The Trouble with Girls
Encyclopedia
The Trouble with Girls is a 1969
comedy film
starring Elvis Presley
. It was the only Elvis movie to have a subtitle in its name and is an odd mixture of music, comedy, and melodrama. The Trouble with Girls is unique for an Elvis Presley picture because Elvis is on screen for less than half the film. The movie was based on the 1960 novel Chautauqua by Day Keene (1904–1969) and Dwight Vincent Babcock (1909–1979), which was published by Putnam.
town in 1927. A traveling Chautauqua
company arrives in the town, but internal squabbles create friction amidst the troupe. The new manager, Walter Hale (Elvis Presley), is trying to prevent Charlene, the troupe’s “Story Lady” (Marlyn Mason), from recruiting the performers to form a union.
Meanwhile, the town has a scandal following the murder of the local pharmacist Wilby (Dabney Coleman). Although a shady gambler is arrested, Walter realizes that the real killer is Nita (Sheree North), one of Wilby’s employees. Walter successfully gets Nita to confess during a Chautauqua performance, where she makes public the sexual harassment that Wilby directed at her. Nita’s self-defense plea frees the wrongly jailed man, but Charlene is outraged that Walter used the crime to financially enrich the Chautauqua, and attempts to quit.
Walter attempts to reason with Charlene, but when she refuses to give in, he deceives her and uses the local police force to be sure that she must leave on the train with the rest of the troupe.
would write a screenplay of an unpublished story by Mauri Grashin, Day Keene, and Dwight Babcock. By December 1960, with the project titled Chautauqua, MGM was ready to make the film with Glenn Ford. Rumours circulating in Hollywood at the time stated that Presley would co-star with Ford, Hope Lange, and Arthur O'Connell, but nothing came of it and the film was shelved. In 1964, Dick Van Dyke had been signed up to star in a film titled Chautauqua based on a book called Merrily We Roll Along by Gay MacLaren. After several years of failed screenplays and cast changes, MGM sold the rights to Columbia Pictures in May 1965. Columbia also struggled to get the project off the ground, and in April 1968 they sold the rights back to MGM.
This time MGM had lined up Presley to star in the film and production began in the fall of 1968. Chautauqua was the film’s working title, but it was later changed to The Trouble with Girls when the producers worried that audiences would not understand the title or be able to pronounce it. Colonel Tom Parker, Presley’s manager, originally wanted actress Jean Hale for the female lead, but Marlyn Mason was cast as the leading lady at the insistence of director Peter Tewksbury
. Anissa Jones
, best known for playing Buffy on the television program Family Affair
, made her only film appearance in The Trouble with Girls. Jones would precede Presley in death by nearly a year, dying in August 1976.
The Trouble with Girls was released as the bottom half of a double feature, sharing the screen with the Raquel Welch
drama Flareup.
," "Your Time Hasn't Come Yet Baby," "A Little Less Conversation
" — and the Speedway
album all tanked, facing a practically dead recording career. The soundtrack
contained some minor songs, its only distinctive track by Billy Strange
, the producer
of the session, and Mac Davis
.
The recording session took place at United Artist Recorders in Hollywood, California, on October 23, 1968. "Clean Up Your Own Back Yard" by Strange and Davis, their fourth successful submission to a Presley soundtrack in a row, was the only one released commercially, as the single
RCA 47-9747, peaking at #35 on the Billboard Hot 100
. "Almost" would appear in 1970 on the budget album Let's Be Friends
, and his remake of the His Hand in Mine
track "Swing Down Sweet Chariot
" not until 1983 on Elvis: A Legendary Performer Volume 4
. The other songs would wait to be issued until RCA's soundtrack compilations of the 1990s combining released songs and outtakes from multiple films on one compact disc
.
1969 in film
The year 1969 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Last year for prize giving at the Venice Film Festival until it is revived in 1980...
comedy film
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
starring Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
. It was the only Elvis movie to have a subtitle in its name and is an odd mixture of music, comedy, and melodrama. The Trouble with Girls is unique for an Elvis Presley picture because Elvis is on screen for less than half the film. The movie was based on the 1960 novel Chautauqua by Day Keene (1904–1969) and Dwight Vincent Babcock (1909–1979), which was published by Putnam.
Plot
The film takes place in a small IowaIowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
town in 1927. A traveling Chautauqua
Chautauqua
Chautauqua was an adult education movement in the United States, highly popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Chautauqua assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. The Chautauqua brought entertainment and culture for the whole community, with...
company arrives in the town, but internal squabbles create friction amidst the troupe. The new manager, Walter Hale (Elvis Presley), is trying to prevent Charlene, the troupe’s “Story Lady” (Marlyn Mason), from recruiting the performers to form a union.
