''Clambake'' is a 1967 American
musical film
Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as breaks ...
directed by Arthur H. Nadel and starring
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
,
Shelley Fabares
Michele Ann Marie "Shelley" Fabares (; born January 19, 1944) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her television roles as Mary Stone on the sitcom ''The Donna Reed Show'' (1958–1963) and as Christine Armstrong on the sitcom ...
, and
Bill Bixby. Written for the screen by Arthur Browne Jr., the film is about the heir to an oil fortune who trades places with a water-ski instructor at a Florida hotel to see if girls will like him for himself, rather than his father's money. ''Clambake'' was the last of Presley's four films for
United Artists
United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...
. The movie reached number 15 on the national weekly box-office charts.
Plot
Scott Hayward (Presley) rebels against the plans and expectations of his father, extremely rich oil tycoon Duster Hayward (Gregory). He drives to
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
in his red
1959 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Racer to find himself. When Scott stops for gas and refreshments, he encounters Tom Wilson (Hutchins), who is on his way to take a job as a water skiing instructor at a
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
hotel. A chance remark by Tom gives Scott the idea to switch identities with Tom so he can find out how people react to him as an ordinary person rather than as a millionaire. Tom has fun staying at the same hotel and pretending he is rich.
Shortly after, hotel guest Dianne Carter (Fabares) insists on taking a lesson minutes after Scott checks in with his new "employer". However, once they are out on the water, Dianne proves herself to be an expert skier, performing fancy maneuvers to gain the attention of wealthy young
playboy
''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother.
K ...
James J. Jamison III (Bixby). Later, Dianne confesses to Scott that she is a gold digger, assuming that he is one, too. Scott agrees to help Dianne land Jamison, but ends up falling for her himself.
Scott persuades boat builder Sam Burton (Merrill) to allow him to rebuild Burton's ''Rawhide'', a high-performance boat that was damaged when raced at high speed, and drive it in the annual Orange Bowl Race, which Jamison has won the last three years. Scott sends for some "goop", an experimental coating one of his father's companies spent a lot of money trying (and failing) to perfect. Between his day job and working on the goop at night, Scott is run ragged, but he thinks he has fixed the goop's major flaw: losing its strength in water. With no time for testing before the race, he applies it to the boat's hull and hopes it will hold the ''Rawhide'' together. Duster learns where his son is and comes to see what he is doing. To Scott's surprise, his father is enormously proud of what he is doing.
Meanwhile, Jamison proposes to Dianne. Scott enters the suite before she can give Jamison an answer, but the playboy informs Scott they are getting married right after he wins the race. Dianne, however, decides to give up her scheme and return home.
In the race, Jamison takes the lead in his boat, the ''Scarlet Lady'', but Scott passes him at the finish line. Scott then offers to give Dianne a lift. On the drive, he gives her an engagement ring he bought with the winnings from the race. Dianne insists that Scott take it back, but agrees to marry him. This prompts Scott to confess to Dianne who he really is. She does not believe him at first, but when he shows her his driver's license, she faints.
Cast
*
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
as Scott Hayward/"Tom Wilson"
*
Shelley Fabares
Michele Ann Marie "Shelley" Fabares (; born January 19, 1944) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her television roles as Mary Stone on the sitcom ''The Donna Reed Show'' (1958–1963) and as Christine Armstrong on the sitcom ...
as Dianne Carter
*
Will Hutchins
Will Hutchins (born Marshall Lowell Hutchason; May 5, 1930) is an American actor most noted for playing the lead role of the young lawyer Tom Brewster, in the Western (genre), Western television series ''Sugarfoot'', which aired on American B ...
as Tom Wilson/"Scott Hayward"
*
Bill Bixby as James J. Jamison III
*
Gary Merrill
Gary Fred Merrill (August 2, 1915 – March 5, 1990) was an American film and television actor whose credits included more than 50 feature films, a half-dozen mostly short-lived TV series, and dozens of television guest appearances. He starr ...
as Sam Burton
*
James Gregory as Duster Hayward
*Suzie Kaye as Sally
*
Harold Peary
Harold "Hal" Peary (July 25, 1908 – March 30, 1985) was an American actor, comedian and singer in radio, films, television, and animation. His most memorable role is as Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve, which began as a supporting character on r ...
(credited as "Hal Peary") as the Doorman
*Sam Riddle as the Announcer
*
Angelique Pettyjohn
Angelique Pettyjohn (born Dorothy Lee Perrins; March 11, 1943 – February 14, 1992) was an American actress and burlesque queen. She appeared as the drill thrall Shahna in the ''Star Trek: The Original Series'' episode "The Gamesters of Triskeli ...
as Gloria
*Olga Kaya as Gigi
*Jack Good as Hathaway
*Lee Krieger as Bartender
*Wallace Earl (credited as "Amanda Harley") as Ellie
*
Sue England
Sue England (July 17, 1928 – March 19, 2018) was an American actress.
