Girls! Girls! Girls! (1962)

Girls! Girls! Girls!: Directed by Norman Taurog. With Elvis Presley, Stella Stevens, Jeremy Slate, Laurel Goodwin. When he finds out his boss is retiring to Arizona, a sailor has to find a way to buy the Westwind, a boat that he and his father built. He is also caught between two women: insensitive club singer Robin and sweet Laurel.

“A bit odd, but generally pleasing, colorful Elvis Presley vehicle casts the singing star as a tuna fisherman who longs to buy his own sailboat; he takes a job as a nightclub entertainer (nearly usurping former-girlfriend Stella Stevens) and balks at women who want to buy him things in exchange for his affection (another poor guy with principles!). Stevens is a tough broad who looks like sheu0026#39;s been around a bit, though sheu0026#39;s still a better fit for Elvis over newcomer Laurel Goodwin, who twinkles like a bobby-soxer. Elvis actually shows great passion for Goodwin (kissing her in the rain, even speaking of marriage), but she just doesnu0026#39;t seem his type. Musically, Elvis goes International: singing Chinese, dancing a Spanish Tango, crooning Calypso. In the rock u0026#39;n roll opener, he sings, u0026quot;Iu0026#39;m just a red-blooded boy and I canu0026#39;t stop thinking about girlsu0026quot; (if he didnu0026#39;t like girls, what color would his blood be then?). The prettiest song, u0026quot;Mamau0026quot;, is sung not by Presley but rather The Four Amigos, while Stevens seems to do her cabaret act in between various arguments. Goodwin (secretly rich) takes a job in a hat-shop, but why–to prove she has principles too? The script makes no sense, and the hot-headed character conflicts are contrived, but Jeremy Slate is a convincingly wormy adversary for Elvis, and E.P.u0026#39;s performance is blithe and easy-to-take. **1/2 from ****”