Year: 1965
Director: Norman Taurog
Country: US
Language: English
Considering this picture was made well into Elvis' Hollywood career, it might be surprising that Tickle Me (1965) marked several firsts for The King of Rock. It was the only Presley movie produced by Allied Artists, a studio best known at the time for making “B” comedies and exploitation films.
Second, Tickle Me was Elvis’s first straight comedy featuring nothing even close to resembling drama. Finally, it was the first and only Presley film without at least one original song.
Elvis is a singing rodeo rider who drifts into an expensive dude ranch patronized by wealthy glamour girls. The owner, Vera Radford, hires Elvis as a stable man.
Tickle Me has nine musical numbers, all taken from soundtracks of earlier films. Thus the songs themselves are wonderful, although very few fit into the actual picture. Much of the tunes come out of nowhere. Elvis inexplicably bursts into song a number of times while working as a ranch hand. Course it helps that a great number of scantily clad women join in for the dancing.
The film was released just six weeks after Elvis' previous picture. It was also made on a really small budget wherein the majority of the money went to The King himself. Needless to say, Tickle Me wasn't a critical hit with even the biggest Elvis supporters. New York Times writer Howard Thompson was clearly loosing patience with his icon's lack of logical direction.
Jocelyn Lane plays Elvis' love interest and, as with almost every Elvis girl, she has great chemistry with her star and has a tremendous amount of sex appeal. Perhaps the best thing that can be said about this film is that there is a fine amount of gorgeous babes onscreen.
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