Meanwhile, the town has a scandal following the murder of the local pharmacist Wilby (Dabney Coleman). Although a shady gambler is arrested, Walter realizes that the real killer is Nita (Sheree North), one of Wilby’s employees. Walter successfully gets Nita to confess during a Chautauqua performance, where she makes public the sexual harassment that Wilby directed at her. Nita’s self-defense plea frees the wrongly jailed man, but Charlene is outraged that Walter used the crime to financially enrich the Chautauqua, and attempts to quit.
Walter attempts to reason with Charlene, but when she refuses to give in, he deceives her and uses the local police force to be sure that she must leave on the train with the rest of the troupe.
Primary cast
- Elvis PresleyElvis PresleyElvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
: Walter Hale - Marlyn MasonMarlyn MasonMarlyn Mason is an American actress.Her acting credits include roles in My Three Sons, Burke's Law, Kentucky Jones, Bonanza, Ben Casey, Dr...
: Charlene - Nicole JaffeNicole JaffeNicole Jaffe is an American actress and voice actress, best known as the original voice of Velma Dinkley in Hanna-Barbera's Scooby-Doo Saturday morning cartoon series from 1969 to 1974...
: Betty Smith - Sheree NorthSheree NorthSheree North was an American actress, singer, and dancer. She was known for being 20th Century Fox's answer to Marilyn Monroe from 1954 to 1956...
: Nita Bix - Edward AndrewsEdward AndrewsEdward Andrews was an American actor, one of the most recognizable character actors on television and films between the 1950s and the 1980s...
: Johnny - John CarradineJohn CarradineJohn Carradine was an American actor, best known for his roles in horror films and Westerns as well as Shakespearean theater. A member of Cecil B DeMille's stock company and later John Ford's company, he was one of the most prolific character actors in Hollywood history...
: Mr. Drewcolt - Vincent PriceVincent PriceVincent Leonard Price, Jr. was an American actor, well known for his distinctive voice and serio-comic attitude in a series of horror films made in the latter part of his career.-Early life and career:Price was born in St...
: Mr. Morality - Dabney ColemanDabney ColemanDabney Wharton Coleman is an American actor, best known for his roles in 9 to 5, WarGames, You've Got Mail, Sworn to Silence, The Beverly Hillbillies and as the voice of Principal Peter Prickly in Recess and Recess: School's Out.-Early life:Coleman was born in Austin, Texas, the son of Mary...
: Harrison Wilby - Duke SniderDuke SniderEdwin Donald "Duke" Snider , nicknamed "The Silver Fox" and "The Duke of Flatbush", was a Major League Baseball center fielder and left-handed batter who played for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers , New York Mets , and San Francisco Giants .Snider was elected to the National Baseball Hall of...
: The Cranker - Anissa JonesAnissa JonesMary Anissa Jones was an American child actress known for her role as Buffy on the CBS sitcom Family Affair. She died from combined drug intoxication at the age of 18.-Early years:...
: Carol Bix - Frank WelkerFrank WelkerFranklin Wendell "Frank" Welker is an American actor who specializes in voice acting and has contributed character voices and other vocal effects to American television and motion pictures.-Acting career:...
: Rutger/College Kid - Joyce Van PattenJoyce Van PattenJoyce Benignia Van Patten is an American stage, film and television actress.-Personal life:Van Patten was born in New York City, the daughter of Josephine Rose , an Italian American magazine advertising executive, and Richard Byron Van Patten, a Dutch American interior decorator.She is the younger...
: The Swimmer - Susan OlsenSusan OlsenSusan Marie Olsen is a former American child television actress and current animal welfare advocate. Olsen is best known for her role as Mike and Carol Brady's youngest daughter, Cindy Brady, on the 1970s television sitcom The Brady Bunch for the full run of the show, from 1969-1974.-Early...
: Auditioning Singer (uncredited)
Production and release
In June 1959 it was announced that Don MankiewiczDon Mankiewicz
Don Mankiewicz is a screenwriter.Born in Berlin, Germany, he is the son of Herman J. Mankiewicz. He was nominated for the 1958 Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay for I Want to Live! Among his many television credits are Ironside, for which he wrote the pilot, the original Star Trek and...
would write a screenplay of an unpublished story by Mauri Grashin, Day Keene, and Dwight Babcock. By December 1960, with the project titled Chautauqua, MGM was ready to make the film with Glenn Ford. Rumours circulating in Hollywood at the time stated that Presley would co-star with Ford, Hope Lange, and Arthur O'Connell, but nothing came of it and the film was shelved. In 1964, Dick Van Dyke had been signed up to star in a film titled Chautauqua based on a book called Merrily We Roll Along by Gay MacLaren. After several years of failed screenplays and cast changes, MGM sold the rights to Columbia Pictures in May 1965. Columbia also struggled to get the project off the ground, and in April 1968 they sold the rights back to MGM.
