Elvis Presley was a hugely influential performer with one of the most distinctive singing voices of anybody. He embarked on a film career consisting of 33 films from 1956 to 1969, films that did well at the box-office but mostly panned critically (especially his later films) and while he was a highly charismatic performer he was never considered a great actor.
As far as Elvis films go, 'Easy Come, Easy Go' really isn't one of Elvis' best. It is nowhere near on the same level as 'King Creole', 'Flaming Star', 'Jailhouse Rock', 'Viva Las Vegas' and 'Loving You'. In fact, am of the opinion that most of his late 50s-early 60s films were decent, some better than that, with 'Kissin' Cousins' being his first mediocre at beat effort. At the same time, 'Easy Come, Easy Go', while in the weaker end in his films ranking, is more watchable (if only just) than 'Harum Scarum', 'Paradise Hawaiian Style' and his later films.
There are things that keep 'Easy Come, Easy Go' afloat. The supporting do quite well with what they have. Frank McHugh comes off best in a sincere and playful performance, while Pat Harrington has some amusement and Dodie Marshall some charm.
Didn't think hugely of the songs this time around, but "I'll Take Love" and the title song are lovely and fun. The underwater sequences are quite nicely shot and hold more attention than other areas of the story.
However, John Rich directs strangely unsteadily and like he was merely fulfilling some kind of contract. Got the same feeling too with Elvis, his earlier performances were much more charismatic and enthusiastic with a grittiness and emotion too but from mid-60s onwards he clearly started looking bored and uninterested and like he didn't trust or even like his material. While not as badly as his previous four films or so or later, that is the sense one gets here watching Elvis in 'Easy Come, Easy Go'. Elsa Lanchester is pretty much wasted in a scene that is as far from worthy of her talent as one can get.
Not that one can blame them entirely for lack of interest, when the material is barely passable at best and sometimes risible, catering solely seemingly to hard-core Elvis completests. While the songs generally serve a point instead of being thrown in, they are not particularly well recorded and with rather poor lyrics. "Yoga is as Yoga Does" has often been considered one of the worst scenes in an Elvis film, and one can definitely see why, very poorly written, garishly shot and Elvis clearly looks demeaned.
Story here is virtually unfathomable and like it was made up as it went along. Very rarely is there any punch, with so much of the action being tentative. Worse is the writing, especially in the humour with the embarrassing hippie scenes and jokes that would have been out of date and tasteless even in 1967 let alone now (did they really need to plumb to lower depths to integrate anti-beatnik jokes?). Apart from the underwater sequences, while there are cheaper-looking Elvis films out there the production values do have a low-budget made for TV-look to them and cheapened further by the nauseating garishness.
Overall, not awful but not particularly good, if it weren't for the few things that kept things afloat 'Easy Come, Easy Go' would have sunk without much of a trace. 4/10 Bethany Cox
As far as Elvis films go, 'Easy Come, Easy Go' really isn't one of Elvis' best. It is nowhere near on the same level as 'King Creole', 'Flaming Star', 'Jailhouse Rock', 'Viva Las Vegas' and 'Loving You'. In fact, am of the opinion that most of his late 50s-early 60s films were decent, some better than that, with 'Kissin' Cousins' being his first mediocre at beat effort. At the same time, 'Easy Come, Easy Go', while in the weaker end in his films ranking, is more watchable (if only just) than 'Harum Scarum', 'Paradise Hawaiian Style' and his later films.
There are things that keep 'Easy Come, Easy Go' afloat. The supporting do quite well with what they have. Frank McHugh comes off best in a sincere and playful performance, while Pat Harrington has some amusement and Dodie Marshall some charm.
Didn't think hugely of the songs this time around, but "I'll Take Love" and the title song are lovely and fun. The underwater sequences are quite nicely shot and hold more attention than other areas of the story.
However, John Rich directs strangely unsteadily and like he was merely fulfilling some kind of contract. Got the same feeling too with Elvis, his earlier performances were much more charismatic and enthusiastic with a grittiness and emotion too but from mid-60s onwards he clearly started looking bored and uninterested and like he didn't trust or even like his material. While not as badly as his previous four films or so or later, that is the sense one gets here watching Elvis in 'Easy Come, Easy Go'. Elsa Lanchester is pretty much wasted in a scene that is as far from worthy of her talent as one can get.
Not that one can blame them entirely for lack of interest, when the material is barely passable at best and sometimes risible, catering solely seemingly to hard-core Elvis completests. While the songs generally serve a point instead of being thrown in, they are not particularly well recorded and with rather poor lyrics. "Yoga is as Yoga Does" has often been considered one of the worst scenes in an Elvis film, and one can definitely see why, very poorly written, garishly shot and Elvis clearly looks demeaned.
Story here is virtually unfathomable and like it was made up as it went along. Very rarely is there any punch, with so much of the action being tentative. Worse is the writing, especially in the humour with the embarrassing hippie scenes and jokes that would have been out of date and tasteless even in 1967 let alone now (did they really need to plumb to lower depths to integrate anti-beatnik jokes?). Apart from the underwater sequences, while there are cheaper-looking Elvis films out there the production values do have a low-budget made for TV-look to them and cheapened further by the nauseating garishness.
Overall, not awful but not particularly good, if it weren't for the few things that kept things afloat 'Easy Come, Easy Go' would have sunk without much of a trace. 4/10 Bethany Cox