Early years
England won beauty titles as a youngster -- "Miss Tulsa" when she was 6 years old and "Oklahoma's Sweetheart" when she was older.
Career
England's professional ...
as Cigarette girl
*
Marj Dusay
Marjorie Ellen Mahoney Dusay (; née Mahoney; February 20, 1936 – January 28, 2020) was an American actress known for her roles on American soap operas. She was especially known for her role as Alexandra Spaulding on ''Guiding Light'', a role s ...
as the Waitress
*
Charlie Hodge as Mr. Hayward's barber (uncredited)
In uncredited appearances: one of the dancers is
Teri Garr
Teri Ann Garr (born December 11, 1944) is an American former actress, dancer, and comedian. She frequently appeared in comedic roles throughout her career, which spans four decades and includes over 140 credits in film and television. Her accola ...
; among the kids during the "Confidence" scene is a young
Corbin Bernsen
Corbin Dean Bernsen (born September 7, 1954) is an American actor and film director. He appeared as divorce attorney Arnold Becker on the NBC drama series '' L.A. Law'', ; and the little girl afraid to go down a playground slide, to whom Elvis sings, is Lisa Slagle, who later joined the
Joffrey Ballet
The Joffrey Ballet is one of the premier dance companies and training institutions in the world today. Located in Chicago, Illinois, the Joffrey regularly performs classical and contemporary ballets during its annual performance season at Lyric O ...
. The water-skiing and Corvette-driving double for Presley was Artie Warren. (Warren was then employed at Leo Benz's Ski School for water skiers.)
Lee Majors
Lee Majors (born Harvey Lee Yeary; April 23, 1939) is an American actor. Majors portrayed the characters of Heath Barkley in the American television Western series ''The Big Valley'' (1965–1969), Colonel Steve Austin in the American television ...
connived his way in as an extra in the film, playing a mustachioed waiter in the lounge scene about 22 minutes in. He confirmed this in 2017, at the 2017 Florida Supercon fan convention.
Production
After numerous delays, principal photography on ''Clambake'' began on March 22, 1967. ''Clambake'' was the last film for which Presley was able to demand and receive a salary of $1 million. The relatively lackluster box-office performance of this movie, combined with his desire to do more serious, less commercial films, meant that studios were no longer willing to guarantee him a million dollars or more for his performance.
In her 1985 book ''
Elvis and Me
''Elvis and Me'' is a 1985 biography written by Priscilla Presley with Sandra Harmon. In the book, Priscilla talks about meeting Elvis Presley, their marriage, and the factors and issues that led to the couple's divorce. The book rights were p ...
,'' on which Sandra Harmon collaborated with her,
Priscilla Presley
Priscilla Ann Presley ( Wagner, changed by adoption to Beaulieu; born May 24, 1945) is an American actress and businesswoman. She is the former wife of American singer Elvis Presley, as well as co-founder and former chairwoman of Elvis Presley ...
writes that by the time filming began on ''Clambake,'' Elvis' growing distress with the quality of his films led to a despondency accompanied by overeating that had his weight balloon from his normal 170 lb (77 kg) to 200 lb (91 kg). (''Elvis,''
Albert Goldman
Albert Harry Goldman (April 15, 1927 – March 28, 1994) was an American academic and author.
Goldman wrote about the culture and personalities of the American music industry both in books and as a contributor to magazines. He is best known f ...
's 1981 biography of Presley, corroborates this statement Priscilla made to Harmon.) A movie studio executive ordered him to lose the weight in a hurry, marking the introduction of
diet pills
Anti-obesity medication or weight loss medications are pharmacological agents that reduce or control weight. These medications alter one of the fundamental processes of the human body, weight regulation, by altering either appetite, or absor ...
to his already excessive regimen of medications.
During this time, owing to the involvement of
Larry Geller, a hair stylist who later became one of "The Guys" (also called the "
Memphis Mafia
The Memphis Mafia was the nickname given by the media to a group of Elvis Presley's friends, associates, employees and cousins whose main functions were to accompany, protect, and serve Presley from the beginning of his career in 1954 until his de ...
"), as Presley called his entourage, in his life, Presley was growing increasingly interested in religious studies and spirituality, and was reading a great deal on the subjects.