This time MGM had lined up Presley to star in the film and production began in the fall of 1968. Chautauqua was the film’s working title, but it was later changed to The Trouble with Girls when the producers worried that audiences would not understand the title or be able to pronounce it. Colonel Tom Parker, Presley’s manager, originally wanted actress Jean Hale for the female lead, but Marlyn Mason was cast as the leading lady at the insistence of director Peter Tewksbury
Peter Tewksbury
Peter Tewksbury was an American film and television director who directed Sunday in New York with Jane Fonda in 1963 and a pair of Elvis Presley movies...
. Anissa Jones
Anissa Jones
Mary Anissa Jones was an American child actress known for her role as Buffy on the CBS sitcom Family Affair. She died from combined drug intoxication at the age of 18.-Early years:...
, best known for playing Buffy on the television program Family Affair
Family Affair
Family Affair is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from September 12, 1966 to September 9, 1971. The series explored the trials of well-to-do civil engineer and bachelor Bill Davis as he attempted to raise his brother's orphaned children in his luxury New York City apartment. Davis' traditional...
, made her only film appearance in The Trouble with Girls. Jones would precede Presley in death by nearly a year, dying in August 1976.
The Trouble with Girls was released as the bottom half of a double feature, sharing the screen with the Raquel Welch
Raquel Welch
Jo Raquel Tejada , better known as Raquel Welch, is an American actress, author and sex symbol. Welch came to attention as a "new-star" on the 20th Century-Fox lot in the mid-1960s. She posed iconically in a animal skin bikini for the British-release One Million Years B.C. , for which she may be...
drama Flareup.
Soundtrack
Entering the studio for The Trouble with Girls, Presley found himself in the position of knowing he had the goods in the can with his looming comeback television special but given that his last three singles — "You'll Never Walk AloneYou'll Never Walk Alone (song)
"You'll Never Walk Alone" is a show tune from the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel.In the musical, in the second act, Nettie Fowler, the cousin of the female protagonist Julie Jordan, sings "You'll Never Walk Alone" to comfort and encourage Julie when her husband, Billy Bigelow, the...
," "Your Time Hasn't Come Yet Baby," "A Little Less Conversation
A Little Less Conversation
"A Little Less Conversation" is a song written by Mac Davis and Billy Strange that was originally performed and written for American rock and roll icon Elvis Presley for the 1968 film Live a Little, Love a Little. When the song was released as a single with "Almost in Love" as the b-side, it became...
" — and the Speedway
Speedway (album)
Speedway is the thirty-second album by Elvis Presley, released on RCA Victor Records in mono and stereo, LPM/LSP 3989, in May 1968 — the May 1 date is disputed. Recording sessions took place at MGM Studios in Hollywood, California, on June 20 and 21, 1967...
album all tanked, facing a practically dead recording career. The soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
contained some minor songs, its only distinctive track by Billy Strange
Billy Strange
William E. "Billy" Strange is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and actor.-Recordings and songwriting:...
, the producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
of the session, and Mac Davis
Mac Davis
Mac Davis is a country music singer, songwriter, and actor originally from Lubbock, Texas who has enjoyed much crossover success...
.
The recording session took place at United Artist Recorders in Hollywood, California, on October 23, 1968. "Clean Up Your Own Back Yard" by Strange and Davis, their fourth successful submission to a Presley soundtrack in a row, was the only one released commercially, as the single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
RCA 47-9747, peaking at #35 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
. "Almost" would appear in 1970 on the budget album Let's Be Friends
Let's Be Friends
Let's Be Friends is the thirty-seventh album by Elvis Presley, released on RCA Camden Records CAS 2408, in April 1970. It is the second Presley budget album to appear on the RCA subsidiary label. It peaked at #105 on the Billboard 200 album chart...
, and his remake of the His Hand in Mine
His Hand in Mine
His Hand in Mine is the twelfth album by Elvis Presley, released on RCA Victor Records in mono and stereo, LPM/LSP 2328, in November 1960. It was the first of three gospel music albums that Presley would issue during his lifetime. Recording sessions took place on October 30 and 31, 1960, at RCA...
track "Swing Down Sweet Chariot
Swing Down Sweet Chariot
Swing Down Sweet Chariot is a traditional spiritual song, a humorous variation of Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.Popularised by the Golden Gate Quartet in the 1940s, it was recorded by Elvis Presley for his 1960 album His Hand in Mine then recorded for his 1969 film The Trouble with Girls. This latter...
" not until 1983 on Elvis: A Legendary Performer Volume 4
Elvis: A Legendary Performer Volume 4
Elvis: A Legendary Performer Volume 4 is a compilation album featuring recordings by American singer Elvis Presley. It was the last in a series of albums that began with Elvis: A Legendary Performer Volume 1 in 1974, and the first since Elvis: A Legendary Performer Volume 3 in 1979...
