Double Reps: Double Trouble

DOUBLE TROUBLE (US, 1967)

Original title: Double Trouble

Filming date:

May - June 1966

Release date:

April 5, 1967

Running time:

92min

Production company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Budget:

US$ 2 million

Box office:

US$ 1,6 million

Main cast:

Elvis Presley

Annete Day

John Williams

Yvonne Romain
Chips Rafferty
Michael Murphy

Soundtrack:

"Long Legged Girl (With the Short Dress On)" (single)
[b/w "That's Someone You Never Forget"]

(April 25, 1967)

"Double Trouble" (LP)
(June 1, 1967)
"Double Trouble" (CD)
(FTD - October 2004)

Double Trouble is Elvis' 24th film. In it, singer Guy Lambert is pursued by thieves, murderers and mysterious girls when his band tours Europe.

With his film career in the doldrums, it was to be expected that Elvis would have major attacks of conscience. His contractual obligations were still strictly followed, as he did not want to jeopardize anyone's job, but his dissatisfaction with the material was increasingly visible.

To make matters worse, "Double Trouble" didn't change much from previous productions. Elvis was a singer who would win over any woman, but he was in love with one who didn't want him; confusion, fighting, singing and uninteresting lyrics followed the same old formula. There was a bit more action, but as Elvis himself would later say, "I wasn't exactly a James Bond in this movie. But then, no one ever asked Sean Connery to sing a song while dodging bullets."

The seventh film in the collaboration between Elvis and Norman Taurog had some good moments, but they were all behind the camera. For example, Annette Day, whose only work was this one, ended up winning a Cadillac from Elvis as a reward for her participation in what he considered a disaster; she gave the car to her brother. Early in filming, a fan gave Elvis a jacket as a gift, and he asked her to watch the film very carefully; the jacket is among the clothes in the suitcase that his character carries.

Although some scenes were filmed on location in Europe, Elvis never left Hollywood to act in them, instead doing his performances in front of a chromakey. This was due to budgetary issues, since Elvis' fee was 1/3 of the film's (US$ 750,000) and Parker did not want to deal with all the pressures that the trip would involve.

"Double Trouble" opened in American theaters to little notice just 14 days after "Easy Come, Easy Go" The film failed to make back its budget (coming in at $400,000 below; more than "Easy Come, Easy Go'"'s $100,000) and ranked 58th in box office receipts in 1967 ("Easy Come, Easy Go" was 50th).


SOUNDTRACK

Elvis usually insisted on working in the comfortable confines of a recording studio and avoiding the big movie soundstages, but MGM executives had their eye on budgets and insisted on moving soundtrack recording to their own property.

A frustrated Elvis abided by the decision, but the final straw was having to sing "Old MacDonald"; he stormed out of the recording session after recording a short take of "Long Legged Girl (With the Short Dress On)," which would be released as a single in late March 1967 and would end the year at No. 63 on the Billboard Hot 100.

After the excitement of "How Great Thou Art", recorded in May 1966, Presley was forced back into the depressing routine of producing forgettable songs for forgettable movies. Even the release date chosen for the "Double Trouble" LP would prove unfortunate - the same day that a Beatles landmark, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", hit stores.

Nine songs were recorded for the soundtrack between June 28 and 30, 1966, with re-recordings on July 14 at Radio Recorders Studios in Hollywood; they had a total duration of 17:11 minutes, too short for a standard LP.

To bring the running time up to the required 20 minutes, three tracks recorded for the "lost album" at the May 1963 sessions were added to the work; two of them ("Never Ending" and "Blue River") had already been issued as singles, and the third, "Tell Me Why", was already eight years old. "It Won't Be Long" was recorded for the film but not used.

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SUPPORTING CAST

ANNETTE DAY

Annette Day was born in London on November 4, 1947. The daughter of shopkeepers, she was discovered by one of the MGM producers who was on vacation in England and entered the family store. Her entire film career consists of this one work with Elvis, an opportunity she won in a draw to choose the King of Rock's production partner.