Colonel Tom Parker
Thomas Andrew Parker (born Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk; June 26, 1909 January 21, 1997), felt that these pursuits were distracting Elvis from his performance, and he ordered the singer not to read any books while the film was being shot; there is no evidence to indicate that Presley complied with the directive.
Production was delayed for two weeks at the beginning of the shoot when Elvis fell and hit his head in his L.A. mansion, resulting in a mild concussion.
Although set in Florida, only some second-unit stock footage was shot there - including the prominent use of the
Miami Marine Stadium
The Miami Marine Stadium is a marine stadium on Virginia Key, Miami, Florida, United States. The facility, built and completed in 1963 by the Millman Construction Company of Miami Beach, on land donated to the City of Miami from the Matheson f ...
, where the climactic speedboat race was filmed, with California close-ups of Elvis and Bill Bixby cut in. Virtually the entire film was shot in southern California (resulting in the scene with the sun seemingly setting over the ocean in the east). Several exterior "Florida" scenes also have very conspicuous California mountains in the background. Other bloopers include oil fields in Florida. The boats in the boat garage have registration numbers starting with "CF" (California) and not "FL" (Florida).
In Japan, the film was released under the alternate title ''Blue Miami'' (rendered in Japanese script), a reference to the earlier Presley film ''
Blue Hawaii
''Blue Hawaii'' is a 1961 American musical romantic comedy-drama film directed by Norman Taurog and starring Elvis Presley. The screenplay by Hal Kanter was nominated by the Writers Guild of America in 1962 in the category of Best Written Americ ...
.''
Soundtrack
The soundtrack album reached number 40 on the ''Billboard'' album chart.
Reception
The film premiered in October 1967, but did not have a wide release until December. ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
critic
Howard Thompson called the film "a real Christmas clinker" and a "silly, tired little frolic," remarking that "even staunch Presley admirers—and we're one of them when he delivers the likes of ''
Fun in Acapulco
''Fun in Acapulco'' is a 1963 American musical comedy film starring Elvis Presley and Ursula Andress.
The film featured the Top 10 ''Billboard'' hit "Bossa Nova Baby" and reached No. 1 on the national weekly box office charts a week after the ass ...
'' and ''
Viva Las Vegas
''Viva Las Vegas'' is a 1964 American musical film directed by George Sidney and starring Elvis Presley and Ann-Margret. The film is regarded by fans and film critics as one of Presley's best films, and it is noted for the on-screen chemistry bet ...
''—will have to strain to justify this one." Thompson panned everything in the film, including the co-stars, music, predictable finale, the overuse of
rear-screen projection, and the obvious location shots of the West Coast of the U.S.
''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' ran a positive review, declaring it one of Presley's "top offerings to date, backed by a legitimately-premised story line, melodic songs, acceptable acting and winding with a spectacular water race. Film has all the makings of being one of Presley's heaviest grossers."
Kevin Thomas of the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' wrote, "Like most Presley pictures, this one ... is pleasant and unpretentious yet has a synthetic appearance. The starlets look lacquered, the sets plasticized and there's much reliance on process work."
''
The Monthly Film Bulletin
''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with ''Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with a ...
'' wrote that Presley "floats amiably through a flimsy story enlivened only by an occasional touch of humour and an engaging performance from James Gregory as a drawling Texan oil millionaire." The review thought that "the only really jarring note is the very unpersonable heroine."
''
FilmInk'' felt Presley and Fabares had none of the chemistry they showed in ''Girl Happy''.
Presley himself considered ''Clambake'' to be his worst movie.
In popular culture
In the 2005 miniseries ''
Elvis
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
'', a scene depicts a frustrated Presley (played by
Jonathan Rhys Meyers
Jonathan Rhys Meyers (born Jonathan Michael Francis O'Keeffe; 27 July 1977) is an Irish actor, model and musician. He is known for his roles in the films ''Michael Collins (film), Michael Collins'' (1996), ''Velvet Goldmine'' (1998), ''Titus (f ...
) on the set of ''Clambake'', filming the "Who Needs Money" motorcycle scene. Presley also mentions to Colonel Parker that he only signed on to do the movie because he
arkertold him to, and that he needs the money.
See also
*
List of American films of 1967
This is a list of American films released in 1967.
'' In the Heat of the Night'' won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
A-D
E-H
I-P
R-Z
Documentaries
Other
See also
* 1967 in the United States
External links
1967 filmsat the In ...
References
External links
*
*
*
{{Elvis Presley
1967 films
1967 musical comedy films
American musical comedy films
American romantic comedy films
Boat racing films
Films set in Florida
Films shot in California
Films shot in Florida
United Artists films
1960s English-language films
1960s American films