Love is in the Air: Girl Happy

GIRL HAPPY (US, 1964)

Original title: Girl Happy

Filming date:

August - September 1964

Release date:

April 7, 1965

Running time:

96min

Production company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer

Budget:

US$ 1 million

Box office:

US$ 3,3 million

Main cast:

Elvis Presley

Shelley Fabares

Harold Stone
Gary Crosby
Joby Baker
Nita Talbot
Soundtrack:
"Do the Clam" (single)
[b/w "You'll Be Gone"]
(February 9, 1965)
"Girl Happy" (LP)
(March 1, 1965)
"Puppet On a String" (single)
[b/w "Wooden Heart"]
(October 26, 1965)
"Girl Happy" (CD)
(FTD - 2003/2009)

Girl Happy is Elvis' seventeenth film. In it, Elvis and his band are prevented from spending Spring Break in trendy Fort Lauderdale, but find the perfect opportunity when the owner of the club where they work needs someone to watch his daughter during the holidays and protect her from the dangers of male advances.

Once again Elvis is put in a production with beaches, women in bikinis, a terrible script and even worse songs. In addition to these factors, the Colonel and MGM decided that the character of Elvis should have a band with three more members to attract the British market, which at the time was experiencing Beatlemania.

Due to his work on other productions and recording the soundtracks, Elvis had little time to film his scenes. Thus, the singer was not able to go to the locations and whenever he appears in a hotel, beach or any setting, he actually filmed his part later, using the chromakey technique.

The sound editing during the music scenes suffered the most. The songs were all sped up, leaving Elvis with a high pitched and extremely strange voice. In addition, excerpts from other films were used to fill space between scenes.

But overall, the film didn't have a bad reception. The production managed to raise almost two and a half times its budget and even won a Laurel for being the fourth best musical film of 1965.

SOUNDTRACK

Recorded in 3 sessions at Radio Recorders, the soundtrack is made up of 11 songs. "Do the Clam" was released as a single on February 9, 1965, with "You'll Be Gone" - a leftover from 1962 - as the B-side.

The LP with the entire soundtrack, plus "You'll Be Gone" as an extra, was released on March 1, 1965, although this date is disputed (some records cite March 26). The most successful song from this album was "Puppet On a String", sold as a single featuring "Wooden Heart" on the B-side on October 26, 1965.

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SUPPORTING CAST

SHELLEY FABARES

Michelle Ann Marie Fabares was born on January 19, 1944 in Santa Monica, California. Niece of the multi-talented Nannette Fabray, she began acting at age 3 and did her first series at 10.

At the age of 14, Fabares starred as her best-known character, Mary Stone, Donna Reed's eldest daughter, on the sitcom "The Donna Reed Show" (1958-1966). Her great success led to a music contract that generated 2 albums and a number 1 song on the 1962 pop chart.

From 1963 onwards, Shelley dedicated herself more to cinema, having participated in three films alongside Elvis Presley ("Girl Happy", "Spinout" and "Clambake"). From the 1970s to the 1990s, the actress participated in series such as "The Fantasy Island" (1977-1984) and played the second character for which she is best known in "Coach" (1989-1997).

Currently (2024), the 80-year-old actress is retired and lives in California.

HAROLD STONE

Born on March 3, 1913, Harold Hochstein began his career on Broadway in 1939. The actor appeared in six successful plays until 1946, when he got his first film break with "The Blue Dahlia". From 1948 to 1965, Stone played small but memorable roles in series and films such as "The Hartmans" (1949), "The Harder They Fall" (1956), "The Wrong Man" (1956), "Spartacus" (1960) and "Girl Happy" (1965).

From the second half of the 1960s until his retirement in 1986, Harold Stone participated in series such as "I Spy" (1965-1968), "Get Smart!" (1965-1970), "Griff" (1973-1974) and "Charlie's Angels" (1976-1981).

In 1986 the actor retired and went to live in California with his family. Stone passed away of natural causes on November 18, 2005, at the age of 92.

GARY CROSBY

Son of Bing Crosby, one of Elvis' greatest critics, Gary was born in Los Angeles on June 27, 1933. The actor and singer did not complete his studies and dedicated his entire life to music, forming with three of his six brothers the group The Crosby Boys.

In 1954 Gary got a TV show that aired while his father's was between seasons. In the late 1950s he was hired by 20th Century Fox, where his biggest success was in "Holiday For Lovers". His last film in cinema was "Girl Happy" with Elvis.

Crosby participated in numerous series over the next two decades, until his father's passing in 1983. That year he wrote "Going My Own Way", an autobiography in which he revealed his struggle with alcoholism, his father's physical and emotional abuse throughout the family and his mother's alcoholism as a result.

Gary retired in 1993 and lived in Burbank, where he passed away of lung cancer on August 24, 1995, at age 62.

JOBY BAKER

Born Joseph N. Baker in Montreal, Canada, on March 26, 1934, Joby had difficulties in his early years as an actor and only gained the opportunity to act in 1958, in a sketch on "The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show".

His career revolved around small roles in series in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as a prolific association with Walt Disney Studios, of which his greatest success came with "Blackbeard's Ghost" (1968). Joby had met Elvis in 1961 through his then wife, actress Joan Blackman, and with that he got a cameo in "Girl Happy" (1965).

The following years saw more supporting roles in series and films, with his only lead acting credit coming in the short-lived series "Good Morning World" (1967 - 1968).

The actor retired in 1984 and currently (2024), aged 90, lives in Canada.

NITA TALBOT

Anita Sokol was born in New York on August 8, 1930. Her film career began in 1949 when she appeared as a model in "It's a Great Feeling". Of her films in the 1950s and 1960s, "Girl Happy" is perhaps the best known.

Her biggest appearances were on TV in famous series such as "Perry Mason" (1957 - 1966), "Gunsmoke" (1955 - 1975), "Hogan's Heroes" (1965 - 1971), "Kolchak: The Night Stalker" (1974 - 1975) and the soap opera "General Hospital" (1963 -). Her last work was lending her voice to the character Anastasia Hardy in the animated series "Spider-Man" in 1997.

Currently (2024), the actress still lives in New York and is 93 years old.