Nothing else is known about the actress, but fans say that Annette is alive and lives in Telford, West Midlands, England, and makes sporadic appearances at Elvis gatherings.

JOHN WILLIAMS

Born in Chalfont St. Giles, Buckinghamshire, England, on April 15, 1903, Williams began acting on Broadway in 1924 and made his Hollywood debut six years later in "The Chumps". During his career, he made more than 40 films and also appeared as a guest star in 40 other television shows and series. His most famous role was as Chief Inspector Hubbard in Alfred Hitchcock's "Dial M For Murder" (1954), which made him one of Hitchcock's most sought-after actors in the "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" series (1955–1965).

Outside of his film career, Williams gained fame as the star of a television commercial for a four-LP set of Columbia Records classic music, which became the most widely played on television worldwide, running for 13 years (1971–84). His last appearance was in the series "Battlestar Galactica" (1978).

The actor passed away on May 5, 1983, at the age of 80, due to a heart disease.

YVONNE ROMAIN

Romain was born in London on February 17, 1938, and appeared in children's plays from an early age, making her British film debut in her late teens. Her voluptuous figure and exotic appearance earned her supporting roles in Italian and Spanish films before she became a British horror icon in productions such as "Corridors of Bood" (1958), "Circus of Horrors" (1960), "The Curse of the Werewolf" (1961), "Captain Clegg" (1962) and "Devil Doll" (1964).

In 1966, Romain moved to Los Angeles and starred opposite Ann-Margret in "The Swinger" and Elvis in "Double Trouble", which she deemed "a terrible film". After a hiatus, she emerged from semi-retirement in the thriller "The Last of Sheila" (1973), her last film role. She later turned down a seven-year contract with Federico Fellini because it would have meant working away from her husband and son. The actress is 87 years old (2025) and lives in London.

CHIPS RAFFERTY

John William Pilbean Goffage was born in Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia, on March 26, 1909. He worked in various fields until he was 29 before making his film debut in 1938, but his fame came two years later with "Forty Thousand Horsemen". The following year he married Ellen Kathleen Jameson and joined the RAAF as a troop entertainer, being discharged in 1945 with the rank of Flying Officer. "The Overlanders" (1946) made him a world star under contract to the Rank Organisation.

Chips ventured as a producer from 1953 to 1960, returning to acting only after a few failures. His last two films were "Double Trouble" and the adventure "Kona Coast" (1968).

The actor passed away after a heart attack on May 27, 1971, at the age of 62.

NORMAN ROSSINGTON

Born in Liverpool, England, on December 24, 1928, Norman dropped out of school at the age of 14 and lived aimlessly before enlisting in the Royal Air Force and becoming interested in acting. He made his screen debut in 1957 with the TV series "The Army Game" and the film "Keep it Clean", both absolute British hits. His greatest works are seen in "A Hard Day's Night" (1964), with The Beatles, and "Double Trouble", with Elvis, and is known as the only actor to work under both names.

In 1983 he appeared in the cult horror film "The House of the Long Shadows", with Christopher Lee, Vincent Price, Peter Cushing and John Carradine, also becoming known for being one of the only actors to work with all four horror legends.

Rossington retired in 1991 and passed away in Manchester on 19 January 1999, aged 70, after a six-month battle with cancer.

MICHAEL MURPHY

Born on May 5, 1938 in Los Angeles, California, Michael George Murphy graduated from the University of California, served in the U.S. Navy, and taught at University High School in West Los Angeles before deciding to pursue a career as an actor.

After a few small roles in series such as "Combat!" (1962-1967) and "Hogan's Heroes" (1965-1971), among others, Murphy had his first major film role in "Double Trouble" with Elvis. His career continued to alternate between major and minor roles on TV and in the movies until the mid-1980s.

His greatest successes would come from 1986 onwards, with "Salvador", "Shocker" (1989), "Batman Returns" (1992) and "Magnolia" (1999), in addition to the acclaimed series "Tanner '88" (1988) and its sequel "Tanner On Tanner" (2004). The actor is 86 years old (2025) and continues to make special appearances.