. The other songs would wait to be issued until RCA's soundtrack compilations of the 1990s combining released songs and outtakes from multiple films on one compact disc
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
.
Personnel
- Elvis PresleyElvis PresleyElvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
- vocals - The BlossomsThe BlossomsThe Blossoms were a backing group from California. They had a recording career in their own right and were to the American West Coast what The Sweet Inspirations were to the East Coast and The Andantes were for Motown.-Early years:...
, The Mello Men - backing vocals - Jack HalloranJack HalloranJack Halloran was an American composer and choral director. He died at 81 of a stroke.-Early life:Born in Rock Rapids, Iowa in 1916, Halloran earned degrees in music from Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa, and Northwestern University.-Choral and pop culture involvement:He sang with a male...
, Ronald Hicklin, Marilyn Mason - backing vocals - Roy Caton - trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
- Lew McCreary - tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
- Buddy ColletteBuddy ColletteWilliam Marcel "Buddy" Collette was an American tenor saxophonist, flautist, and clarinetist. He was highly influential in the West coast jazz and West Coast blues mediums, also collaborating with saxophonist Dexter Gordon, drummer Chico Hamilton, and his lifelong friend, bassist Charles...
- clarinetClarinetThe clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed... - Joseph Gibbons, Gerald McGee, Morton Marker - electric guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
- Don RandiDon RandiDon Randi is an American keyboard player, bandleader and songwriter. He has performed on innumerable recordings, including many as a session musician and member of "The Wrecking Crew", as well as releasing his own jazz records...
- pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal... - Max BennettMax Bennett (musician)Max Bennett is an American jazz bassist and session musician.Bennett grew up in Kansas City and Oskaloosa, Iowa, and went to college in Iowa. His first professional gig was with Herbie Fields in 1949, and following this he played with Georgie Auld, Terry Gibbs, and Charlie Ventura...
- bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - John GuerinJohn GuerinJohn Payne Guerin worked as a drummer, percussionist, and recording artist worldwide.Guerin was born in Hawaii and raised in San Diego. As a young drummer he began performing with Buddy DeFranco in 1960...
, Frank Carlson - drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person .... - unknown horns and strings
Film music track listing
- "Clean Up Your Own Back Yard" (Billy StrangeBilly StrangeWilliam E. "Billy" Strange is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and actor.-Recordings and songwriting:...
and Mac DavisMac DavisMac Davis is a country music singer, songwriter, and actor originally from Lubbock, Texas who has enjoyed much crossover success...
) - "Swing Down Sweet ChariotSwing Down Sweet ChariotSwing Down Sweet Chariot is a traditional spiritual song, a humorous variation of Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.Popularised by the Golden Gate Quartet in the 1940s, it was recorded by Elvis Presley for his 1960 album His Hand in Mine then recorded for his 1969 film The Trouble with Girls. This latter...
" (traditional, arranged by Elvis Presley) - "Signs of the Zodiac" (Buddy KayeBuddy KayeJules Leonard "Buddy" Kaye was an American award-winning songwriter, musician, producer, author and publisher. His songs were recorded by top performers, including Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington, Ella Fitzgerald, Perry Como, Elvis Presley and Dusty Springfield...
and Ben WeismanBen WeismanBen Weisman was an eccentric American composer significant for having written more songs recorded by Elvis Presley than any other songwriter in history. The "Mad Professor" as Weisman was nicknamed by Elvis, worked with the King from 1956 to 1971...
) (Duet with Marlyn MasonMarlyn MasonMarlyn Mason is an American actress.Her acting credits include roles in My Three Sons, Burke's Law, Kentucky Jones, Bonanza, Ben Casey, Dr...
) - "Almost" (Buddy Kaye and Ben Weisman)
- "The Whiffenpoof Song" (Ted Galloway, Meade MinnigerodeMeade MinnigerodeMeade Minnigerode was an American writer, born in London. He graduated from Yale in 1910 and for several years was associated with publishers in New York. He represented the United States Shipping Board in France in 1917–1918 and in the year following was first lieutenant with the American Red...
, George Pomeroy) (not used in film) - "Violet (Flower of NYU)" (Steven Dueker and Peter Lohstroh) The second adaptation in Presley's career of the American Civil War song "Aura Lee" from 1861 (the first being Love Me TenderLove Me Tender (song)"Love Me Tender" is a song recorded by Elvis Presley and published by Elvis Presley Music, adapted from the tune of "Aura Lee" , a sentimental Civil War ballad.- History :...
).
External links
- Review at For Elvis Fans Only, Website decitated to Elvis Presley's Movies.
Movie Reviews
- Comprehensive review by Chad Plambeck at 3-B Theater
DVD Reviews
- Review by Jon Danziger at digitallyOBSESSED!, August 2, 2004.
- Review by Bill Treadway at DVD Verdict, July 23, 2004.