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Frankie and Johnny (1966) were sweethearts, blah blah blabbity blah ... We're nearing the end of our 1966 film festival (part one, at least) and subjected ourselves to this Elvis movie last night. It was filmed entirely on a soundstage, so the sets were actually lamer than those on, say, I Dream of Jeannie or The Brady Bunch, which made the Civil War-era riverboat setting less than convincing. I kept expecting to see some huge computer or green station wagon in the background. Happily, the filmmakers were not that careless.

The acting was decent, but no one did such a great job as to upstage Elvis. Elvis plays Johnny, a riverboat singer and gambling addict. He has a lady, Frankie, who is a very forgettable blonde type. Much more memorable are the funny drunk ladies Abigail and Mitzi (a redhead and a brunette, in case you're keeping score). Trouble gets stirred up when a gypsy tells Elvis he needs a lucky redhead to win at roulette, and immediately the lovely redhead Nellie Bly shows up. (I always forget who the real Nellie Bly was, but it sure seems like she was fictionalized a lot.) Well, Frankie gets jealous when Johnny is hanging around with Nellie and ... well, you know the song. It goes down like that, but with a nifty twist.

This movie was okay, but if it had been longer than 87 minutes I might have lost my mind. None of the songs does justice to Elvis, and he spends much of his singing time walking in place, rather than dancing, which is really dorky-looking. It almost feels like Elvis is in a community theater production of The Music Man or something. Also, Elvis' pants are disconcertingly high-waisted.

My favorite part of this movie is when Harry Morgan (later of M*A*S*H) sings. He plays Elvis' musician pal, and when he sings, it's like some frog is hiding in the corner of the room singing and Harry is just mouthing along.