numbers, but the energetic music as well as the sexy dames keep the audience from nodding off.
Though not quite sophisticated, Roustabout is a fun, entertaining, and engaging picture that will have audiences humming the tunes of many of its songs.
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